Whether you are a parent of a college student or you are a student yourself, you know that college is expensive. What you may not know, and what I wish that I knew when I was in college a few years ago, is that there are some things that you can save money on while you are in college which can add up to significant savings. That’s right, you can have more cash left in your pocket or less money borrowed from student loans and other sources if you do a few things a little differently.
For example, when you are selecting housing it may be tempting to go for something really nice with as few room mates as possible. By choosing more basic accommodations (provided that they are safe and clean, of course) you could save thousands of dollars each year. Of course you want your home base to be a pleasant place for studying, socializing, and relaxing, but there are usually at least a few less expensive options that may not have all of the amenities that more expensive living arrangements have yet are still a nice place to call home. If you do well with sharing living space with others, you can rack up even more savings by rooming with one or more other students.
Credit cards are so easy to get while you are a college student. It is also easy to rack up a very high balance on them without even realizing where all of the money went. If you can avoid credit cards while you are in college by paying cash for everything, you will thank yourself later when you do not have to deal with credit card debt. It may be tough sometimes if you have to forego doing some of the things that your friends are doing because they are not in your budget, but it is well worth it in the end.
Renting textbooks is another way that you can spend less while you are in college. If you buy books, you can sell them back but you get so little in return that renting is a much better option if it is available. If some of the books that you need are not available for rent, check whether you can buy them used (in the proper edition of course) because you can save quite a bit of money that way too.
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