The College Cheapskate

• College Student Pantry

602 E. 9th Street (East Village, Manhattan)

This "no questions asked" student-specific food pantry runs on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month from 4:00-7:00 pm throughout the whole year. After signing up for an appointment, you show up and pick from their donated selection of produce, meat, and pantry goods. Note! If you have a roommate, bring the IDs of both of you to get a larger amount.

• Too Good 2 Go

App Store

Focused on fighting food waste, this app partners with local businesses and restaurants to give you cheap deals on meals, pastries, and produce that would otherwise be sold out at the end of the day. Thus, most bags have a late-night pick-up time at a specific slot. Also popular for leftover bubble tea!

• Plentiful

App Store, Phone Number

Plentiful is a reservation app used to help families find food pantries around their area and get supplies. Locations can be found on their site, and through the app you can reserve a time and place to pick up free food at your local pantry. They are TEFAP Certified, meaning you may have to answer questions about income and address upon application.Here is also a link to a map of places in Manhattan that serve free community meals! (Note those labelled with "Open to anyone" and "Under 21")

• Campus Clipper (NYC Booklet)
• Campus Clipper (Instagram)

Campus Clipper provides a booklet list of various student discounts offered at many local businesses including cafes, restaurants, and even nail and hair services! The bottom of the booklet even includes coupons for pharmacies and UPS shipping. I've attached the NYC-specific booklet, but their site also has coupon resources for Long Island, Boston, and Philadelphia!With/without Campus Clipper, I recommend keeping an eye out for "Student Discounts" at bodegas, delis, coffee/tea shops, and cafes. Especially on the latter two, don't hesitate to ask if they have a discount either!

• NYC For Free (Website)
• NYC For Free (Instagram)

Website and Instagram

NYC For Free is an actively updated resource that gives daily and upcoming events available around the city for free! New York has an insane amount of freebies if you know where to look for them, and this resource is the spot! It's recently blown up in the last year, so although free, expect people to show up. Note! I recommend checking out the website for their list of birthday freebies.

• NYC Public Library Card

Website, Multiple Locations (Manhattan)

College students are absolutely eligible for a New York Public Library Card! An underutilized resource, a public library card allows you free access to millions of books, comics, audiobooks, and movies! Here are a list of things your library card gives you access to:Book Pickup Requests: Pick up any book you want at any location! My alternative to splurging at bookstores nowadays is writing down titles I want to read and instead requesting pickup at my local library! Great for graphic novels and manga too.Projectr: Free access to a streaming site of curated independent films and documentariesNYC Culture Pass: Through your library card, you can reserve free passes to any of the listed institutions (1 pass per cultural institution per year, and up to 4 active reservations at a time). Especially great for non-student-discounted sites, like Botanical Gardens, but requires planning ahead! Note: Some institutions listed are already free, but nonetheless the site is a good place to look!

• Brooklyn Public Library Card

Website, Multiple Locations (Brooklyn)

Like the New York Public Library Card, the Brooklyn Public Library Card provides access to their wide collections of books, movies, and more! But they also offer more things you can't get through NYPL, such as:Musical Instrument Lending Library: For one month, you can borrow select instruments from BPL's collection! This is great if you want to learn or get back into the groove before making a big purchase of a new instrument. Rent out drum kits, guitars, banjos, ukuleles, keyboards, and more by clicking on the hyperlink above!Library of Things: Not only instruments, but through a BPL card, you can check out crazy cool things like telescopes, sewing machines, vinyl records, board games, and soon- tools!Note: You can sign up for both NYPL and BPL cards! The ownership of one doesn't cancel the other out :)

• IDNYC

Website

Anyone who lives in New York City, including college students, can apply for an NYC-specific ID card! It's free and has a multitude of benefits and discounts that can be found hereSome benefits listed, for example!
- Accepted as a proof of Identity and as a library card
- Can be used to apply at the NYS Health Insurance Marketplace
- Receive free 1-year memberships to museums, zoos, theaters, and gardens
- Discounts off of film festivals, gym memberships, rollerskating rinks, animal adoption fees, Costco cards, and more.
- This is the closest we get to a transportation discount, as having IDNYC gives you 15% your first year with a CitiBike pass!

• Free Museum Days or Pay What You Wish

Website

Here is a list of every New York City Museum that has free days, hours, or pay-what-you-wish admission! Check out the site through the button above for the full list and more info on each institution.

HEALTH AND EXERCISE

• NYC Parks Recreation Centers

Website, Multiple Locations

This is my personal favorite free resource! Young adults ages 18-24 get free membership and access to all centers! This means free dance classes, pool access, fitness centers (with treadmills, ellipticals, and weights, this is a fantastic alt to $30/mo gym memberships), and more! You can fill out a registration form and bring it to any location with a student ID and proof of residency (can be a piece of mail). More information on the site.SVA Students: Did you know we have a recreation center just down the street from the 23rd St. School Building? Check out the Asser Levy Recreation Center by FDR Drive.