Introducing a common dilemma: there’s a hot new dress on sale, the perfect occasion coming up to wear it, but your student loan won’t be seeing your account until September and unfortunately food money must come first. What to do?
Her Campus has a solution for you. Having just posted another item off to an Ebay buyer, I’m proud to say I am £50 richer and can now justify buying the LBD I spotted online, and even have cash to spare for accessories! How did I do it? Simply by looking around my room…To those who consider the word “savings” an alien concept but make up for it by owning the best wardrobe on campus, here are your some top tips on how to maintain your fashion supremacy without splashing the cash.
Clothes
It’s safe to say we all have an abundance of them – including items that probably haven’t been worn for a good six months. If you’re short of cash, why not carry out a wardrobe spring clean and work out what you can afford to lose? As the saying goes: “If in doubt, throw it out” or in this case sell it! There’s a variety of ways to trade in your clothes:
- Ebay – as long as your clothes aren’t too battered (no-one wants to buy a dress covered in the beer some guy spilled on you during that wild night out), you can make a fairly tidy sum if you invest in a decent picture, selling pitch and pricing.
- Car Boot Sales – If one of your housemates brought their car to Uni, why not check out when your local car boots are held and lug your old clothes down there? Even at 50p an item, if you have a lot of spare clothes, it’ll all add up….
- Swishing – this won’t make you any money, but it’s a fun new way to revamp your wardrobe and throw a girly party at the same time! Invite your friends to bring some of their clothes over and get swapping what you no longer wear – you could find yourself rocking the hot new mini skirt you had your eye on since you spotted your friend in it last month, and all for free!
Textbooks
Every student needs them, but what do you do when you have a stack of books you no longer use gathering dust in the corner of your room? Here are some crafty ways to convert that dusty old poetry anthology into some shiny cash:
- Facebook – depending on the time of year, students will be snapping up opportunities to buy their books at a lower price, so why not lend a helping hand and advertise what you’ve got to offer on a society or freshers group? Not only will you have extra cash in your pocket, but you will have helped a fellow student save some.
- UniShark – sites like this one allow you to buy and sell used textbooks proving an invaluable source for those of us lacking in finances. Search for the book you want to sell, find out how much it’s worth, list it on the marketplace and rake in the cash.
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Electronics
If you’re attached to your iPhone or Blackberry but happen to have your old phone tucked away in your drawer gathering dust, why not turn it into a bit of extra cash? Having recently come to the conclusion my Blackberry is dead, I’m upgrading my phone – but not without cashing in first.
- Ebay – electronics often make the most money on ebay, so it’s well worth listing your old iPod or phone if you want to generate some funds. Similarly, sites like Amazon also allow you to sell used products, so it’s worth looking around to see which site will benefit you most.
- Envirofone – simply enter your phone model, find out how much it’s worth, and send it off. Simple. Likewise, if you’re trading in your phone, why not find out if you can recycle your old one with your mobile provider and make a bit of money while you’re at it?
Printer
If you’re one of those fortunate students with a printer in your room, you could make the most of your equipment during deadline periods, when everyone’s scrambling for the nearest computer on campus and the only way anyone will get their essay printed is by waiting in a queue for half an hour. Charging 5p a sheet will quickly add up – and save your friends some stress.
Spare ingredients
If you’re a baking enthusiast, why not cash in on your skills by using up the abandoned bag of flour before it goes off and rusting up a batch of brownies? By charging your friends 15p a brownie, you’ll be earning cash and offering valuable revision fuel, all at the same time.
And there you have it – with all these hidden gems sitting around your room, you’ll be generating the revenue in no time. Say hello to your brand new dress….
Photo Credits: www.urbanoutfitters.com, www.tumblr.com,