Let’s face it: saving money as a college student isn’t easy, and it certainly isn’t fun. With these three suggestions, life can still be tasty, fun, and, of course, inexpensive.
1. When being a student you have to deal with a tight budget and at the same time wanting to be social and do all the cool things the student life has to offer outside of school.Unfortunately this almost never goes hand in hand with your student budget.
Here are three examples that could ease this situation in terms of food:
- You don’t have to be antisocial and separated from your friends when they are going out and enjoying the outdoors. Take food with you to the park or the beach, or even better, make all your friends bring food and you all can have picnic or a potluck!
- When grocery shopping, stick to your shopping list. This might seem like an easy fix but don’t underestimate it’s power. A solid grocery list can be challenging but very rewarding.
- Try to buy your groceries in the beginning of the week to stop the temptation of eating out. If your have food at home you often feel guilty if you are not consuming groceries before they expire.
- The 99 cent store is great store for example snacks, cabinet basics, as well as vegetables and fruits. At Smart and Final you can find big packages of almost everything, which can make you save a lot of money. Finally, you can find some great deals at Ralph’s when it comes to meat and fish, for example. Signing up for discount cards is also a great way to safe a little cash.
2. Groupon is an online company, offering different deals where people discover and save money on amazing things to do, see, eat and buy. They offer different deals from time to time with a huge selection of different offers where everyone can find something that appeals to them. Here you can save money on everything from make-up, entrances fees to different cultural events, training facilities, restaurants and outdoor activity. Gather your friends to buy together to even save more and have a fun day together.
Here are three tips to get the most out of Groupon deals:
- Subscribe your email before your first purchase and you will get a gift certificate of $10 that you can use on your first purchase. You will also receive emails with different deals and promotion codes that you can share with your friends.
- Plan ahead if there is specific excursions you want to do spend some time looking it up online and the chance of getting a good deal or a coupon are higher.
- Use social media to get the inside scoop on deals. Groupon is known for leaking information to build up excitement, and they turn to social media rather than emails.
3. Volunteer your time! Now bear with me here—although this may seem counterproductive, strategic volunteering can actually save you money. As many college students know, in addition to the price of food and daily activities, large events can drain hundreds, even thousands of dollars out of their pockets. One smart way to enjoy your favorite concerts, festivals, and other events is to offer your time as a volunteer. - Not only do you get to enjoy the concert/festival for close to nothing (taking into consideration the cost of dining and housing), but you also get to put said concert/festival on your resume! Imagine that—having the ability to detail in a job interview how Coachella changed your life and not looking like a party crazed teenager. Bonus points, of course, if you have any interest in the music industry or event planning.
- As a volunteer, you don’t experience the event in the same way you would as a regular attendee. Yes, this may limit your alcoholic beverage consumption to… well… none, but volunteers are
granted infinite more opportunity at special events. Volunteers at special events such as festivals and concerts oftentimes have the best seat in the house—near the sound booth, directly at the base of the stage, or oftentimes even backstage. - Finally, volunteers are presented with much more opportunities than they otherwise would be had they attended the event as a regular spectator. Volunteers are able to enter the venue as priority and are often treated as respected, authority figures. In addition to this, volunteers are also given the opportunity to interact with performers. In college, we have the ability to drink with our friends at just about any moment, but rarely do we have the ability to work for and potentially meet our favorite artists. When it comes to volunteering, you are not only saving money, but are also creating an incredible memory–that is truly priceless.
