Using Amazon
Doh, right? Just remember to sign up for Amazon Prime with your university email, so that you get 6 months of 2-day deliveries for free (REMEMBER: mark your calendar to cancel before this period ends, or you’ll get charged). Some students who have flatmates, decide to use the first person’s Prime membership for the first half of the year, and the second’s for the second. For price comparisons, Shopping.com is useful. Electronics, if not from Amazon, can be often ordered cheap from JR.com, BHPhotoVideo.com, Adorama, Buy.com, or NewEgg.
Google Voice
As of now, you can only get a Google Voice number if you’re in the US. This is a great feature: you basically obtain a phone number you give everywhere as your mobile number, and it redirects to your actual phone. It also includes a voice mail much better than the one offered by most carriers. But the best part is that you will still keep your number even once you leave the US (even though your calls will be redirected to voice mail, you’ll still get notifications and transcriptions by email). Go and get it, there is no reason not to (if you are reluctant to give your phone number to Google, you may use a different gmail account).
Ordering food online
For Bostonian winters, GrabHub and Foodler are two convenient services delivering food from restaurants.