Three years of paying for things I could have had free, or not building things because I assumed hosting cost money.

What to do today, in this order:

1. GitHub Student Developer Pack — verify with your college email or ID card. Takes a week sometimes. Start it now, not when you need it.
2. Claim the domain. A portfolio at yourname.dev reads differently from a Netlify subdomain in a recruiter's inbox.
3. Set a reminder for the expiry. Most of these are 12 months. Cloud credits especially — a live project that dies because credits ran out is worse than no project.
   
   

There are also education plans from the design and productivity tools most of you already use, and cloud credits worth more than your first stipend. Offers change constantly, so check the current terms before you plan around one.

Reply with one credit you're actually using and what you built with it. Not a list of everything free — one you used. Lists are easy to find; proof isn't.