Whoever said the best things in life are free, didn’t live on peanut butter and generic ramen for a whole semester.

Working at a Daily Eastern News wage while keeping the stereotypical spending habits of most college students who can’t turn down a trip to the bar hasn’t left me with a lot leftover to pay for the simple task of living.

I’ve become resigned to being broke, but instead of penny-pinching and spending “wisely,” I decided to scheme.

I convinced myself Charleston has at least one similarity to Las Vegas: freebies. Both cities are full of cheap buffets, bar drink specials and beautiful sights. The bright gas station lights along Lincoln have some far-fetched small-town resemblance to the glare of Sin City.

Take advantage of living in a town where you can walk home from the bars, where the streets have tree-lined medians and where sometimes the most heated argument at City Council is widening sidewalks.

Take advantage of living in a town that feels like Pleasentville on a breezy, summer day. Because, like Pleasentville, sometimes things in Charleston come cheap and easy.

Bills aside, I found you can live on $3 a day, maybe breaking up the afternoon with lunch off the McDonald’s dollar menu or spoiling yourself with a caffeine burst from the vending machine.

When eating out, Lincoln Avenue provides no end to fast food alternatives, or simply consider the buffet options. Most of the Chinese restaurants in town boast a $6 buffet lunch special, with a dollar added for dinner.

Pile on General Tso’s Chicken, fried shrimp or chicken fried rice, knowing that a student discount can get that sweet price even cheaper at participating restaurants.

If dining at home is your cheap alternative, try dipping food in an available sauce. Ranch makes everything taste less like leftovers, and more like good, clean spending habits.

Remember to always save a few bucks for alcohol, even if you have to pool change collected over the week.

Entertain yourself with frisbee in the quad or a $2.50 movie at the Will Rogers Theater on the Square.

One thing I’ve always remembered through financial turmoil is the (literally) priceless stuff such as free food or merchandise offered at any shop or grocery store. Sometimes you also just have to rely on the kindness of friends.

I spent the summer in Chicago working an internship for a business news wire; not the best city to continue breeding bad spending habits.

The Windy City has more expensive transportation, fine dining, sky-high prices for alcoholic drinks and covers at bars that could fund at least three beers at a Charleston tavern. My final weeks there were spent scratching for change to ride the train to work and wishing I was living in my cheaper Charleston apartment.

As I worry about falling yet another month behind on my cell-phone bill, going through the stack of credit card bills and balancing a depleted checkbook, I thank luck that I now live in a town of freebies and affordable entertainment.