What are the best ways to save money as a student? Money is a means to an end, and earning money can be challenging. We’ll share some helpful advice with you in this brief piece.
There are several factors to take into account when it comes to saving money as a student. Tuition is the first thing that comes to mind, but there are a lot of other methods to save money as well, some of which may surprise you.
Here are 10 ways that I’ve found myself using over the years as a student (and they aren’t necessarily just useful for students either).
10 Ways to Save Money As A Student
Either you’re in high school or college, you’ll find these 10 tips useful as you juggle earnings and learning.
1. Switch to self-catering
It’s probably in your best interests to use their kitchen facilities if you’re living at home and your parents are paying the rent.
By preparing their own meals rather than purchasing them from a restaurant, individuals may save money on food prices and cook for themselves.
Making sure that everything in the fridge has a home can also save you money by preventing food waste and forgetfulness caused by running out of space when experimenting with new recipes later on (maybe even when visiting friends or family).
Related: 15 Good Business Ideas for College Students
2. Buy In Bulk
One of the best ways to save money as a student is to buy bulk items online instead of going out into town every week-end just because it’s too expensive otherwise!
One of the things you can do is to buy in bulk with a supermarket. By doing this, you’ll also get more of what you want at once.
If you’ve got a lot of friends coming over or family members who need to bring food for dinner, buy extra and freeze it until they arrive! This way, not only do you save time doing the dishes after dinner but also avoid having to cook another meal for another day (or week).
Buying something large means less packaging waste and fewer plastic bags used during shopping trips! Isn’t that logical?
Also Read: 7 Best Part Time Jobs for College Students
3. Buy from the library instead of going out to buy books, newspapers etc.
“It isn’t that you can’t get books in a library,” says the librarian. “It’s just that they are cheaper. And there are more of them available.”
The library offers a wider selection of books, both fiction and non-fiction, than you can find at your local bookstore or online retailer.
You might find yourself looking through shelves filled with paperbacks when an eBook version would be more convenient for you to read on your device or tablet computer! And if it turns out that none of these options suit your needs (what if I want something larger than an e-reader?), then don’t worry–you’ll still have access to all those other formats!
4. Save money by eating less meat and more vegetables and fruit!
If you’re thinking about becoming a vegetarian or even vegan, there are several reasons why it can be beneficial to your wallet. In fact, it is one of the best ways to save money as a student.
Some of the benefits of eating less meat include:
- Being a vegetarian or vegan will help keep your weight under control. Studies have shown that people who eat less meat tend to weigh less than those who eat more meat, and this is true even when other factors like exercise levels are considered.
- Eating less meat means that you’ll be consuming fewer calories overall, which means that even if you don’t use up all of those calories by exercising more often (which could lead to weight loss), they still won’t add up as much as eating more animal products would do over time! Plus, many plant-based foods contain nutrients such as fiber that are good for digestion–a benefit not found in many animal products.
Related: 7 Creative Ways to Pay for College In USA
5. Eat one item at a time when buying groceries
If you’re like most students, your grocery budget is already stretched thin. It’s tempting to buy everything in bulk and save money on each item, but this can be dangerous if you don’t know how much food you will actually consume.
It’s also important not to spend more than necessary since many items are priced higher than they need be due to marketing strategies and high demand–not because they’re better quality than others (which could change).
Here are some tips for shopping wisely:
- Eat one item at a time when buying groceries; don’t buy anything that doesn’t fit into your daily routine or budget constraints; only keep foods with long shelf lives (such as canned goods) until they expire;
- Avoid impulse buys like chips and soda pop whenever possible (you’ll save money overall);
- Consider whether there are better deals available elsewhere if you need something quickly without going through the hassle of having it shipped from another store.”
Related: 7 Best Ways to Pay for College In USA
6. Cut down on junk food, fast food and takeaways!
Junk food is any food that contains little or no nutritional value. It’s usually high in calories and fat, but it doesn’t provide you with the nutrients you need to stay healthy.
Junk foods are also known to be addictive because they have a taste that makes us crave them more often than other types of foods such as whole grains or fruits and vegetables. Eating junk foods regularly can lead to health problems such as diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), heart disease and stroke among others due to its high sugar content which spikes our insulin levels throughout the day causing weight gain over time!
One of the best ways to save money as a student, especially if you don’t have much money left after paying for university fees each month is by cutting down on these expensive drinks from vending machines located around campus grounds because they cost between $1-$2 each time depending on where we buy them from.
There’s also those cheap sandwiches available at stores like Subway which goes for only $5 per sandwich so if anyone wants one just ask them nicely if they could give one away since nobody likes wasting food unnecessarily especially when we need all those calories just so our brain doesn’t lose function due to age-related issues later down road.
7. Keep an emergency fund
Keeping an emergency fund is one of the cool ways to save money as a student. You have to be prepared for unexpected costs by keeping an emergency fund or having a credit card with emergency credit or cashback insurance attached to it.
An emergency fund is just that – a savings account that you can dip into when things go wrong, like losing your job or being hit by bad weather on the way home from work.
It’s key if you’re heading off on holiday with friends, as well as in general life – if something goes wrong while away (like getting lost), there won’t be much money left over after paying rent and bills back home again!
You’ll also want enough money in this account so when one of these things happens, it doesn’t lead to another problem down the line (like needing extra time off work).
A good way of keeping track of how much fuel is left in your car each month is by recording it online through apps like FuelMyCar.”
Also Read: Top 10 Best Loan Apps In Nigeria for Students
8. Utilize Free Applications
A free alternative to pricey software is freeware. Many popular programs and pieces of software have a tendency to be quite pricey, which makes them unsuitable for students’ budgets. Thanks to freeware, you can benefit from the best of both worlds.
Download free versions of Office, antivirus, image editing, and audio editing programs!
A free alternative to Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
Both Avast and AVG provide free antivirus software.
Free audio editing software includes Audacity, while free image editing software includes GIMP and Fotor. The best presentation software is Prezi, the best note-taking software is Evernote, the best computer cleaner is Cleaner, and the best 3D model software is Sketchup. You should check out out top study apps for college students.
9. Utilize the student discounts
Many shops and companies provide student discounts. While shopping, present your student ID at the register to receive a little discount on your overall order. Students can get discounts from clothing stores, electronics stores, restaurants, and media firms.
Discounts on electronics are available from Apple, Sprint, AT&T, and Lenovo.
Discounts are offered by GM, Amtrak, Eurail, and Shortline/CoachUSA.
A 15% student discount is available at clothing stores like J. Crew, Banana Republic, Levi’s, and Club Monaco.
10. Register with a bank that caters to students.
Pay no additional fees to join a bank. Some banks levy monthly account maintenance fees or impose overdraft fees. Check out the benefits offered by various banks on their websites; some even provide prizes and benefits for customers who are students.
Bank of America offers unique student accounts in the USA with no account or overdraft fees.
Capital One provides affordable banking services with no account or overdraft fees, while being better recognized for its credit cards.
Ways to Save Money As A Student (Conclusion)
There you go, as the money you save will save you, cutting down on expenses will help you save more and be in control of your finances.
In this article, we’ve shared with you some of the best ways to save money as a student. Additionally, if you use a car, you can also keep track of how much fuel is left in your car each month is by recording it online through apps like FuelMyCar.”
When you keep an eye on your gas meter, keep a record of how much fuel you put into your car, and learn how to read it yourself, you can avoid expensive visits to the garage!
We hope these tips will help you save money as a college student. Remember that this is a temporary lifestyle choice and if you find yourself struggling financially then it’s time for an upgrade!
