By: Kajal Rohatgi
Almost every college student's biggest stressor is money. Whether it's paying off their student loans or just day to day pocket money, everyone is trying to save. Saving can be very hard sometimes. Here are a few tips on how to budget yourself for the rest of the semester that have not only worked for me, but for many other students as well.
1. Get rid of Netflix and get the deal with Spotify and Hulu for college students
Netflix costs $9 every month, which adds up to over $100 every year for just shows and movies. In order to save money on not only TV and shows but also music, Spotify has a student discount deal that costs only $4.99 a month. With this $4.99 you get premium Spotify, Hulu, and SHOWTIME all for a low monthly fee of $5. Not only will you have saved $4 every month, but you will also have gained access to music, TV, and movies which you did not have before.
2. Wait until Black Friday to go shopping
As we enter November the holidays start to approach fast, which means money tends to leave your wallet even faster. However, this next tip is very helpful when thinking about saving during the holidays. Black Friday is typically when stores sell a lot of their products for discounted prices. So instead of waiting to buy your holiday gifts in December, buy them during Black Friday. This will definitely save you money as you will not be buying any item full price. This can also work when it comes to buying winter clothes.
3. Thrifting and outlets
Instead of buying clothes at the mall, there are many alternatives that save a lot of money. First, shop at thrift stores as they have super cheap clothes that you can wear how you find them or can DIY them to make them fit your own style. Shopping at outlets can also help you save a lot of money if you don't want to purchase used clothes. Outlets are products big brands can’t sell very well at a regular price so they send them to an outlet to get rid of all the products they had made and reduce the price drastically. This is a great place to shop at if you like name brands but don’t usually like their prices.
4. Sell old clothes you are getting rid of on PoshMark
A way to make money while essentially putting in no effort, is to sell old clothes you were about to throw away. Poshmark is one of the top apps used to sell clothes ranging from new to old anywhere in the world, meaning someone is bound to buy some of your clothes. While on the topic of selling used items, selling old textbooks on amazon is also a great way to make back the money you had spent when buying them. Setting up these accounts are super easy and convenient making it so that anyone can start making money by simply doing nothing.
5. Meal Plans
If you live off campus or have a limited meal plan and don't want to spend too much money on food, prepare a big meal, like lasagna, on Sunday and eat it for dinner for the rest of the week. Eat fruits for breakfast and lunch on campus instead of going out for every meal. You will only need to spend money on buying a few groceries at the start of the week just to buy ingredients for the meal you are preparing.
I hope these budgeting tips help you keep your bank account alive until the end of the semester!