When I was a university and college student, I made so many mistakes when it came to shopping. I would go to the nearest store right as I was hungry, bought all the snacks that I would binge eat and then get the shock of my life checking out of the store.
Something else I didn’t do was prioritize my health for example I would eat a lot of ice cream well because when you leave the house you basically have carte blanche on what you choose to spend your money on. So I did eat a lot of ice cream over a couple of years through college and university which eventually led me to getting some real nice cavities and two root canals.
If you’re not a fan of getting a checkup at the dentist then you definitely don’t want a root canal let alone the bill that comes with both and getting a crown or restructuring done.
What I am trying to say is prioritize your health and well being, it’ll save you in the long run and in the short run.
Nevertheless let’s jump straight into some ways you can save money as a student!
1. Grocery Shopping
Surprisingly the one grocery store that I literally refused to give a chance to was the one that changed a lot for me. No I am not endorsed by anyone and this is just straight from my own experience shopping as a student.
The store that changed everything for me is Costco. Seriously the power of buying in bulk is crazy. One, you get chicken for real cheap and a lot of it, even rotisserie chicken. Two, you save a lot of time by getting all of these things and not having to return every week to the local grocery store.
I would waste, literally waste hundreds and thousands of dollars on Maxi, Provigo and Walmart trips. I remember for practically the same basket of goods at Walmart I was spending near $450. At Costco it was costing me $200-$250 and more often than not I got more out of it, Costco chicken packages were about a whole pound to two pounds more for the same price.
Over the span of a year buying groceries for two people it made a real difference, our bank accounts felt it. We have more time to spend together and do more important things than scrounging aisles for the best deals at 4 different grocery stores.
Another way we saved money was going to Dollar Stores for smaller things. You can get a lot there and for cheap, as a childhood favourite I loved Chef Boyardee and Kraft Dinner. So we would stock up on those when we’d go.
2. Take Advantage of Sales
If you’re a student or are going to be a student. Absolutely take advantage of these big box store sales online. Some of them even offer additional discounts to students and that’s where it really saves you a ton of money. If you need a big ticket item such as a laptop, ipad, etc, it’s worth it.
Be careful though and do your research on each item as different stores may offer the same product but at different prices or with different bundles. For example visiting Best Buy’s site vs Lenovo’s, you might get a great low price student deal on Lenovo’s site vs what Best Buy can offer you.
Also be conscious of what the specifications are of whatever you’re buying to make sure it fits your needs properly. As a student depending on what program you’re in, you might need something that can operate under extreme load and perform complex tasks such as an engineering degree. Other programs such as business administration, or the arts department probably won’t need anything crazy in terms of hardware.
As a rule of thumb always get something a little bit stronger than what you think you’ll need, because you never know what might get thrown at you. I did a BBA and up until my 3rd year everything was ok with my laptop and all of a sudden I took this class not knowing it would have to run a pretty intensive program all throughout it, my little laptop struggled for it’s life.
3. Discount Codes
Doesn’t everyone like paying less for the things they want?
Well let’s get right into how you can save money better than the chrome extension Honey.
First what you’ll want to do is scrounge the internet by typing up “Coupon Codes for x Site”, go through all the sites that aren’t sketchy and try every code. I have saved up to 70% off of orders by doing this and saved the store I was working at as a manager, thousands because of coupon codes.
Don’t miss your chance to take advantage of it, and I have been consistently mentioning the extension Honey in my posts because if you look up how it operates the thing is total garbage and so is Karma. It’s been proven both don’t find you the best deals and just seek to profit off of you.
So do the leg work yourself and save yourselves some more money. There is also a sneaky way that students can get promo codes and that is by contacting companies directly and asking if they have promo codes for students.
This is not well known, so take advantage of that fact. I have used it for a couple of my certification programs that I pursued, sometimes the company offered up to 50% off my order. When you’re trying to grow outside of the classroom, 25-50% off is nothing to sneeze at.
4. Thrifting
Yes, that’s right, thrifting and that doesn’t mean to just go and look at the things that grandma and grandpa wore back in the 70’s.
There are surprisingly a very large number of things you can get from a thrift store that will save you so much money. I have gotten 7 business casual sets from a thrift store for under $70 and I have received plenty of compliments on how they look, they don’t look ancient or worn out and are great quality.
As a student every dollar counts and coming across professional looking clothes can be very expensive nowadays. The thrift store I go to also offers a discount for students if they bring their student ID, well worth it.
Besides just clothes you can find depending on the thrift store near you, plenty of appliances and even AC units, we bought one and it lasted 3 years which is more than what we needed it to. It was also 1/4th of the price of a new AC.
Just remember whenever you’re in a better place and don’t need to go to the thrift store anymore or just have things laying around make sure to give back. Also don’t go on a spending spree in there if you don’t have to because there are plenty of people who are not as fortunate that could also use those clothes. That way you’ll help someone just like you down the road.
5. Roommates
This one can either make or break you in school. I know roommates who were some of the best people I’ve ever met and certainly made my life so much better and then there’s the other kind of roommates who make your life hell.
If you’re looking at living off campus, often times because it’s cheaper than living on campus, you’re most likely going to need a roommate to split the costs unless you’re living in a studio apartment like I was for most of it. Roommates help with alleviating the financial burden for both people, assuming of course they pay what they’re supposed to.
This means you can get a bigger apartment, with potentially more amenities than what you could’ve gotten alone. Your purchasing power also increases when it comes to getting services such as internet or buying groceries as you both can split the costs.
I eat a lot of food so a majority of the time I would pay like 70-75% of the costs because it didn’t make sense that we would split it and that I would eat most of what we had bought. You’ll come to arrangements like that and who’s responsible for which chores.
Disclaimer be weary of who you decide to have as a roommate, even if you have great friends that doesn’t always mean they’ll be the best roommates, use your judgement to the best of your ability.
Thank you!
Thank you for taking the time to read this post, it means a lot to me and I am excited to keep putting content out there to help you all. Have a wonderful day and drop a comment on one way you’ve saved money as a student!
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