Saving money in college, is very important, mostly because your expenses when you graduate are most likely going to skyrocket. Think about buying a car, furniture, security deposit, it all adds up fast. When you're thinking about saving money in college, it's important to find your why. Why are you saving money, what are you sacrificing for, what is going to make it worth it. For me college is one of the best times to travel, because you have
really long breaks and know when they are well in advance. You most likely
don’t have an obligations keeping you from traveling for a majority of that
time, and there are tons of ways you can save money during college to pay for
it. When I decided at the end of my sophomore year that I wanted to go to Costa
Rica, because my friend was studying abroad and travel through Europe. I knew I
was going to have to save a pretty penny, and this is how I did it.
1. Find a
job on campus
I am very fortunate in the sense that I didn’t have to work
during college and could put all of my time into school. But after I quit track my
freshman year a lot of my time opened up and I knew I wanted to travel, so I
found a job. Luckily I went to a big school, and despite not having work study I
was able to find a job fairly easily. That being said, if you do have work
study I would take advantage of this and ask around and find out what are some
good jobs. I know for the most part people who work in the mail room can just
work on homework. If you can find a job where you can spend some time doing homework it’s a win win. You make money and you have time allotted each week to do
your work. You can also pick up a side hustle working at a restaurant or
tutoring to make some extra money. Name of the game is bumping up your income,
so anyway you can make money while still having enough time to focus on your
studies is key.
2. Textbooks
Make sure you do your research on textbooks and try to sell
them back at the end of the semester. I will never forget the shock of my first
time buying textbooks, I think my first semester I spent around $500 on
textbooks. Now I always wait until the first day of classes to see
if my teacher requires the textbook or I ask around to see if friends
that have taken it before actually used the textbook and felt it was necessary.
There’s nothing worse than buying a $200 textbook and never even cracking it
open. Also, check online to make sure you’re getting the lowest price possible,
I always use slugbooks (be careful buying used if you need an access code
though because those are super expensive and you don’t always get it if you buy
used). Another way is just asking friends who took the class before if you can
use their old textbook or checking your campuses facebook page to see if
anyone’s selling a textbook you need. The last thing is make sure you sell your
textbooks after you’re done with them! If a course is outside your major and
you’re never going to use the textbook again try selling back to amazon or
Barnes and Noble. Another tip is that if you have to buy a book, research how
much you can sell it back for because it might be worth spending the extra $10
to get
a bound book instead of loose leaf or online, because you can sell it
back for half price or more sometimes. This is definitely a mistake I made
freshman year, I could have got over $150 back if I had spent $30 more to get
hard copies.
3. Don’t eat
out
I know, I know the dining halls are terrible, I get it. However,
give yourself a budget for eating out every month because it adds up. Swipe
friends that live off campus into the dining hall instead of going out to eat.
You can make up a million excuses as to why you deserve the falafel after your
exam on Monday, or to go with your friends to get coffee before class, or you
get pizza after going out. Trust me, it adds up. Save yourself $20 a week from
not going out to eat (or more if you eat out more frequently) and save yourself
the $2.74 each day from getting dunks, I know the dining hall coffee is bad but
you can make it work. Say you spend $20 a week going out to eat and $10 a week
on coffee. Take the $30 x 14 week semester = $420. There’s your plane ticket
somewhere. Set goals, make a budget, and remember the food in Costa Rica was
300 times better than the take out around campus.
4. No online
shopping or spending unnecessary money
This is one that I see a lot of people struggle with, it’s
so easy when you’re in class to online shop. Don’t try and keep up with the
Jones', it’s bad for your wallet, and fast fashion in most likely unethical
and bad for the environment. Stay off shopping websites when you’re in class,
and try your best to pay attention. You’ll thank yourself the night before
midterms when you actually took notes or when you’re on the plane going
somewhere. Another thing is monthly subscriptions, you don’t need Apple Music
and Spotify even if you have the student discount. Don’t spend the money after
your 6 months free trial of Amazon Prime
ends, because it just makes it easier to buy unnecessary things. Make a list of
things you want/need and if a couple weeks go by then think about getting it if
it’s within reason. Again, set a budget for yourself for shopping or target
visits or amazon or whatever else you justify dropping a lot of unnecessary
money on.
5. Take
advantage of college discounts
The last one is take advantage of college discounts and
college apps that give rewards. I know I definitely take advantage of the
student Apple Music discount or the 15% off Banana Republic. When you go in a
store and are about to buy something just ask if they have a student discount,
or look it up if you’re too shy to ask (was way to guilty of this when I was
younger). Also, just looking for coupons in general, especially if you’re
crafting for a little, most craft stores have really good coupons online.
Lastly, I use Pocket Points, you get a point for every 5 minutes you have your
phone locked in class. The points add up pretty quickly and it can get you some
pretty nice discounts online or at restaurants near you.
That's my short list of the easiest ways to save money in college, if you use any
of these tips, set the money aside that you saved from using the discount or
coupon and put it towards a travel fund. Remember the little things add up, and college is a great time to learn how to get your finances in check.
