Nothing is as exciting to a high school student as pursuing higher education at the university of their choice. As a young adult, this is a golden opportunity for mastering your own destiny and being away from your parents’ constant scrutiny. Of course, learning how to save more money is a precursor to becoming a responsible person.
On the other hand, many students are loaded with cash at the beginning of a semester, but they misuse it and end up broke anyway. The good news is that there are ways students can save cash while studying for college. Here are ten of the best money saving hacks:
Do freelance work. Thanks to the Internet, you can now work online in the comfort of your room and earn enough money to sustain you on campus. All you have to do is to join an online assignment writing service and use the money earned to cater for your needs while saving the little you have.
Reside off campus. Many people prefer residing on campus rather than off the university grounds. This is partly because of the convenience it brings and especially if you are new to that environment. Furthermore, the college environment is considered more secure than staying off-campus; unfortunately, residing on campus is often costlier.
Schedule ‘no-spend’ days. Planning not to spend anything is harder than it sounds, but it’s still possible. For instance, you can choose to walk instead of taking a bus on certain days. Even if you only manage to save a little, the discipline you acquire by doing so helps cultivate your saving culture.
Look for product discounts. When we have money to spend, we rarely care about where we shop or commodity prices. In the process, we end up buying items that could have been purchased elsewhere at discounted prices. Students should also take advantage of their student identification cards for additional savings when they can.
Earn loan interest. If you benefit from student loans and happen to receive a lump sum amount, put the extra cash in an interest-generating account.
Cancel expensive service contracts. Always be on the lookout for better service contracts. When you find them, inform the provider of your intentions to terminate your contract unless you get the same deal offered by their rival. It may sound like blackmail, but it usually works.
Purchase products from ‘cash back’ sites. Look for specific online sites such as Top Cashback, Swag Bucks, and Quidco that offer ‘cash back’ guarantees.
Apply for academic freebies. Consider applying for grants and scholarships. If you get a scholarship, you’ll save a huge amount of money that can be used to cover your college expenses. If you’re disabled, consider applying for special disability funds that are out there.
Insure your phone. If you have a pricey phone, it’s good to insure it against theft and damages. Insuring a phone may seem an expensive affair, but it can save you money when the unexpected happens as the insurance company will compensate you with a new phone instead of you forking for more cash from your pockets.
Cut your expenses. If you live in a place with fast and unlimited Internet service, then you don’t have to subscribe to pay TV as you can stream contents from sites such as Amazon-prime and Netflix. You can also watch YouTube, or use other similar video platforms instead of relying on live TV.
So there you have it; as you can see, there are more than a few money saving tips you can take advantage of to save cash while still in college. Just be sure to choose the ones that are best-suited to your particular situation.
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One other opportunity to reduce academic expenses is purchasing textbooks from somewhere other than the campus bookstore (i.e. online from a reputable source, or even fellow students) and then re-selling them once the semester is over if there’s no intention to keep the texts for later reference.
Doing that during undergrad studies, I was able to break even most semesters or, at worst, spent about $50 net. Beats renting by a pretty decent margin, too!
Great tip, Duane! The corollary to your suggestion is to only buy used textbooks.