Starting a new school year never gets easier. There’s the mass move-in mania and relentless efforts to price match books online. One must navigate through campus, get parking passes and much more.

It would be false to say that the stress decreases as the semester goes on. No wonder college students come up with some of the most ingenious ways to ease the stress on their lives like mostly eating food off of plastic utensils to avoid doing the dishes.

Here are four more things that may not beat the invention of disposable utensils but will surely help ease up the newly gained responsibility. 

Brita Filter

Walking to classes every day in this summer heat is no joke. It is very important to have a  water bottle ready all the time. However, the fridges in college dorms don’t come with a filtration system. Many college students, thus, resort to buying cases of plastic water bottles every week, which ultimately adds up to a lot of money.

Alternatively, try investing in a Brita pitcher. One Brita filter can replace up to 300 16.9 oz plastic bottles, according to Brita’s official website. The replaceable filters come in a pack of three for as cheap as $17 at Walmart.  More importantly, the pitchers are “filter as you go” that means you won’t have to wait for the water to be filtered.

You can enjoy great tasting water, stay hydrated and save the environment for a fraction of the price.

Extra towels

As basic as they seem, towels often seem to get overlooked while packing for college. Firstly, laundry is not free in most cases. Instead of using the same dirty towel over and over again till laundry day or spending precious quarters multiple times a week, invest in extra towels.

Besides the standard shower towels, a few extra towels can prove to be life savers especially after a college party. There’s only so much even the best paper towel can absorb when the entire floor’s covered in soap suds from an overloaded dishwasher or someone’s bad party decisions.

Walmart carries 6 – piece towel sets for as cheap as $10. You can also check the local thrift stores for cheap towels that can be used as mops or bathroom mats, in case of emergencies.

Formal attire

There are multiple career fairs hosted on campus every year. Apart from the career fairs, there’ll also be multiple times during these four years where you’ll be required to give a formal presentation or talk.

It is always recommended to splurge on a good fitting business attire or even a proper business casual outfit. Some of the stores in the local mall, like JC Penney, take measurements and order the clothes if one doesn’t find their right size in store.

First impressions matter the most. You can’t expect to land a good internship or a future job when you show up in your running shorts and Comfort Color t-shirts.

Also, don’t miss out on the free professional headshots during one of these career fairs. They can be a great addition to your LinkedIn profile, which is also recommended to get a head start in the professional world.

Granola bars

Whether you live on campus or off campus, if you miss the alarm you’ll probably end up rushing to class with an empty stomach.

Maintaining a good attendance is definitely more important than a skipped breakfast. However, don’t expect to learn much or even concentrate with a growling stomach.

At times like these, granola bars will not only fill up your stomach but will also save you from the embarrassment of an angry stomach in front of an entire lecture class.

There are two affordable options for large quantities of granola bars. You could either go to wholesale stores like Sam’s Club and get a granola bar of your choice, in bulk.

Alternatively, you could make your own “no bake” granola bars with as little as 3 ingredients.

First, pick your choice of oats. Next, pick a binder like peanut butter, honey, dark chocolate or marshmallow spread. Finally, mix the ingredients with a topping of choice like chocolate chunks, roasted nuts or dried berries. Let the batter chill in the freezer overnight before cutting it into bite size pieces.