TOP MONEY SAVING TIPS FROM A FRUGAL COLLEGE STUDENT
A few months ago I visited a college while in Missouri called College of the Ozarks. While I visited college of the Ozarks I had the pleasure of meeting a lovely young woman named Kendra. My husband and I spoke with Kendra for just a short while we were there at the college. Kendra and I exchanged some information and she offered to help me with anything further I needed for the post I was creating regarding the college she attends. I have had the pleasure of chatting with Kendra again virtually she has agreed to share with us some great money saving tips that may help some other college students to save more money. Funds are usually tight for most college students. I can remember the money challenges college students face very well. Kendra and I both hope that this post will be able to help some other college students to stretch their budgets while in college. So without further introduction I will allow Kendra share with you some great money-saving tips with you all now.
Tips which seem to have helped me or I've heard of other fellow frugal college students using:
Search out flexible, yet high paying jobs; ask friends, family members, and church family if they know any local business owners that need help and would provide consistent work
Start (or work for) a small side business that is flexible and high paying; cleaning people's homes & delivering pizza are two jobs that can be well-paying jobs for college students
Save your change and you will be surprised how quickly it adds up. I started collecting loose change in an old coffee can in my car over a year ago...I still haven't checked how much I have in there, but every little penny counts. Saving your change can really add up to quite a bit over time.
Find creative ways to spend time with friends w/o spending a ton of money:
Outdoor person? Go hiking or hammocking: a good hammock off Amazon is only $20-30 & you can use it time & time again.
Indoor person? Rent movies from the library on your campus & host a dorm party instead of going to the theatres.
learn to make your favorite treats, so you can make them at home or in your dorm instead of spending all of your extra money on coffee or donuts. For me, this meant learning to make different kinds of coffee instead of buying it everyday.
Save on transportation costs:
Ask around if anyone is selling a vehicle. Used vehicles are the best choice because of the lower cost and the fact that buying new means decreased value as you drive the car off the lot. also "the rate of dependability is very similar in used and new vehicles if you shop wisely." My father said this one he used to be a car dealer and we only shopped for used cars my whole life.
Car pool with friends and family whenever possible. This gives you extra time with them as a bonus and you can save a lot in gas money.
One thing that I wanted to mention from my own experience in college is how much you can save buying used textbooks. Buying used textbooks, share textbooks with other students you can trust or rent them instead. This can save you some significant money while in school because new books can cost a lot of money.
There are many options for this such as:
Buying used textbooks…
These are just a few options to help save you money when purchasing textbooks.With Ebay you can buy and sell used textbooks. Why not consider reselling your textbooks after you have completed your courses. You can do this either on Ebay or you could possibly sell to other college students.
An additional tip I would also include
Look for potential jobs that offer tuition reimbursement (Many hospitals offer this as an option) Some may require you to work full time to receive this benefit. I recognize this would not wok for every college student. However some students do work full time while in college.Thank you so much Kendra for the wonderful helpful ideas that can hopefully help some other students save money while they attend college. Kendra shared with me that she used to blog occasionally. I just want to say I highly recommend that you start a blog again Kendra to share your stories with the world.
