With high prices and the need to shop ’til you drop, everyone’s bank account is growing sadder and smaller. Being a college student comes with a lot of costs from tuition and books to grabbing a clean toothbrush every few months, a lot of students resort to interesting options in order to save and make money. One of the most common flyers seen around college campuses is to donate plasma and make some big $$$$!!! If you have ever traveled down to your local plasma donation location you will see a series of things, which include but are not limited to:
1. A long line. A really long line. A really really really long line.
2. A diverse group of people ranging from college students to low-income families.
3. Lots of forms waiting for you to fill out.
4. Your arm that will eventually look similar to a heroin addict’s.
This is not to say that there is anything wrong with donating plasma, just that it is not your only option as a college student. There is also no need to resort to only eating one meal each day or exclusively eating ramen, unless you happen to really love ramen. Here are a few quick ways for students to feel more financially and probably emotionally stable:
1. Visit your on campus financial advisors! I can’t stress this enough, talking to professionals and coming up with a plan and goals that work for you will make your life a million times easier.
2. Babysitting and tutoring offer a flexible schedule and usually pay over minimum wage. Although it may not be frequent work it can fit in your schedule and provide some extra cash especially around the holidays!
3. Don’t shop! Challenge yourself to a one or two week spending hiatus. This means no spending any money for two weeks, obviously if you need that role of toilet paper go for it but giving yourself a time frame and attainable goal can go a long way. Hey, maybe you’ll see that shopping doesn’t need to be part of your weekly routine.
4. Make passive income. This is one thing students need to start taking advantage of. The best website to use for this is www.udemy.com where they help promote your product. There are plenty of opportunities online for you to create courses ranging from “How to Gain Instagram Followers” to “Speedy Math Tricks.” Once you have created the video for these courses people can purchase them for the rest of your life!
5. Budget! Budget! Budget! As the New Year has settled in, take time to track where your money is going, every dollar of it, and then decide where you can cut down and allocate specific amounts. I use mint.com to set my budget that way I don’t even need to think about it.
Just remember collegiettes, you can be creative without having it negatively impact your day-to-day activities! And if worse comes to worse just remember this…