Saving Tips for College Students

The typical college student does not have loads of excess cash lying around. In fact, the phrase "I'm a poor college student!" is often used as an excuse to live a lifestyle of consuming top ramen and saltine crackers on the floors of their dorm rooms. College lifestyle is often filled with trying to manage a part time job, on campus club activities, and absurdly long nights of studying for several exams falling on the same day. Since most of the money made by college students is used to pay for student loans and other immediate expenses, it is vitally important for them to make the most use of whatever little money that they have. Here are a few ideas on ways to stretch out your limited college budget.

1) Buy plastic cutlery and wash it. Plastic silverware is cheaper than "real" forks, knives, and spoons and typically works just as well (except for perhaps cutting tougher foods with the plastic knives). While most people will simply throw out used plastic silverware, washing your own will save a lot of money in the long run. Even though this will be more time consuming, it is definitely worth the extra cash in your pocket throughout the school year.

2) Buy detergent in bulk containers. Laundry will (or at least should) be a regular part of your life while in college. Often the larger containers of detergent are cheaper per ounce than their smaller counterparts; while the initial investment will be more costly, it is well worth the bulk price since you are almost guaranteed to use up all of the bottle throughout the entire school year. In addition to this, try to see if you can get away without separating your clothing colors. Many washing machines will allow you to wash your whites and darks together without causing too much damage to the colors if they are washed with cold water. Consider mixing your colors if you are finding that you have difficulty in having enough whites to justify running an entire cycle of laundry.

3) Make an investment in your "essential" clothing items. Often students find themselves running loads of laundry just because they need more socks, underwear, or undershirts. Go ahead and "stock up" on these items so that you can do laundry less often, insuring that you always have a full wash to run whenever you finally do a load of laundry. Most college campuses charge around $2 for washing and drying a load of clothes; do whatever you can (while still being relatively clean) to reduce your need to do laundry very often.

4) Purchase you school books online or from friends. The campus book stores are usually completely overpriced. Shop on ebay, half.com, or amazon for better deals on costly text books.

5) If your meal plan includes a certain amount of "campus bucks" for spending on food items around campus, do as much "shopping" for food on campus as you can. Although the on-campus prices are typically more expensive than the regular grocery store's prices, having the "money" in your meal plan means that you've already spent that money anyways. Use it to minimize your off campus spending needs.