It is very important to save money for students that can help them in their future in today's world. Saving money is important for students as saving money helps them to get the things they want in the future without spending it on unnecessary things in the present. By saving money, you learn how to be disciplined in life. Saving money teaches you to prioritize things. It also teaches you to work hard and how to become patient.
If you want to save money in your college and student life, you need to be disciplined. It is very important to be disciplined in your life to do good things and to try and learn new things. Personal finance is a discipline. It's not something that happens automatically, you have to make a conscious decision to practice good money habits.
One of the best ways to learn about personal finances is to read. By reading good books, you can learn more and more about new and good things that will surely help you in your future decisions. Reading can make your life better.
There are so many ways by which you can spend less and save more. Let's just dive into those ideas that can help you for sure in saving money as a student.
Ways to save money in college
1. Use second-hand books
When you buy a new book, you are expected to pay more for it. But, did you know, you can buy second-hand books and pay less. In that way, you can save more. Buying second-hand books can be a lot cheaper than buying brand new books and it has a lot of benefits also.
When we start thinking about the benefits of using second-hand books, the first thing that came to our mind is that we can save money but it also has other benefits. By buying second-hand books, we are contributing to our environment also at the same time by reusing the books again and again, which means we are doing our part to help save the planet.
It is better to buy second-hand books if you want to save money rather than wasting your money on new books that can be costly.
Using second-hand books is the best option that a college student can have.
2. Make your own meal
Eating outside daily can be expensive. I've always loved eating outside. It's one of my favorite things to do, but I've been trying to cut back on how much I eat outdoors because I've realized that it's causing me to spend a lot of further money than I'd like. I've been trying to avoid eating outside as much as possible recently to save money. I've realized that I can save a lot of money by avoiding eating outside and rather choosing to eat food that I've cooked at home.
Eating outside daily can badly affect your health also. It's easy to eat outside because there are so many restaurants. I think that eating out is less healthy than cooking our own food at home, Eating out is also expensive.
3. Keeping track of your expenses
A lot of times we have got no idea where we are spending our money. In this case, it will be helpful if you just simply make records of your expenses. Keeping track of your expenses helps you to know if you are spending money on unnecessary or irrelevant items or not. If you are spending your valuable money on unnecessary items, try to eliminate those expenses from your routine.
Also, you can make a budget for the necessary items such as food, stationery, rent, bills, etc. That way you will know how much money you need to spend on necessary things and then you can split your budget accordingly.
4. Do online shopping
In my opinion, online shopping is better than traditional shopping. You can save a lot of money by doing online shopping in comparison to offline shopping.
I am giving you some tips from which you can save some money while doing online shopping.
The tips are :
- Always search on incognito mode. You may now think why I am telling you to search in incognito mode. The reason behind this is that when you are searching for a particular product on sites, the site can detect this and they can intentionally hike up the prices. So, it is better to use incognito mode.
- Also, some browser extensions can notify when the prices come down. This will also help you to save some money when you are doing online shopping.
- You can also compare the prices on google. Sometimes, there are huge differences between the same product on different websites. So, it is always worth checking beforehand.
Some other tips that can be helpful to you :
- If you want to watch a new movie, never go on the first day first show. The tickets are more costly on the first day. It is better that you should go 4 to 5 days later after release.
- After the movie, if you want to enjoy brunch or have dinner outside, I would recommend using an online wallet such as a debit card, you can avail yourself points from them. You can collect these points and can get free stuff. Isn't this amazing?
5. Avail the student discounts
As a student, your student ID card can be very helpful and can provide you with some discounts in different places. Amazing, right?
You can get amazing discounts on various items such as electronics, restaurants, home decor, furniture, and even clothing. Mainly, every site offers student discounts that can help you to save some extra money.
Adidas offers 15% off to students on their items. Amazon is also included in this list. It also provides above 15% discount on different items such as accessories, computers, mobile phones, etc. Besides, Adidas and Amazon, many other sites offer such types of discounts to college students.
You have to verify with your student ID card and you can enjoy these discounts and can save some extra money for your future needs.
To know more detail about student discounts, read this article by dealhack: Read the article
6. Learn to bargain
Bargaining is a skill that one has to know to save some extra money in college life. Not only in college life, but it is a basic life skill that can help you in several ways.
There is a saying "A penny save is a penny earned."
When you are going out shopping or to buy something, BARGAIN!! I am sure it will help you for sure to save extra bucks that you can use for other things. Bargaining is an important skill that you have to learn.
7. Book cheaper accommodation
If you are studying in another city away from your home, then it is one of the important decisions that you guys will be making. Look for cheaper accommodation that suits your budget rather than looking for expensive accommodation because this is a fixed expenditure that you will be making each and every month. So, it is better to live in cheaper accommodation in your college days.
Book an accommodation that suits your living style and budget so that you can't have money problems. By living in cheaper accommodation, you will be able to save some money each month.
8. Cheaper Transportation
There is no hidden fact that in college life you will be spending more money on traveling. You have to travel to college if your accommodation is far away from your college. You have to travel for personal needs, for assignments and there can be other reasons also for which you have to travel which will add up your expenses.
And, if you are choosing an expensive mode of transportation, it's not going to help you. So, it is better if you look for cheaper transportation rather than expensive ones. By doing this, you will be able to save some extra bucks.
9. Make money / Do a side hustle
You can only save money if you have money. The question here arises why you need to make money as a college student, why not only enjoy your college life and do study.
Here is the answer to that question.
First of all, you want to save money.
Another reason can be you will know the value of money and will know how to manage the money.
To help you, I am going to talk about some ways how you can earn money as a college student.
a) Get an internship.
Look for an internship based on your skills. By doing internships, you can advance your skills and can earn extra money that will help you obviously. Seems like a good deal. Isn't it?
Look for an internship around your college, or online. There are so many websites on which many recruiters post regularly about hiring employees. Doing an internship is a plus point for your career also.
Remember, there are employers who don't pay for internships but there are many internships available that are paid. You can think about this and choose wisely.
b) Rent your stuff.
Do you have stuff that you don't use anymore? Then, rent it out. It can be anything like your bicycle, your laptop, or even your clothing. You can make some extra money by renting out your stuff to someone who needs it. This will help both parties. The person who is renting things and the person who is receiving them.
c) Work in retail.
This is a great option for college students as it doesn't require any hard skills and it can be done by anyone. Many employers need staff to help them in their businesses, you can be that one.
This is a great option to have. Must try.
10. Introspect
At the end of the month, analyze where are you spending your money and cut out all unnecessary expenses.
Also, you can try earning some money by doing part-time jobs. There is no shame in doing this if you really want to make and save some extra bucks. It's your college life, it's the best time of your life to try new things. Go outside and look for the things that you can really do. Make full use of your skills.
Conclusion
I am concluding this by saying that follow these tips to save some extra bucks in your college life and enjoy your college life to the fullest.
To save money in your college life, we have talked about these points which are as follows:
1. Use second-hand books.
2. Make your meal.
3. Keep track of your expense.
4. Do online shopping.
5. Avail the student discounts.
6. Learn to bargain.
7. Look for cheaper accommodation.
8. Use cheaper transportation.
9. Make money / Do a side hustle.
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