Time to stash the cash! For right now, let's say you have just been accepted to the college of your choice or soon will be, or you have just completed a year and need to save money for your next year of school.

Time for basic budgeting and semi-serious choices, like pasta or steak.

First, College tuition and fees
Not a surprise, right? You have to cover these first to even go to college.

You are going to college! Cool! Ready, Set, Study! Fun times ahead. But do you have your college education money all set aside, or do you have a plan for it?

The Overlooked Source of Cash
You probably already have a FAFSA all filled out, the government form to see if you qualify for federal student aid, and you may still need a few bucks to see the year through.

To find money for college, you have choices - loans, grants, the lottery, scholarships, casinos, and your parents huge stash of cash for you to attend the college of your dreams. If you need cash and you are in school, this article has a few good ideas and a serious reminder for you.

Apply for Aid
You have to apply, of course, to get financial aid from the government.

You did it, you got in! Time to get that education and a great future awaits. Maybe you just finished high school or you have the time to finish something you started a long time ago. Either way, you need money for college.

You want to know a great place to look for those greenbacks? Do you have a job now? Try asking your company. You can look into company benefits like release time, continuing ed, and tuition programs that all will provide nearly free money for college.

Grant money comes in more than one flavor for your college education. Below I explain the types of grant money and what that means for your college money search. Grants are free money for college, and never have to be repaid.

1. FSEOG
First the Federal Supplemental Equal Opportunity Grant. The FSEOG program awards grants to undergraduate students that have exceptional need.

Thinking about using your company tuition reimbursement plan? What a great way to get money for college. Below I have written up the basic parts of a company tuition benefit. Take a look to learn the good and not so good points you need.

1. The Benefit
A tuition reimbursement benefit pays for you work on an advanced education, like college classes to further your education.

Preparing for college this fall or in a couple of years? The list below covers basic terms and a couple of programs you should know about. The list isn't long, and you can get started on your financial aid search right away.

First, some basic terminology for you to start with:

1. Free Application for Financial Aid, or the FAFSA. Used to calculate your EFC and SAR.

A financial aid search can take you through several programs, and confuse the best of us. The programs below offer some help to get you through college. Take a minute and read through it. These programs just refer to free money for college, or nearly free.

One term you may want to learn is FAFSA. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, is a form you fill out to determine if you qualify for federal grants or loans.

Ready to go to college? Need to do a little financial aid search to get more money for college? Read through this list, all about the different kinds of student loans.

By the way, you'll see the term FAFSA a few times below. FAFSA refers to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. It's a form you fill out to determine how much federal aid you can get.

Did you know you can test out of college classes? If you have learned all about a subject, two organizations offer an option to take a test and qualify for college credit, plus two more ways to earn college credit fast. You should verify with your school that you can use these tests, but if you haven't selected a college or university yet, take the tests anyway.