College Life: 5 Financial Tips that will save your Wallet’s Life in School

Save Money words on a chalkboard illustrating back to school savings or instructions on how to save on your education costs. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

College can be a life-shaping financial experience. It is the start of independence for young people and the genesis of credit scores, bank accounts, car loans, and other firsts. If you are starting this journey with limited financial education or if you would like to know some practical tools for keeping as much of your money as you can, here are five financial areas where you can cut costs while in college.

Grocery Shopping

Buy with cash. Nothing keeps you on a budget like a cash system. Most people don’t have the willpower to spend less on credit. Figure out how much you can afford and then don’t take more than that to the store. This helps shoppers to buy only necessities and to scout out sales and stockpile items that are deeply discounted. Pick a time when you are satiated and well-rested to shop. Also, shopping on ad days, clearance racks, and with coupons will extend your money.

Coupons

Coupons are invaluable in saving money. Stacking coupons is a great idea as well. This simply means that you wait until a sale of an item and use the coupon on top of the sale discount for maximal savings. For example, there are some amazing discounts and coupons for Sears on the internet that are good to have because they carry such a large range of items needed in college from clothes and perfumes to household and electronic items.

Textbooks

Used textbooks may be the way to go. There are many ways to obtain used copies of textbooks. The cheapest way is to borrow from a friend. This does mean that you will want to take excellent care of the items borrowed and return them in the same condition you received them in. There are also websites to rent college books in case you won’t need the book for future reference like in the case of elective courses. Examples of book rental sites include Chegg.com and Bookrenter.com. You can buy used books on the myriad of book purchase sites like Amazon, Half Price Books, or Abe Books.

Clothing

Buy classic clothing that will not go out of style and spend more on those items to make sure they are quality and will last.

Living Expenses

Live with as many people as your lease will allow. This will allow you to divide not only rent but utilities as well.

My name is Lizzie Weakley and I am a freelance writer from Columbus, Ohio. I went to college at The Ohio State University where I studied communications. I enjoy the outdoors and long walks in the park with my 3-year-old husky Snowball.