What are some ways to save money and manage it while going to college?
By chantel from Portland
1) Learn the difference between needs and wants.
2) If you don't go anywhere, you won't need a car.
3) Get used to cheap meals. Get a rotisserie chicken and a head of cabbage and make soup, sandwiches, cole slaw, burritos, etc. I have a friend who does this and he finds it quite satisfying. The two items can last you all week for lunches.
4) Of course, buy books and other necessities second hand whenever possible.
5) Trade tutoring for goodies. Or give it away. What goes around comes around.
6) Attend the free events on campus for entertainment.
7) Don't go to stores unless you have a list, coupons for most of the stuff you're buying, and have already eaten.
Get a small slow cooker. Find one with a removable container, this will make clean up easy. Now take the bones from last nights barbecue chicken with some onion, garlic and veggies of your choice and water to cover. Now your free to study, go to class, chill, dinner will be ready when you are. Remove the bones and discard. You can add rice at the start or quick rice about 20 min. before finished. Pasta only takes about 10 min at the end. One problem, the smell will have half your dorm clambering for the left overs. Now that you have made your first slow cooker dinner get ready to use anything you can think of to make dinner, slow and oh cheap.
Get an air popcorn popper; healthy, and delightful and actually nutricious to snack on! You can easily put taco seasonings; make your own parmisian cheese and garlic salt seasonings; this always smells delightful and lifts your mood! You will never feel deprived with this treat around! Rice cooker is wonderful as well; get from bulk; get jasmine wonderfully aromatic; and balsmati; get your seasonings by the tablespoon in bulk; far cheaper; take a steel water bottle with you and fill from fountains; can also take a thermos (stanley) with you; full of hot water/hot chocolate/coffee; carry tea bags with you.
This is a page about saving money on meals at college. Here is some great information to consider, if you are looking into using a meal plan for your college student.
This is a page about cheap meal ideas for a college student. Many college students need to eat on a budget.
This page is about saving money on textbooks. A major cost of attending college is purchasing the textbooks needed for your courses.
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
I am back in college after a bad illness at age 35, and my husband ditched me, so pickings are slim. I have a few suggestions to stretch those dollars, which are very few these days.
Paying for college is a major headache, but the costs incurred while studying there are also high. There are ways to save money while you're at college, which can help pay for the next semester.
Tips for saving money in college as suggested by our ThriftyFun community. Do you have any advice to share? Feel free to post your ideas below.
