Scrounging the couch for both food and beer money at the same time can be pretty rough.

But thanks to efforts by student government, UNO students, faculty and staff will be able to pinch their dollar further in the Omaha area.

The Student Savings Club is a program where local businesses offer discounts and deals to anyone who shows their UNO identification card.

James Hulstein, outgoing student government vice president, said the program took awhile to get off the ground, but will only go more smoothly in the future.

"I've been working on it for over a year; it's finally up and running," said Hulstein. "Companies are still being added and we're going to be advertising around campus and putting things online."

Most of the deals offered are for local restaurants and businesses that hope to increase their customer base while helping out the hungry students. Student government believes it's a chance to help the students they represent.

"We believe it's another way to help serve the students. I mean, we're all poor college students, so why not help a fellow student out?" said Cassy Loseke, speaker of the Student Senate.

Few students are aware of the penny-pinching opportunities within their own MavCard, something Hulstein said he was working to reverse.

"I've used it already and I'm pretty confident that if the students find out, they'll really like it," said Hulstein.

He added that next semester there would be an effort to reach more students about the savings club.

"We'll have a campaign with posters and some other things; not enough of the companies were online last semester to really start telling people."

The list of businesses involved can be found on the Student Savings Club Web site, studentsavingsclub.com. The list for UNO includes 19 separate businesses, many with more than one discount offer.

Hulstein hopes the list will continue to grow from year to year, which depends on student involvement and input.

"If the students like it and use it, and if there's a company they'd like to see, they can put it down, and we'll work on putting it on there," said Hulstein.

Click on the following web link to check out the great savings and discounts in the Omaha area: http://www.studentsavingsclub.com/SchoolDiscounts.aspx?collegeID=172