College is as expensive as ever, and its just not as easy to pay for tuition as it used to be. Especially with all the added fees on top of tuition costs, the price tag for higher education is pretty high wherever you go. If you're a student living in this day and age, there is a chance you have to pay your own school bills yourself or at least a portion of it now or later. Even if your school tuition is off of your hands, you still have the cost of books, supplies, food, transportation, and any type of social events on or off campus that you might want to participate in. I myself balance multiple jobs and save as much as possible in order to keep up with payment plans, but I also make sure to save some dollars in other ways as well. That being said, here are some tips to save you some money while you're in school.

1. Reuse old supplies.

Keep your binders in good condition so you can reuse for other subjects in the future. Don't mark them up and they will look good as new. Keep the supplies you don't use for future classes, like ends of notebooks, pencils, pens, paper clips, etc. It will save you so much in the long run when it comes time for school.

2. Keep your textbooks in good condition.

Cover them in paper bag covers; that way they don't get damaged in any way. Also make use of sticky notes if you wish to mark a page or write notes to yourself. By keeping your textbooks as good as new, you can sell them in the future online.

3. Save as much as possible.

As a commuter I came up with this trick when I was saving up for a car. Whenever you receive money either from work or a holiday, you save a portion of it. To make it easy, you can pick a certain bill or amount to save. For me every time I received a high bill like a fifty or a one hundred dollar bill I would automatically put it into a savings account. Those that have a job could set aside a certain amount each week to be put into a savings account aside from their checking account or their wallet. Even ten dollars a week adds up in the end.

4. Fill your schedule with classes.

If your school is charging you full time tuition, you should (if you're comfortable and able to) take the maximum amount of credit hours, because you're already being charged for it anyways. Try to get your classes done during the school year without going over; that way you won't have to worry about the cost of summer classes or extra classes during the year. If you must take classes during the summer or breaks, you should look into online or community college courses. This can save you so much money.

5. Use the resources around you.

Apply for scholarships at your school. Even if you think you have enough information and that your school has given everything it can to you, it never hurts to double check. Things change, and sometimes that can be a good thing- especially for you. Lots of schools have scholarships in regard to certain things like helping with books or extra curricular activities. Some have new scholarships or hidden ones that you may not have known about at first or that you may now qualify for. Look into local scholarships from your hometown, jobs you have, or interests you like. There are a ton of outside scholarships that so many don't know about until they look into it and any amount can help.