Going to college is often the first experience that people have of managing their own personal finances. Without parents at home to watch their spending and perhaps give money when needed, students need to buckle up and learn how to tighten their purse strings. Although it can be tempting to splash out and spend money when you’re at college, living frugally can set up good habits for the future and allow you to better enjoy your salary when you finally get the graduate job you’ve been coveting. Read on to discover some of the best ways for students to manage their finances.
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Although the main reason to go to college is so that you can get the education that you need in order to get the kind of job that you want, ask just about any former college student and they will tell you that it’s also the time when you can develop great money management skills. After all, if there’s ever a time when an individual has to figure out how to make their money stretch as far as possible, it would while they’re in college.
If you would like some tips on how you can make your money last longer while you’re in college, we have five failsafe ones for you below:
Live on campus (or with your parents). Although it can be cool to have an off-campus apartment, with it comes a lot of financial responsibility including paying for rent and utilities each month. Our recommendation would be that you live on campus or with your parents, at least for a couple of years instead. That way, your money can stay in the bank rather than going to a landlord.
As a college student, it can be tough to balance school and work so that you aren’t left eating 99 cent containers of noodles every night for dinner. Between all the studying, homework, and exams, there seems like there isn’t much room for a job, let alone a side business. Yet, running a side business during college is a great way to make money without really having to clock in anywhere, flip burgers or strap on an apron. Many of the following side business ideas require very little set up and time, so that you can start making money, because in college you should be working smart and not too hard in order to maximize your potential.
Here are some great side business options for struggling college students:
Start a website or blog that people want to read or visit and have affiliate links or banner ads for products people want to buy. There are many businesses that have affiliate programs so that you can put their link on your website and receive a commission of each item that sells. You can make a website that helps out students, like a local restaurant guide or a list of the best places to study, and put banners at the top or the side of pages to products that other college students might want to purchase.
Think off campus when finding cheap alternatives to the campus bookstore
If you’re a college student you already know that textbooks cost a small fortune. Textbooks can cost almost as much as tuition, according to a study from the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, which shows students paying an average of $1000 or higher per year for books. However, that’s only for suckers who decide to buy their assigned reading from the campus bookstore. There are other ways to find cheap textbooks