Im a college student- which means I don't have a lot of money. However, I want to be wise with what money I do have and am looking for practical, smart ways to invest any money I have free to do so with ( 500-1000 dollars). Also, any other advice is helpful too.

What I would do is open an account with Ameritrade, Etrade, Schwab, Fidelity, etc and start with a $1000 in your core account. This is basically a money market account and will act as your emergency fund. I would keep the $1000 in there unless you absolutely need it, then you need to make sure you pay it back. When you get a full time job this should be increased to 3-6 months of your take home pay. This account can be linked to your checking account for electronic transfers.

After that you can save up an additional $2-3,000 and buy a no load growth or index mutual fund. Most funds require you to make an initial investment of around $2500, some go as low as $500 or $1000. Personally, I would stay away from stocks until you have money to lose and have the time to keep track of them.

This is assuming you have no debt, if you do get that paid off first.

Also, when you get a full time job make sure you start putting away 15% for retirement and pay those student loans off ASAP. Do this and you will be very wealthy at 60 not to mention ligth years ahead of most folks.

Direct investment plans, also known as dividend reinvestment plans (DRPs or DRIPs), are plans offered by companies to enable shareholders to invest cash and/or reinvest dividends through the company (or its agent) to buy shares without a broker.

There are many great companies that will allow you to buy stock directly from them, a few shares at a time allowing you to slowly build a portfolio that will grow in value. Walgreens for instance, a good investment. Walgreens | Investor Relations | General Investor Information
There are many more also.

If you don't know how to invest in stocks with a broker, you will more than likely get scalped. That's just how the market works. The pros watch what the amauters are doing, then do the opposite, cleaning them out. It takes education to become proficient at it. With direct investments, you can buy a few stocks when they are low and then hang on to them. Good companies most always make money and grow.

DirectInvesting.com - Invest in stocks without a broker through DRIPS.