College is the bridge between childhood and adulthood, and one of the unfortunate factors of adulthood is financial independence. The range of support from parents is great for college students; however, we still hear even the wealthiest of students refer to themselves as "broke college kids," because of the nature of bills in college.

You no longer get to sit down at the dinner table every night for Mama's home-cooked meal.

You no longer get to have mom schedule doctor's appointments for you or take off work to take you to the doctor. You no longer can convince your mom to buy you a tank of gas, because you're going to the gas station together. You no longer are under your parents' roof. With all of these major shifts, new bills are created that you've never had to pay before like rent, tuition and fees, and even parking passes.

Luckily, college gives you the opportunity to pay one or two bills that encompass your expenses instead of having to pay several smaller bills like you'll have to do in the future. This way you learn to start figuring out how to pay the bills, but you don't have to worry about sending money to a bunch of different places.

With these new expenses, college students start to notice a limited amount of funds for the unnecessary things like that trendy t-shirt or those concert tickets. It's often not that you have less money than you did before, it's that your money is having to pay for actual needs you haven't had to cover before.

This is a slow, steady transition into adulthood that is definitely worth some appreciation.

I know it doesn't sound pleasant not having an excess of spending money; however, that lack thereof makes it so much more rewarding when you've really had to work and save up for something.

Learning to be thrifty can really turn into a great time! Dinners made in a mismatched assortment of dishes rejected from our parents' kitchens, hiking instead of going to the movies, and attending events just for the free food are just the tip of the iceberg for saving, but they're also a great basis for many of the memories you make in school. Being "a broke college kid" is nothing to be afraid of, in fact, it's something to be quite excited about! It may be stressful at times, but it all ends up being rather entertaining.

Trust me, you'll be impressed with the ways you get creative from stretching leftovers into three different meals to making a wall tapestry with walmart supplies instead of buying the $80 version from Earthbound. College is a time for making memories and being a "broke college kid" just makes that so much easier.