5 Ways College Students Can Save Money
Hello everyone! Welcome back to my blog! I thought about doing a different type of post today. My entire teen to adult life, I've been known to be really good at saving money. I want to share some of my tips and tricks with everyone so money can be saved all around!
So, let's get started.
The biggest burden I feel that is on college/university students is buying textbooks. I always hate having to buy textbooks; especially if its for a class that doesn't end up using the textbook or a general ED class that you have to take to graduate. I would like to think that most people know this already but buying used textbooks online is the best way to go. I literally cringe when people buy a textbook from the bookstore on campus because they are almost always overpriced.
My favorite website to use to buy used textbooks is BOOKFINDER.com. Not only can you search for books to buy, you can also search for websites to sell your books on. Bookfinder also compares multiple websites so you can choose the best price for your budget. When buying a textbook, you also get the option to look at new books, not just used. Bookfinder also lists the cheapest price at the top so you don't have to scroll through endless pages of books.
This website has saved me so much money. Instead of paying for a $100 textbook, I can pay sometimes as little as $20! On top of saving money when buying a textbook, I can also return to the site to look at the highest amount I can sell my textbook back for. In the end, you save money and earn some at the end of the semester.
My next tip is honestly my favorite tip; shopping sales and using coupons! Usually, when you sign up for a company's newsletter, they will send you coupons or emails on when a sale will be happening. If you don't check your email as much as I do, companies such as Sephora and Forever 21, have apps instead. Sometimes, you will even get physical coupons that you can use.
The second part of this tip is to sell things that you no longer use. You can sell your clothing, electronics, old toys and books, whatever you have lying around! There are multiple apps that you can use for this or, you can simple sell them on Facebook and meet up with the buyer.
This always comes in handy if you need extra cash and need to get rid of stuff as well. If it even comes down to it, and you're a creative person, you could sell art or jewelry or whatever talent you have! Fiverr.com is a website for freelancers who have a talent in whatever it is can make money on their own time! If you're good at music, a foreign language, writing, etc, you should check out this site! Now if only I had a talent...
Thank you all so much for reading this far! I hope you all enjoyed my tips and I hope they helped you out in some way! If you have any questions, don't be afraid to leave a comment or message me on my Instagram!
Have a great day/night!
Instagram: @lovelykaela
So, let's get started.
The biggest burden I feel that is on college/university students is buying textbooks. I always hate having to buy textbooks; especially if its for a class that doesn't end up using the textbook or a general ED class that you have to take to graduate. I would like to think that most people know this already but buying used textbooks online is the best way to go. I literally cringe when people buy a textbook from the bookstore on campus because they are almost always overpriced.
My favorite website to use to buy used textbooks is BOOKFINDER.com. Not only can you search for books to buy, you can also search for websites to sell your books on. Bookfinder also compares multiple websites so you can choose the best price for your budget. When buying a textbook, you also get the option to look at new books, not just used. Bookfinder also lists the cheapest price at the top so you don't have to scroll through endless pages of books.
This website has saved me so much money. Instead of paying for a $100 textbook, I can pay sometimes as little as $20! On top of saving money when buying a textbook, I can also return to the site to look at the highest amount I can sell my textbook back for. In the end, you save money and earn some at the end of the semester.
My next tip is honestly my favorite tip; shopping sales and using coupons! Usually, when you sign up for a company's newsletter, they will send you coupons or emails on when a sale will be happening. If you don't check your email as much as I do, companies such as Sephora and Forever 21, have apps instead. Sometimes, you will even get physical coupons that you can use.
I put all of my coupons in a designated part of my wallet so that when I'm in a store and I want to buy something, I can easily look to see if there's a coupon I can use. It might feel weird using coupons if you've never done it before but, they will save you so much money.
Chrome also has extensions that will search the internet for you to find coupons. I use Honey which compares deals and searches for coupons and discount codes all at once! I highly suggest getting Honey as it will help make couponing a lot easier.
Shopping sales is just as great as using a coupon. If you really need a pair of boots or a jacket and you don't have any coupons then I would shop sale. The sale section can have a lot of gems that have been overlooked. I have found a lot of cute clothing in the sale section that I wear constantly so it never hurts to look. I would also suggest thrifting.Thrifting can be just as rewarding as shopping at a department store. I have found so many name brand clothing at such a cheap price!
Tip #3; using your student ID. This is a tip that I've used a few times but that I really should start using more. A lot of companies such as Spotify, Amazon, Forever 21 and Topshop have student discounts. Using your student ID is kind of like a coupon and can get you some amazing deals. I personally use Spotify's student discount where I only pay $5 a month instead of $10 for premium. Amazon also gives half price for their prime membership. Forever 21 and Topshop give 10% off of online orders. Allstate insurance can save you up to 20% on your insurance if you have good grades! I will leave a link to a couple websites that give a list of companies that give student discounts!
Tip #4 goes to making yourself a money calendar. What I mean by a money calendar is to write down when your bills are and how much they are. You can also write down the days you get paid or/and receive your financial aid. You can use an entirely separate planner or journal for this but I personally like having everything in one. This tip is rather simple and pretty straightforward. All you need to do is plan ahead of time; write out your bill dates and how much they will be, add up all of your bills that you need to pay and subtract that from how much you will be making that month. I always know that I will have my phone bill, my Ulta and Victoria Secret card bill and gas to pay for at the end of the month. I will then find out how much I will need to pay for my credit cards (depending on if I use them that month) and add on my phone bill. I think that it's pretty simple to make a money calendar. All it really is is a planner full of your bills that you need to pay. It just makes knowing how much money you're spending and how much you have, a lot easier.
The last tip! Tip #5! This tip is kind of a combination or two tips that are really straightforward (as I hope most of these other tips are as well) and require little effort. First of all, open a savings account and/or put your loose change into a jar and don't touch it for the entire year. I do both and it is honestly so exciting to see all the change collect in my jar. For those who do not use cash as much, opening a savings account would be ideal. If you have trouble remembering to put money away, I would suggest making it to where your savings account automatically deducts a certain amount of money from your account every month or so. This way, you'll have money stored away and you won't have to remember to do it yourself! You will be surprised how much money you can round up by saving coins.
Thank you all so much for reading this far! I hope you all enjoyed my tips and I hope they helped you out in some way! If you have any questions, don't be afraid to leave a comment or message me on my Instagram!
Have a great day/night!
Instagram: @lovelykaela
Comments
Post a Comment