I’m going trick-or-treating in Bel Air tonight, and I’m convinced the booty I make off with will be enough to buy groceries until Christmas – or at least will serve as groceries until Christmas. Like so many college students, I don’t go to the supermarket often. I don’t have the money.

Instead, I rely on freshmen swiping me into the De Neve Dining Hall and my roommates giving me semi-spoiled food. The story may be the same for you.

But you aren’t poor. I know it seems like you are: Your credit card bill is never paid off; you’re working three part-time jobs to keep your classes from being dropped, and last month’s bank statement says you have overdrawn your account by $200.

In a world where money grows on metaphorical trees, you are not broke, just uninformed. Because unlike at the end of a rainbow, there is a pot of gold out there, just waiting for someone to snatch it up.

But it’s not easy for anyone, especially for college students.

There is little encouragement to get your finances right during college. Your friends would rather you buy them a round of drinks than enhance your stock portfolio – and with the current behavior of the stock market, you probably would too.

“What can I do?” you ask. The options are innumerable.

Start by keeping a log of where you spend your money and actually put money into a bank account. No, the safety deposit on your apartment does not accrue interest – unless you damage your apartment, and then it works in favor of your landlord.

Learning how to handle your finances in college is important because it is when people build habits that will last forever. Trust me, your credit card bill will never get smaller unless you pay more than the minimum. And creditors know college students follow the low-APR carrot being dangled in front of them. In fact, many creditors know that if they can trap a college student in debt, the individual will probably never get out.

You may be wondering what wisdom I can offer you. Little. Ever hear the parable about the blind leading the blind? That is what it would be like if I was telling you how to start a business in college or how to save for retirement. Don’t worry, I’m not here to lecture you; I’m here to let others lecture you. (And this lecturing will be done in a completely non-lecturing manner.)

The content of these lectures, which for journalism’s sake we will call “columns,” will vary from week to week. No matter what the topic, every column will be designed to help you maximize your money. Wow, I like that. I think we’ll call it “Your Money.”

If it’s about your money, I am going to need your help. E-mail finance@media.ucla.edu and tell me the concerns of the all-too-real starving college student.

There is almost no chance this column will change your life, but it just might make it richer.

Greenberg is the Finance & Economy editor. “Your Money” will run every other Friday.