There's a ton to spend money on. Even cheap preps cost money, or simply the resource of *time*, which in many cases is equivalent to money.

As several Redditors have already written, I feel like for someone young like you, the first thing that needs to be done is to get your financial house in-order. Start small: I 'm not asking you to save for retirement *right now* (but if you already have a job, you can, *and should*, start small, there, too), but instead take a hard look at where your money is going. Even the smallest amounts.

My mother and father left Taiwan without the permission of their parents. With no family support financially and barely anything in savings, when we first came to the US, we lived in my Godparent's attic for a year and drove my uncle's hand-me-down 20-year-old Buick while my parents saved up enough to move us to a rental townhouse in inner-city Baltimore and purchased a vehicle. Five years later, they would purchase their new-build home in the then up-and-coming northern suburbs of Atlanta, and would start making payments on a new Lexus. This was done because they literally tracked every penny spent.

If your daily routine is a cup of Starbucks in the AM and another one as you head into your late-afternoon/early-evening classes, it's time to reassess whether your "limited financial resources" outlook has true merit. Perhaps, then, it's time to focus inwards and reassess spending habits. On the other hand, if you're truly scraping by with need-based federal and state grants along with a private scholarship -maybe making rent but still going hungry- maybe it's time to really buckle down and also get an off-campus job that pays better than work-study...and looking into university and community resources to help you bolster your basic needs.

I've been there, that latter scenario. It sucked. It sucked even more that I had not learned the lessons that my parents taught of austerity and restraint -and that I had lived as a child- and instead fell victim to student loans and revolving consumer credit, all of which I then later paid dearly for, all the way through my 30s.

So start with money:

Do you have enough in the bank to survive without your primary income source for a week, as you scramble for a (new) job? How about a more realistic two weeks?

Do you have enough to travel home?

Do you have sufficient cash-money on-hand in small bills (1s, 5s, 10s, and 20s - but bias heavy towards the 1s and 5s) so that when electronic banking goes down (not due to some political uprising or state-sponsored cyber-terrorism, but if the power went down because of a severe-weather event), you can still buy necessities? A hundred bucks should be a good target for you (unless you're located where prices are higher: in which case adjust this amount so that you can realistically get-by during an emergency) .

If you're set on finances -or once you are- look to shelter and food. Particularly if you're in a colder area, hypothermia will kill you faster than even a lack of potable water. Your local Salvation Army or other thrift stores -and even flea markets or yard sales- can provide you with warm bedding and clothing. Conversely, in a warmer area, you may want to look at increasing potable water stores: those 2.5 gallon jugs of Poland Springs (or similar) water can typically be had for between $4-$5 each (midwestern prices) and can be re-filled with tap-water and re-used for quite a while (there are many YouTube videos that show you how). Spread out your purchases so as to be financially viable for you, but once you have 3-4 of them and are rotating them through regular consumption/re-fill, you'll have a decent supply of drinking water, too. And think about using your local food-bank or consult student-life or similar university resources to bolster your food supplies: you shouldn't feel bad about using them - particularly as you can always contribute back, in the future.

I'm very glad that you're thinking of practical considerations in the face of big-picture problems. Not enough folks of your age -particularly the ones in school- do.