College is pricey. As a student who has spent three years of her college career as a commuter, I most certainly have faced many struggles when it comes to preparedness, avoiding unnecessary spending, and finding the balance between finance and the college experience — and you might have similar, “I’m absolutely appalled at how expensive everything is” moments too.
Regardless of whether you commute or not — no rational person has ever said “no thanks!” when given the chance to save some money, especially in a world where college textbooks can run you anywhere from $50-300 per book. The following list of tips and hacks for saving money on your college and lifestyle essentials can be used as a point of reference — or inspiration — to help you find out how you can spend more consciously and efficiently in the future too!
School
Since this topic is most fitting to open with, let’s break down the methods and resources that have helped me save the most money when it comes to school and school-related spending.
- Amazon and Amazon Prime Student: your new best friend for the everyday essentials
- Chegg and ThriftBooks: new & used textbooks for less
- Dollar Tree: stationary and essentials for less than $5 each
- Staples and Staples Rewards: great resource to get rewards for a later date
When it comes to getting the most bang for your buck on tech items like chargers, cases, bags, stationery, and more, Amazon might just become your new best friend. Their Amazon Prime Student program covers practically anything you might want to purchase, providing discounts and deals on Amazon items and shipping for students who sign up for Prime rewards for about $8 per month (side note: they’re offering a six-month free trial for new Prime Student members right now, do with that information what you will).
As for textbooks, college resources and bookstores tend to charge far more for used and new textbooks than they may be worth, so running your textbooks through websites like Chegg and ThriftBooks is always a smart move and can end up saving you tens to hundreds on textbooks each semester! When it comes to stationary, Dollar Tree and Staples are great resources, with Dollar Tree providing cheap stationary options for planners, pencils, pens, highlighters, and more. If you need name-brand items or tech that you can’t order online, Staples is a great (slightly more pricey) resource for all things school as well. Signing up for their rewards program is a great way to save yourself some money for future purchases through discounts and exclusive sales to make the spending worth your while.
Food & Travel
Let’s get down to the real money-drain: Food/Dining, Groceries, and travel.
- Fast-Food Rewards: Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, and Moe’s
- Groceries: Sign up for rewards for additional discounts and coupons at Aldi, BJs, Big Y, and Price Chopper
- Gas Rewards: BJs Gas, Costco Gas and Cash-Back, and Stop & Shop Fuel Rewards
As a commuter, I know the struggle of forgetting a snack on my way to class and being faced with the choice of spending extra money on food and coffee for the day, as well as having to shell out hundreds of dollars in gas money each semester. Spending on necessities like this can add up to become super expensive over time — especially in a city like Storrs, where food and gas sources are scarce, and therefore overpriced as a result of Storrs lacking in its limited number of lower-priced competitors. Although I can’t change the prices of these necessities, I can clue you into some of my favorite hacks for getting cheaper prices and discounts to use when you’re in a pinch and don’t want to spend more money than you have to on food and gas. First and foremost, if you’re not signed up for fast-food rewards and grocery store rewards programs, I strongly recommend downloading the apps for each restaurant/store and signing up.
Most of the fast-food rewards will offer you discounts, deals, and free items, while simultaneously adding points to your account in-app, which add up and save you even more $ and score you free meals in the future after you claim your points at a later date. These have become my favorite resource to use when I need to buy food or coffee, but don’t want to spend as much money, and the additional rewards/free items are certainly a plus. The grocery rewards programs are amazing resources to get extra deals and coupons on your everyday ingredients and foods, and if you take an extra 10 minutes to scour the coupon magazine and/or website before going grocery shopping, you’ll likely save even more than you would with the standard rewards discounts alone, which can save you hundreds each semester.
As for saving money on gas, if one of your parents/guardians or family members has applied to (and acquired) a BJs, Costco, or Stop & Shop credit card and/or rewards card, they can ask for a second copy and pass it along to you to use on your future gas and grocery needs, with you reimbursing the (significantly cheaper) cost accordingly. This way, you’re earning them more rewards and cash-back for the extra spending on their card, thus getting both the cardholder (and yourself) even more benefits in the long-run, and saving yourself some money in the process. If you don’t know anyone with a membership, but you’re willing to consider opening a credit card for the rewards, I definitely recommend doing your own research on the stores/gas stations near you and signing up/applying accordingly if you still want the rewards and discounts!
Experiences & Style
Okay, so we’ve covered the basic necessities like school, food, and travel, but what about your fun college experience and/or clothing and style needs?
- Fun Experiences: Make use of free university and club-run events
- Thrifting: Depop, Poshmark, and Facebook Marketplace for second-hand items
- Student Shopping Discounts: Student Beans
When you’re in college and most of your free-time is spent out with friends, a generally-barren city like Storrs leaves you with few options outside of spending money ubering and drinking at the bar or parties, eating at restaurants with friends, or going to movies/shows. Though that is part of the college experience for most, if you’re looking to take a break from the spending — but don’t want to lose out on the fun — consider checking out your university’s recreational events and travel/outing organizations! The University of Connecticut has a plethora of clubs and university-run events that can facilitate free or low-priced fun that might pique your interest. For example, club-run dance and theater shows, concerts, outing clubs (for outdoor fun like hiking and skiing/snowboarding), and utilizing UConn’s free student ticket offers for sports games have become a great source of entertainment for many in the past, and are definitely worth looking into!
As for style, shopping for a four-season wardrobe as a college student can be super pricey if you don’t know where to look, so let me offer up a few extra ideas on how you can save money on style in the future. If you’re into upcycling, thrifting, and/or environmentally-friendly shopping, check out any local (or university/club-run) thrift stores and consignment shops that you think would be worth your while. Consider using apps like Depop, Poshmark, and Facebook Marketplace to search for pre-purchased new and used clothing/items in order to save yourself some extra money when buying branded in-store items is too pricey. Lastly, if you want to save extra on name-brands when you’re shopping for items in-store and online, consider downloading student rewards programs like Student Beans, where you’re given access to a variety of student discounts and rewards on almost anything you can think of purchasing (from a myriad of name-brands) for free. Although most of the student deals for popular clothing brands tend to be on the lower side, waiting for and utilizing national sale periods to shop to increase your odds of scoring additional/bigger discounts and deals (e.g. Black Friday Shopping, Christmas sales, and seasonal sale periods) has given me a leg-up by letting me stack sales and discounts on big purchases in the past, so I definitely recommend checking it out!
Final Thoughts
My own tips and tricks from the programs/hacks listed above have saved me a lot of money in the past, and if you’re a student, commuter OR resident, I hope this list helps you as much as it’s helped me! College certainly isn’t cheap, but we’re in this together, and we should certainly be aware of the options available to us when it comes to saving money as best as we can. With all of that being said: good luck, and happy spending!