College is supposed by many to be the best time of a student’s life. It signifies independence and having lots of fun. Unluckily, having the right time means higher daily expenses. Most college students get help from parents, scholarships and student loans to pay off their tuition fees. Learning to live on your own sans parents may be challenging, but with a little bit of fiscal discipline, one may learn on how to estimate resources to achieve some form of surplus.
Since you are auditing college full-time, you will only have a few hours each week to work and earn some money. Thus, it is essential that you learn how to reduce your costs and keep to a budget.
For those who are lucky enough to attend college, here is some guide for you to save as much as you can during those times:
Look for a low cost living place that meets your requirements.
In many cases, this means staying in a dorm room on your college campus. Do make sure that you also check the rental prices of the apartments near your campus. Sometimes, they are cheaper particularly if you are dealing with a roommate. The best and cheapest option is still staying at your parents’ house particularly if it is close enough for you to travel to college easily.
Estimates your meals.
If you are staying in a dorm room, you should get a meal plan as it is so much cheaper than eating out if cooking is not an option. If you are living off campus, you should consider adapting your meals instead of eating out as you can save a lot of money over the long term.
Shop smart for your groceries.
Keep a look-out for sales and promotions. Have a habit to buy in-store brands and use coupons. Even you are only buying snacks; you should use these methods. You will be amazed that you can save quite a lot of money by doing these things. If possible, don’t buy your snacks from campus vending machines.
These things cost much less from the grocery store. Every cent and dollar contribute to your savings. You can read more about money saving in faq for students.
Attend campus events.
School events give you free entertainment, and many of them offer free food. Hence, this can keep you from being bored and save you from spending on pleasure and food.
Go to house parties or create your entertainment.
Instead of going to clubs or expensive restaurants with your friends on weekends, you can go to house parties. Or you can rent movies from the library for free and watch with some friends at a friend’s place. Everyone can bring some food and drinks. It is affordable and more fun this way.
Saving money is a good habit to cultivate particularly when it is so critical during your school years. But seeing your spending does not mean that you have to give up having fun. By saving money on your daily expenses, you can stretch your insufficient funds further and have more money to put toward having a real time later.
This article was written by SudyFaq writers.