So another semester has come and gone, and your wallet has finally been fed with $20 bills from your long lost family that seems to crawl out of the woodwork for the holidays. You're thinking, "Yes, I can actually eat something other than what my meal card can swipe me!" and thinking that you no longer have to drink cranberry and vodkas at the bar on Thursdays. Syllabus eve seems bright and filled with craft beers and a new outfit, and paying for your friends' Uber rides to ease up on the debt you owe them.
This realization is heart-warming and totally false. It comes to mind after summer break (where in the actual world did my 20-plus hours a week go?) and again after the holidays like clockwork. And yet, by the first weekend of school, you find yourself in the Taco Bell drive-thru crying over the $5 in absolute garbage you're about to indulge in.
How do you avoid this catastrophe? Stop spending your money. If you're like me, you're more likely to get a 4.0 in a semester with 18 credit hours than to stop spending. If so, read on.
1. Order your books from a third party.
The easiest way to avoid spending $400 on an economics textbook from the bookstore is to ask around to see if any other students have it collecting dust on their shelf. Not just your friends, ask your friends' friends. Someone has it, and is most likely willing to part with it for $40 or even for free.
You could also try a site like Chegg or Amazon. I found a book on Chegg for this upcoming semester for a mere $10 to rent for a couple of months, when it costs over $300 on the university website to rent. Just make sure you're getting the right edition, and you're good to go.
2. Sell your books.
If you got suckered into paying full price for a book to own it, try selling it online (again, I'm a huge fan of Chegg). University bookstores typically try to "buy" your books back, but you'd be lucky to get $5 per book. Chegg offers the highest bid on your books, and you can get up to $75 per book depending on the original retail price, condition, and edition.
Post it on social media, and someone trying to find books for cheap will snatch it up!
3. Stop swiping stupid stuff.
I don't just mean on your university swipe, because some schools refund you whatever you have left on it at the end of the year, but your debit card. Start using cash, and you'll find it harder to part with your perfectly crisp 20 than swiping it away. If you make $80 every two weeks on your work study job, only cash out $50 of it and deposit the rest.
4. Get a work study job.
These aren't readily available to all students depending on their FASFA need base status, but most schools will offer students without work study hours in their award letter a few weeks into the semester. It's not going to be a glamorous pay, but you will get minimum wage for doing something usually pretty simple. If you're lucky, your supervisor will let you do your homework on the job (they know you're here for school and need the cash).
5. Join reward programs.
I'm a basic Starbucks lover, so I will spend my last dollar biweekly on a hand-crafted espresso drink. Join programs that offer awards for their loyal customers!
6. Split everything with friends.
If you live in a triple, Netflix will be even cheaper when you're splitting the tab. Same with takeout. Alcohol. Uber rides. The list goes on.
7. Download Coupon Apps.
Apps such as RetailMeNot offer coupons for major retailers all over. Cartwheel for Target is a personal favorite: You just scan each item in the store, and the app will see if there are any discounts available. (Saves you 5–50 percent per item, which adds up!)
8. Student Discounts.
Find out where student discounts are accepted, and always remember to ask about it when being cashed out.
