If you’re like many college students, moving away from home has dramatically impacted your budget. No more shopping dates with Mom or movie nights with Dad. No more coming home to a fully-stocked fridge, no more free laundry. You’re on your own now. Budgeting your money while in school is difficult and students often struggle to stick to a strict spending plan. However, having a tight budget doesn’t mean that you can’t have any fun; you just need to know how to have fun cheaply!
The first thing you need to do is learn how to plan for your big expenses. Make sure to factor the cost of textbooks, school supplies (and Ring Night!) into your budget. If you know you will be buying a friend a birthday present within the next month, go ahead and set aside some money for that specific purpose. You can hide it from yourself in a drawer or book so that you aren’t tempted to spend it on something else. This is also helps when an unexpected expense comes up, saving means you already have funds ready.
Buying in bulk is also a great way to save money. If you have an apartment and are cooking a lot with your roommates, take a group trip to Cosco and buy all of your favorite foods together. Buy foods that are easy to make and can be used for many different meals. Pasta is a great example: it’s versatile and can be combined with a variety of other healthy foods to make delicious meals. Buying in bulk and with buddies is also a great way to buy cleaning supplies. You and your friends can buy one communal bottle of dish soap that will be used for the whole semester. [pagebreak]
It’s also important to know when you can’t spend money. If you only have twelve dollars in your bank account and a movie ticket costs ten bucks, it’s probably best to skip the movie until you have adequate funds. You want to make sure that you have at least a little bit of a cushion for when money is really tight. Keep at least twenty dollars in your bank account at all times so that when an emergency arises, you are financially able to deal with it.
Just because you don’t have much money doesn’t mean that you can’t have a good time. There are a lot of free activities you can enjoy with your friends. If you’ve got some great scenery around your school, go for a hike or a picnic. Museums and art galleries allow students in for free (or for a small donation), so take advantage of your student I.D while you still have it. If you need your monthly movie fix, you can rent movies from your school’s library (if the selection isn’t great, try using the inter-library loan system) and use one of the movie projectors on campus. Colleges also almost always allow their students to attend school-sponsored events for free so take advantage of the concerts and parties your school holds.
There’s no need to feel like money is holding you back from doing things you enjoy. If you look around for things to do, I guarantee you will find something you and your friends enjoy that isn’t expensive.