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Tips for Being Thrifty & Being in College

TheLoveBandit

TheLoveBandit

Retired Never Was, Coulda been wannabe
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Feb 22, 2000
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118 Ways to save money in college


118 Ways to Save Money in College

So you have already looked for scholarships, grants, and loans and are still finding it hard to pay your way through college? It goes without saying that the typical college student is either broke or financially hanging in the balance most of the time. We’ve assembled a long list of both practical and creative ways you can save some green while you’re going to campus.


Sections on...
Managing your money
Alcohol
Books
Food
Computers
Entertainment
Living (Apt)
Transportation
Travel
.... and a lot more.


I post this in hopes of helping some of our starving college students, but also to get a little peer-to-peer feedback on things that actually work and aren't listed, or things listed that aren't very realistic.

So, how do YOU manage to live while in college?
 
i was too lazy to read the list but i'd reccomend
-bringing lunch
-not buying expensive coffee/energy drinks/vitamin water
-enjoy the free university entertainment
and a huge one TAKE THE BUS!!!

i know how it is, last semester i lived off social services in a sober halfway house.
earning a whopping 67.50 every 2 weeks!!!
luckily this semester i lived off the grants from last semester.

i'll be screwed in the fall, i'm going to a differnt much more expensive university and me and my gf hafta pay our own way
 
With the rising costs of gas, I've heard several students on my campus talk about alternatives to save money be it to put gas in their cars or even just going out and having fun.

Some things that I have done, and I'll continue working on finding new things.

-Taking the bus (our university offers a free student bus pass)
-Minimizing dining out and saving it for special occasions or once a week
-Carpooling
-Minimizing trips to the grocery store (buying more at one time for fewer trips
-Planting a garden, which minimizes needs to go out and purchase fruits/veggies (will also be canned at the end of the season)
-Discounted movies - Keresotes offers a card that you can go to movies for $5 after they have been released for approximately a week

What are yours? (Keep it legal!)
 
- Buy lots of bananas. They're cheap, healthy, easily transportable and filling.
- Use natural light during the day
- Use fluorescent lightbulbs at night
- Use power savers and turn them off when you're not using them.
 
Chaos Butterfly said:
- Making my own lunch and taking it with me instead of eating on campus.
- Not drinking during the week
Click to expand...

Agreed on both accounts, CB. I forgot my lunch one day, and my lunch cost me about $8 for some damn chicken salad and an iced tea! 8o
 
mac n cheese and ramen !

whats the current price of bananas up there? my girl was just in the states for some job training, and she was shocked at the price. since alot of the bananas in the states come from costa rica, i just like seeing the intense price difference. the price down here is around 12 colones each (about 2.4 cents USD), so a bunch of 12 bananas will cost around ~30 cents USD.
 
wow! she was up north, and was paying 1.99 USD a pound. crazy crazy. is Chiquita or Dole THAT greedy?? i dont see how they warrant such a HUGE price increase.
 
A decent broadband internet connection will mean that you never have to pay for movies or music ever again. I pay AU$60 a month for mine and it pays for itself ten or twenty times over. I see all the movies I want and listen to all the music I want, all for sixty bucks.

[I guess you could argue this is illegal, but since I'm sure the OP's intention was to prevent people from saying 'deal lots of drugs!' I'm sure it'll be fine...]
 
unfortunately here, the local cable monopoly requires you to subscribe to cable tv in order to get cable internet. otherwise, i'd drop the cable tv subscription. i download everything from torrents anyway
 
chilidog said:
wow! she was up north, and was paying 1.99 USD a pound. crazy crazy. is Chiquita or Dole THAT greedy?? i dont see how they warrant such a HUGE price increase.
Click to expand...

To play Devil's Advocate for a moment if I may, I know that a lot of fruits and veggies, particularly out of season ones in the U.S., are generally more expensive because of a few reasons such as 1) Importing = traveling = more money for gas and 2) Since they are imported, the prices are usually more expensive since they aren't "local".

I don't really mind since I buy 3 at a time, like I mentioned, but even tomatoes can be pretty damn pricey here sometimes (including canned veggies that don't taste like ass), which is why I grow some of my own vegetables during summer months here.
 
i guess it goes both ways, but i always contributed it to corporate greed for some reason. food imported from the states usually goes for about twice-thrice the retail price down here
 
i had a meal plan last year at school. they had large baskets of fruit by the door when you leave. i always graba bunch of fruits. makes for a good lunch on the run, or a late night snack.

watch movies on the internet

pass time on bluelight(cheap entertainment!)

i sometimes doubt how much this works, but when i drive i rarely use the airconditioning, i just roll the windows down. its hot sometimes, but not too bad
 
We've been making it so our A/C doesn't turn on until its pretty uncomfortable in the apartment and at night it just gets turned off.

Make sure to switch your light bulbs out to the energy saving kind! They last longer and do save money.

Sell back the books you used for classes

For food: Grow a garden, shop at the farmers market, cook dinners with friends, learn creative ramen recipes!
 
regarding groceries: check for coupons (old discarded sunday circulars)
check out your local grocer's circular online to see what's on sale. buy produce from a produce stand and buy toiletries/paper goods and what-not from big box stores if you can. buy store brand!!!

pack a lunch for sure! and snacks! and bring your own drinks

get dvd's from the library for free! mine actually has a great selection

check for discount codes on random things you need when purchasing online- so easy!

vent covers!!! these are magnetic covers that you can use to cover the a/c vent in rooms you're not using...genius.

buy a water filter pitcher instead of bottled water

drink good beer for the first two, then switch to cheap stuff once you've exhausted your taste buds

get a sugar daddy!
 
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