Six Money-Saving Tips for College Kids

Even if you and your parents have saved for years toward your college expenses, rising tuition costs and hidden fees popping up here and there can be pretty discouraging, as well as damaging to your bank account. Check out some of the tips below for ideas to help you make your college money go a little further.

1. You can save money on housing.

If this is your first year of college, you may not have a choice of where you live due to the school's requirements. Some colleges expect all incoming freshmen to live in an approved dormitory, or with their parents.

If this is not the case, and the above arrangements are not appealing to you, try finding one or more compatible roommates. Some colleges have housing counselors who will work with you on this. They can look at the amount you have to spend on housing and help figure out what might best fit your needs.

Some ingenuous students have borrowed the family travel trailer for the school year and rented a mobile home space to park it in. This is a good solution if it has bathroom facilities and you prefer to live alone. The price would be comparable to the amount you might pay if you were sharing a house or apartment with roommates.

Give special consideration to the location of any housing you choose. Is bus transportation available? How long is the commute to school? If you have roommates, can you afford to temporarily help pick up the extra rent if a roommate decides to leave? Are you a person that needs absolute quiet to study? If so, you will need to look for roommates with similar preferences. How are other living expenses to be divided if you have roommates?

Check out what comes with the room or house you consider. Do they have laundry facilities? This is really important to help you avoid the extra cost involved in frequently carting your clothing off to a Laundromat. Do they have a stove, microwave, and refrigerator? If you have to scrounge these things up yourself, you are going to be out more money. Are utilities included in the rent? Etc. The less you have to pay, beyond the basic rent, the better off you will be.

2. You can save money on textbooks.

The cost of textbooks has risen even faster than the cost of tuition in many cases. It is not unusual today to plop down a hundred dollars to cover the cost of a book or books for one class-for just one term. That's almost enough to scare you into forgetting your college dreams and making a career of slinging hamburgers for the rest of your life, instead.

Even small colleges usually have a list of required textbooks for every course available to registered students a month or more before school starts, so get your hands on that list as soon as possible. Most colleges and universities post the list online which will make it even easier for you.

Armed with your list, head for a good used bookstore and load up on the books you will need. Used books work just as well as new ones---believe me, I have tried both, and the only difference I found was that the used books often cost me less than half what the new ones did. (There may be a few areas in the used books that have been highlighted by a former user, but that's a small problem compared to the one of paying an outrageous price for new textbooks.)

Having your books purchased early gives you another advantage besides saving money. Especially if you are the "eager beaver type," It will give you a chance to get a head start on those A's you plan to earn in every class.

3. You can save money on transportation.

Buy a bus pass. One of the biggest expenses, not actually connected to learning, is automobile expense. If it isn't gas and oil, it's auto repairs---new tires, brake adjustments, broken heaters, etc. And, to top it off, most college campuses have a serious parking problem, so you may get stuck with a hefty parking permit fee every term.

If you are living on campus and feel you absolutely must take your car to school with you, try parking it until the weekend and using the bus pass to get around during the week. You'll save a lot more than you realize.

If you are living off-campus and buses aren't available in your area, see if you can find a friend or acquaintance to car-pool with, or someone you could ride with by paying a monthly fee or part of the cost of their gas. It doesn't necessarily have to be another student-anyone who is working near the campus is a possibility.

If you are reasonably close to the campus, a bicycle or motor scooter is another inexpensive option-especially if you already own one of these vehicles.

Don't forget the possibility of walking to your classes. I know that isn't considered "cool" these days, but we are trying to figure out ways to save money, not ways to look "cool."

4. You can save money on food.

Most college kids come from homes where their families took advantage of bargains. Just because you are in college is no reason to stop that practice. Taking advantage of a good deal is a wise move, whether you are a college freshman on a tight budget, the president of an elegant college sorority, or the President of the United States.

Use coupons, even for snack foods.

Use store brands. A can of brand-name vegetable soup may cost up to $1.80 compared to the store brand at about $1. Deli cookies go for $3-$4.50 a dozen while a generic brand of pre-packaged cookies may cost under $2.

Read the newspaper food store ads. Each store has specials every week. We have a local store that offers half gallons of milk at 10 for $10. Some people think you have to buy all 10 to get the price, but you don't. We often buy one or two at this great price while others stand in line at the check-out counter with their another brand of milk selling for $2.39 per half gallon.

If you drink a lot of soda, consider buying it in 2-liter containers and portioning it out over a period of time.

Order water instead of an expensive beverage when you do go out to eat, and wait until you get home to have dessert. The beverage and dessert combined often cost as much as the meal itself.

Remind yourself that most college freshmen gain 15 pounds their first year away from home. This happens because they fall into poor eating habits, often opting for treats instead of healthy food when Mom isn't around to control the situation. If you make up your mind to spend money only on necessary food plus an occasional treat, you will be doing yourself a favor both financially, and healthwise

5. You can put yourself on a spending budget for "extras."

By the time you arrive for your first college class, many of the necessities for the term will have already been taken care of. Your tuition is paid, your textbooks are secured, your wardrobe is hanging in your closet or stashed in drawers, and you have figured out where you are going to live and what to do about transportation to and from school.

In spite of that, there will be "extras." You may need to pay to have a term paper printed, or to replace a lost or stolen textbook. A classmate will get married and you'll need to buy a gift, Your toaster quit toasting and you can't imagine breakfast without your daily piece of toast with jelly, etc. If you have been allotted a certain amount of money per term, design a budget to cover these "extras," to make sure that you don't end up having to borrow against your next term's funding or worse yet, use a credit card just to keep your head above water..

Decide how much you can afford to spend, if anything, each week on extras. Things like eating out, gifts, entertainment, etc., and stick to that amount. Don't think that you have to keep up with other students---for all you know, they may be building up catastrophic credit card debts.

6. You can take advantage of things that are inexpensive or free.

This is a good habit for everyone to develop.

Our town has a "Dollar" theater that shows lots of good movies, although not the latest hits, every day for just one dollar. That's a bargain that is hard to beat.

Use the library to check out CDs, DVDs, and your favorite magazines to avoid spending money for these things.

Join a volunteer group. You can have a lot of fun while helping other people. Working with children who are struggling with math and reading is especially valuable. You will possibly change the child's life for the better, and it won't cost you a cent.

Spend time with groups that hike, bike, dance, do sports, or get together for other reasons. Pick groups that are free, or cost very little to join.

Clip lots of, "buy one, get one free," coupons and invite a friend to join you for a meal that will cost each of you only half as much as usual.

Check the local paper for free activities such as extension classes where you can learn all kinds of skills, theater groups where you can actually have a role in a dramatic presentation, musical groups where you can contribute your musical skills of singing or playing an instrument, and adult basketball or volleyball teams, etc.

If you like McDonald's or Burger King, check out their value menu. A one dollar Chicken sandwich tastes just as good as their regular one that costs twice as much. Ask for a free glass of water, and you have lunch for only a dollar. Add another dollar and get a hot fudge sundae for dessert. Yum. Who says you have to go to some trendy campus café that charges $3.50 for a latte and $5.98 for a tiny little salad with wilted lettuce?

The list could go on, but I think I've given you enough ideas to start you thinking about ways you, and your friends, can make your money go further during the coming school year. One of the biggest parts of growing up is learning how to handle money wisely, and learning that we really don't have to buy something just because everyone else is buying it.