By: Jake Torn
Being a college student usually comes with a lot of financial burdens and there tends to be a lot of unnecessary expenses that come about when living your day-to-day life. Having a tight budget is common and developing smart and healthy spending habits is best for success during this time
Fast Food and Delivery: Students spend most of their budget on fast food, delivery services, and groceries. Frequent orders made on food delivery apps can strain your budget tremendously due to the overall cost of the food and the fees that come with it. Some alternatives would be to make more meals at home, meal prep for the week, or even find cheap dinner options in your community. These can all be ways to save money when it comes to food.
Coffee Costs: Due to the early mornings and long nights that students put into their education, many will reach for caffeine. It is common for students to purchase a coffee daily around $3-$4 leading to a hefty cost of three thousand dollars a year. To combat this, purchasing your own coffee grounds or beans at the grocery store and making an initial investment in a coffee maker can allow for more control over your beverage choices each morning.
Impulse Buying: Before committing to a large purchase make sure to give yourself a cooling-off period before clicking the checkout button to curb impulse buying. Looking at cheaper options can be helpful for college students who do not have a disposable income for unexpected purchases or wants that come about.
Unused Subscriptions: Students have many options when it comes to getting student discounts on subscriptions for streaming sources, shopping, music, news, and even gyms. Although these options exist most people go months without realizing that they are paying for subscriptions that they don’t even use. Therefore, reviewing the monthly subscriptions that you have and identifying how important they are to you in your daily life and from there cancelling that list of unused options will free up some funds for your next budget.
Buying Brand New School Supplies: Although it is tempting to buy new school supplies each semester for school, it is good to reuse the things that still work to minimize unnecessary spending. Additionally, at the beginning of each semester if you are required to purchase new supplies for a course such as calculators, notebooks, or any other resources it is best to compare the university bookstore to other online options to find the more affordable choice.
Purchasing Brand-Name Products: When buying groceries or clothing, look for generic or store-brand products instead as a cheaper alternative. Many times, the quality is very similar, but the price tag is what differs, allowing for saving money in the short and long term as you are aware that the product will last longer.
College life on a budget can be tough to navigate but choosing to cut out certain non-essential expenses can be very beneficial for financial success in the future. By implementing some of these tips your budget will create more money to be spent on educational purposes, saving purposes, and other essential purchases.
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