Deals for College Students

While college experiences will differ from university to university, most college students would agree that they tend to all fall into the category of "poor college students." Whether or not they are working an on or off campus job usually does not matter too much; trying to work many hours a week while still going to classes, studying, and working on academic projects is nearly impossible if one wishes to maintain a high grade point average. From dorm room shopping to college text book buying to travel funds for flying to and from their respective universities, the cost of education builds up in addition to the thousands of dollars that they are spending every semester (or quarter) on tuition fees. For the starving college student, here are a few tips on how to save money while in enrolled at a university.

Join a rewards program for an airline company that you trust. Find one that regularly offers the best rates between your home town and university location. Realize that most major airlines (with the exception of Southwest Airlines) now charge a fee for any luggage that you check in (as opposed to carry on). Pack light if possible, or calculate the cost of your baggage into your travel funds in addition to your regular ticket price. Consider signing up for an account on studentuniverse.com, a wonderful search engine that finds the lowest ticket prices for a huge variety of airlines. Since this website is exclusively for providing students with the cheapest flight rates, proof of your university enrollment (such as a screenshot of your transcript or course schedule) is required when registering for an account on this website. As another way to cut down on the cost of travel, research the bus and train ticket prices to your destinations. Often it is much cheaper to take a bus or train; you will just be paying for the difference in price with your time.

Buy your textbooks either offline (through sources such as Amazon.com, Half.com, Ebay.com, or other discount sites). The prices at university bookstores are often more than double those that you will find online for a book of the same quality. You may also want to consider various "rent-a-book" websites that allow you to rent a book for a semester for a fee much cheaper than actually purchasing the book. To find the best deal for your own textbooks, compare the prices for your books off of sites such as Amazon and the rent-a-book prices. Realize that you can most likely resell the textbook after the semester is done for a slightly cheaper price than what you bought it for. Often it is worth the hassle of buying and reselling the book at the end of the semester in order to save money that can be used on books for your next semesters.

Find dorm room furniture (chairs, lamps, bookshelves, etc.) from thrift shops like Goodwill or from Craigslist. There's a good chance that you'll just be giving away many of the items that you accumulate during your years in college (simply because moving it all to your next destination is a huge hassle) so you really don't need to invest a huge amount of money into them in the first place. While shopping for lighting for my dorm room I found some great, working lamps at Goodwill for only $1-$4, including the price of the lamp shades. Other friends of mine have had huge success in perusing Craigslist ads for unwanted (but quality) bookshelves for their dorm rooms. Often these items on Craigslist are even being given away for free.

Overall, try to save money as much as you can while in college. The little costs add up, and these are some great ways to keep those costs down.