According to 2014 reports, an average student at state college spends from $8,000 annually to pay for his or her education, while their peers in private colleges give away (be ready!) almost $30,000 per year. A medium price for one-year course textbooks constitutes $600-1,000 each year. What’s next? Food. Typically, meal plan costs around $700 per semester, huh? Add your girlfriend, traveling, hobby, sports, and some fun during the weekend. Now what, an empty wallet? No good, let’s deal with it.
No matter whether you’re a freshman or fifth-year student, you’ve surely faced the problem of sorry-not-today-cause-I-have-no-money or I-will-buy-it-when-I-earn-some not even once. Is it so difficult for students to make up their budget? Well, to tell the truth, everything depends on your personal level of organization. Moreover, some habits you develop in college may come in handy in the future, so prepare to take some notes of what we teach you here.
Know why you have to save money
Saving doesn’t make greedy, it means that you have an idea what to conserve money for. Thus, you have a specific aim and certain plans for the future. So, design a list of important thigs you want to have or achieve in your life.
Spend less than you have
If there’s something new, bright, freaking awesome, and three of your classmates already have it – remember that there are still a lot of people who can live without this drop dead gorgeous stuff, so can you. Your time will come.
Use your student status
College and university give you plenty of opportunities to eat, buy, and get different services with special discounts. Use them everywhere and don’t forget about your friends – you can organize your common shopping and share goods and clothes with each other. Mix business with pleasure.
Reduce coffee and café
You like to chat with friends in the cafe, you like to do your homework there, you like the food and the music. However, if to compose a list of things you mainly spend money on (try it, and you’ll see), these places will take gold. Try cooking at home. It’ll not only reduce your expenses, but will also make you feel yourself a chef. In addition, it is a good chance to eat healthy food that doesn’t strike your pocket. Be sure, only vegetarian 20-year-old student can spend less than $100 per week. Thus, as an experiment, allow yourself cafe say once a week and thank us later.
Books, book, boo…
Thou Shalt Not Buy New Books. Can you imagine that an average student should spend more than $500 each year if he or she wants to use a new book. What’s the difference between the new one and yellow-paged old one? The smell? Come on, visit your mates who previously used the same book at the college and buy them some beer if they agree to lend it to you. Or buy it from them at a reasonable price (later on you can sell it yourself). If you don’t have such friends, Amazon.com is another option where you can purchase or rent a used book. Besides, don’t forget about libraries, where you can scan or take a photo of necessary pages.
Sports save you and your purse
Apart from healthy food, don’t forget to keep fit and do exercise. Morning jogging will strengthen your heart and fortify you against colds. If you still can’t get what we mean, there’s a simple formula: the healthier you are, the less money you waste on medicines.
And the last but not least, find a job. It’s not that difficult, just pull yourself together. Previously, we’ve offered a range of possible vacancies for students, so it’s up for you to decide which suits you, your schedule, and your preferences. Learn to set right goals if you aspire to have what you love, in other case you’ll have to love only what you have.
