Like many college students, I don’t have much money. However, I do have plenty of geeky toys. I learned very early on to make do with what I had, but that didn’t mean that I had to suffer and do without. Here’s how I achieved my current geek setup without going over budget.

Arguably, one of the most important components to any geek setup is a good desk. However, you do not need to save money by buying a little hutch. All you need is a little ingenuity. I bought two $30 desks from Walmart and placed them together to achieve a $60 L-shaped desk.

As you can see, I have three computers, so I needed the space that an L-shaped desk provides. How did I afford three computers on a low budget?

First off, the laptop on the left is a loaner. The MSI Wind netbook in the center was only around $250. I bought my Dell Inspiron on the right when I got my first student loans. Even so, I only paid around $600 for it. The big monitor that it’s running on is actually a Polaroid 19″ HDTV. Since it has all sorts of hookups on the back including VGA, I’ve saved money by not buying a television and a monitor. I both work and entertain myself at my desk. You can get a similar HDTV for around $250 these days.

One thing that is not shown in the picture is my iPod touch. 8GB models are now $199. I cannot afford cell phone service, so I text with Google Voice on my iPod touch wherever I can find a Wi-Fi hotspot.

So with a bit of time and ingenuity, I’ve achieved a great geek setup.

Are you a geek on a budget? If so, how did you achieve your current setup?

Daniel W. Webb has been self-publishing content on the Internet for over a decade. He’s written articles for a tech oriented site as well as contributed to an anthology book. He is currently majoring in communications and will soon minor in technology.