By, Alicia Bartolotta
I think we can all agree that college life can be very expensive. Whether it’s going out with friends, not wanting to eat dining hall food or having to buy textbooks, college students are always needing to spend money they may not have. Throughout this article I will be giving you tips and tricks on how to budget while not giving up the things you love.
Working girl
This section is mainly for those of us who are lucky enough to work while in school, but if that’s not you don’t worry. There are still tons of ways for you to budget and these tips may even be helpful to you. Anyways, one of my biggest tips is knowing how much you can spend per day based on your paycheck. Now how do you figure this out? Well all it takes is taking your salary per week and divide it by seven. For example if you get paid 140 dollars a week that means you can comfortably spend twenty dollars a day. Now with this information you can keep track of your daily spendings and make sure you don’t spend more than you got.
No Spend Days
No spend days are actually what they sound like, days when you don’t spend a thing. This might not sound likely with a college student’s busy lifestyle but I promise if you utilize your resources it can be so. Some prominent resources of campus are things like going to Lockes on weekdays instead of ordering out, watching free movies, checking out books from the campus library and going to the CAS for homework help instead of an expensive online website. All these resources will make it easier for you to have no spend days during the week, giving you more money for weekends and school items.
Resources, Tips, and Trick
In addition to tracking your spending and having no spend days, there are certain tips and tricks that will help you spend less. One helpful website, that I am sure you’ve heard of from your favorite youtubers, is Honey. Honey is a browser extension that searches the web for coupons when you finish online shopping. This is a perfect way to save a couple dollars when shopping and it is free to install.
Another trick, which is definitely prevalent for where we live, is an unlimited swipe Metrocard. This is especially important if you ride the train as often as I do. These cards cost 33 dollars for seven days, or 127 dollars for 30 days. That might sound like a lot, but I promise it adds up to be less than charging 2.75 everytime you ride.
My final trick for spending less is something you may not think of but might already do. That is getting to places early. I’m not talking about three hours early, but showing up thirty minutes before the crowd could actually save you a good amount of money. Some places give away free things to the first few people that show up and other places don’t charge as much when entering if the place isn’t crowded.
Money, Money, Money Overall money is important but it’s not everything. Do not let the fear of not having enough money stop you from enjoying your college years. If you take steps to budget yourself, pay attention to your resources and implement no spend days you’ll be able to have fun, have cash and learn skills that will help you throughout your life.