College life can be your first steps to successful budgeting. Instead of making your college debt worse day after day, master the basics of effective personal finance management. The following tips for saving money cover all spheres of college life.
Simple Tips for Saving Money in College That Work
- Enjoy students’ discounts.
- Hunt for students’ discounts on sites like studentbeans.com
- Avoid spending more only to enjoy students’ discounts.
- Travel wisely, share rides via services like BlaBlaCar.
- Buy used textbooks.
- Sell used textbooks.
- Check if you can borrow required textbooks from the library.
- Find digital copies or scans of your readings and print out certain pages if necessary.
- Plan your meals ahead and budget properly.
- Cook it up.
- Use free college amenities – gym membership, on-campus entertainment etc.
- Rent instead of buying whenever it’s possible (vacuum, hot pot etc.).
- Use summertime to the maximum – take summer classes or internships.
- Get a job.
- Visit a career center to get a paid internship.
- Use credit cards in emergency cases only.
- Pay credit card bills on time.
- Be sure to apply for scholarships and grants.
- Search for alternative money resources, such as aid and awards.
- Keep tracking your bank account.
Tips for Saving Money in College from Graduates
Most graduates confess that they would rather have known the following tips when in college:
- Make a weekly food budget and stick to it.
- Use a campus meal plan if possible.
- Avoid the unnecessary restaurant spending.
- Avoid or at least minimize alcoholic drinks in bars.
- Eliminate daily coffee drinks, snacks and treats – their low prices are deceptive.
- Avoid impulse purchases.
- Avoid buying things that you don’t absolutely need.
- Shop for food smart.
- Cooperate with roommates to cook together if possible.
- Take advantage of coupons.
- Check sales in local supermarkets.
- Buy more shampoo, toothpaste (any other essential product) than you usually would when it’s on sale.
- Get a job where you can get some free food (in a restaurant or a local bar).
- Use your creativity to decorate your dorm room instead of buying too expensive decorations.
- Think of getting a job at your college – they will usually pay more than minimum wages.
- Be sure to ask if they have a student discount when you use a service. There’s nothing embarrassing about it.
- Get organized – save receipts.
- Consider free options for your leisure time. A picnic in a park can be even better than a dinner in a restaurant.
- Choose the right cell phone plan.
- Seek for college experiences, not things.
Follow at least some of the above discussed tips for saving money and you will see what happens. You will get rid of debts and debt related headaches. Personal finance can be easy if you take it seriously.