With the average price of everything going up, how can college students save money and what are some daily hacks they can use to save.

In a perfect world, everyone would have enough money to pay for anything they deem necessary, but that is not true in the real world. The average college student isn’t independently wealthy, many of them are running on tight budgets that involve tuition fees, textbooks, rent, daily expenses, and entertainment.  With a balance of all of those it is easy to see why many students have a financial problems.  this article is going to look at some tips and tricks to help students save money and even some life hacks students here at Morningside have used to save.

I interviewed three college students: Jarrrod Nafzinger from Morningside University, Mike Granstom from South Dakota State University, and Noah Bertsch from Northwestern College. I asked them on ways they have saved and gotten money though out their college career.

Jarrod said, “Having a part time job that you can do in your dorm is amazing, plus I don’t have to leave my dorm.”  Jarrod works payroll for a company, so he works 2 nights a week and makes a decent amount of money off it.  Jarrod also talked about not eating out and utilizing the café, but one thing that Jarrod made very clear is “Not going home is an easy way to save money,” he said, “With the cost of gas I can just save money by not going home.”

Mike Granstom said “Everything is expensive these days, even Walmart, so when I come home for the weekend I go to Aldi and buy hella snacks.”  Mike also talked about using student discounts on subscription services.  Mike said “I use the student discount on Apple music, Disney +, and Hulu.”  

Noah talked about how much money he loses when it comes to books, food, entertainment, and even his girlfriend.  Noah’s advice was to “Find work in the summer and coast by with the earnings throughout the year.”  We spent a lot of time talking about how expensive it is to go out to the bars, so finding bars that have specialty nights or your local cheap bar is another way to save money on entertainment.

After talking with these college students I then did some of my own research and found many ways that college students can gain and save money. The first step to saving money is to know how much money you have entering and leaving their wallets.  Creating a budget can outline your income and expenses, so you can track your spending and identify areas where you can cut back.  Husson University suggest that everyone that struggles with a budget to get a Budgeting app.  There are many of them out there and they can help you manage your finances.

Every college student knows the pain of ordering their books every semester.  Buying used or renting textbooks can save you money.  You can find lots of deals on books through online stores or by sharing books with classmates.

Eating out can drain your wallet very quickly, learning how to cook simple and affordable meals can help you save tons of money instead of eating out. The Cafe is also an amazing way to save money.  Everyone should have a meal plan and should take advantage of it.

As college student you are bound to find things to do in your free time and many of these forms of entertainment are expensive.  Even the cost of going out on the weekends to the bars our house party for a good time adds up.  Saving money on entertainment is as simple as using a steaming service instead of going to the movies, not buying a whole bunch of alcohol on the weekends, even as simple as not buying the new Xbox game right when it comes out.  There are many things you can do that do not cost you money like school held events, hiking, and reading books from the library.

Sources: https://www.husson.edu/online/blog/2023/04/money-saving-tips-for-students