The College Student’s Guide to Living Cheaply

Andy Wallner is a freelance writer and web developer that specializes in providing information to students considering a marketing degree, or interested in online and offline marketing information. In his free time, Andy enjoys kayaking, playing trombone in a local jazz band, and learning CSS.

College is hard, especially if you have limited funds available to you. Does that mean you shouldn’t enjoy the college life? Certainly not! There are many ways to save and make money while enjoying your time on campus. Here are some tips to free up some money and some stress while you’re at it.

1) If you’re on top of your schoolwork, you can tutor other students for a little extra cash. In order to tutor someone, usually you need to either really be good at a subject or have taken it previously. Your college career center will usually have this type of program set up. You can also opt to circumvent the career center and tutor people on your own. You can attract clients by posting ads close to classes that you have experience in or have taken before. You can make a lot of money tutoring, and it makes for good experience to put on your resume.

2) Some science departments offer cash or gift cards for research study participation. Look around the psychology, sociology and medical departments for listings. These aren’t often too demanding either of your time or effort, and you can walk away with quite a decent sum depending on the nature of the study.

3) Many colleges offer coupon books for local businesses like cafes and barbershops. Use these to your advantage when going out and about, and don’t forget your student ID. Many places give discounts when you produce your student ID card, most notably movie theaters. Matinees are also cheaper to attend than late night shows, especially on Friday or Saturday nights, so if you really want to see a particular movie just make sure to wake up before the show begins.

4) There are lots of options to cut down on cellphone costs too, like using Ting. Smartphones can be quite expensive, between the cost of texting, data plan, minutes and the cost of the technology itself. It turns out though that you can dump all that (excluding the phone of course!). Most colleges have campus-wide free Wi-Fi, as do many cafes and even some bars, so considering where you will be most of the time it might be cheaper to just cancel your data plan and use local Wi-Fi networks. While you’re at it, think about canceling your texting and voice plans as well- most smartphones have access to free texting apps that use the Internet instead of your texting plan, and programs such as Google Voice offer the option of calling people for free if you have Internet access and a Gmail account.

5) Speaking of the Internet, if you’ve moved out of the dorms and are contemplating getting cable TV, it’s not worth it. Almost everything you can find on TV can be found online, and with fewer ads besides. Just get high speed Internet instead. If you’re really determined to watch specific shows that are current in high quality, there are also subscription based TV/Movie streaming sites available. You can share accounts with your friends to cut costs. Besides that, don’t forget that your library has some movies too, which you can rent for free.

6) Splitting text book costs if multiple friends are taking the same class is another great way to cut corners. Especially with a popular program like a marketing degree, chances are good that you know some people that would be happy to share a textbook. But remember, photocopying portions of a textbook is illegal. The best strategy is to keep an eye for classes that use the same textbook multiple years, and ask one of your friends to sell their textbook to you when the course is complete. Even with new editions, very little is usually changed, and you can get away with using a different edition of a textbook most of the time.

7) One more thing about living off campus is that you will no longer be able to rely on a board plan to keep fed, and as you will soon discover eating can be expensive. If you don’t have a job, you might be able to apply for food stamps in your state, which can help out a lot. Buying in bulk is also a good way to cut down on costs. While the idea of putting money down up front for a membership card to a place like Costco can seem daunting, in the long run you will save much more money shopping there than at a local grocer’s.

8) Also, if you need a new computer, make sure you take advantage of student discount programs that some companies offer. During the summer the Apple store will even sell rebates for printers if you buy a computer along with one, and Dell and HP have similar programs. Be sure to shop around for the best deal.

If issues arise, feel free to ask friends, family members, and fellow students for more tips on saving money. While going through college is a stressful and tough time, just remember everyone has been there and has made it through one way or another. The important part is to enjoy the experience and get a good education, and keeping in mind these tips should help to that end.