Like many of you, I am a broke college student. With the break, I was not able to work the same amount as I was before. Therefore leading to my personal dilemma of bills vs. school supplies. However, I have learned a bunch of tips and tricks through online research and advice from others to make back to school way less stressful and more affordable.
- Reuse Old School Supplies
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In all honesty, there is no need to buy new school supplies when you already have perfectly good old supplies! For folders and binders, they just need to be emptied out. However, with notebooks, you can use the pages that you did not write on as filler paper. This option is also really eco-friendly.
- Shop at the Dollar or Clearance Store
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One of my favorite places to go shop is the dollar store due to affordability. In fact, there is also one close to campus that has everything you need. You do not need to spend more on basic school supplies, and I promise they will perform the same task.
- Buy Refurbished or Used Items
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If you are in need of a new laptop or calculator for school, I strongly encourage you to buy a refurbished or used one. Moreover, never buy or rent a new textbook! Used textbooks perform the same as a brand new one and are way less expensive. Similar to reusing of basic school supplies, this is also eco-friendly as well as budget-friendly.
- Use Coupons
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This is a no-brainer, coupons will save you a tremendous amount of money in any circumstance. There are various websites such as coupons.com that will help you go back to school on a budget. This will help a lot if you are looking to buy school supplies at an online vendor.
- Price Check Your Items
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If you feel like you could get this item cheaper somewhere else, you probably can. With textbooks, you can almost always find a cheaper version than that at the college bookstore. In fact, I have started just google-searching IBSNs’ to compare prices from multiple different sellers.
- Buy School Supplies in Bulk
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This may seem a bit odd, but trust me when I say buying things in bulk will save you tons of time and money. This will ensure that you have leftover school supplies for the following semester. That way you will not have to keep going back to school shopping every single semester.
- Ask For Financial Help
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I am personally someone who hates asking for help, but sometimes it is necessary. You can always ask a close friend or family member who would not mind giving or loaning you some money to help out. Moreover, you can also talk to someone from the university about your financial situation and they can help you.
This back to school period is extremely hectic and expensive, but I hope with all of these tips and tricks you all can afford all of your school supplies and get by financially.