20 Saving Tips for a College Student

Written by imoney

As a college student from the province and studying at the jungle life in Metro Manila you are basically living on your own. It is one step towards adulthood and you are forced to live life the way how adults live it, well… almost. But how can you survive college without any skill and guidance? Fortunately, we went ahead and had it done for you!

Here are some of the tips for a college student like you.

1. Learn how to cook. Anyone can do it! That means even you college kid! Just Google a recipe or what you want to cook and just follow the instructions. Don’t fret, give it a try!

2. Skip the soda and just drink water. Soda is half bottle sugar and you don’t want that in your body, it’s not good for you.

3. Plan your grocery shopping. Planning your meals ahead can spell ‘savings’, it saves you time and money in going back and forth to the store and ingredients that you need for the week can be bought in bulk, always ask for a discount when you are in the public market.

4. Ask the necessary “Do I need this?” question. Oh yes, instincts tell us that most of the items we grab are wants than needs. And, supermarkets are designed for us to buy the things that we don’t need.

5. Ask for a student discount. This is simple, just flash your ID and you can get up to 20% discount. Only requirement is, don’t be shy asking for it.

6. Go to your classes. You pay for them and in college you need them to survive the semester because some professors do track attendance, so get the value out of it!

7. Just buy one notebook per semester. Truth is you don’t jot down notes all the time right?

8. Take advantage of the school library.  

9. Ask for the electronic copy of the lecture. If you have your laptop with you, no need to photocopy every school lecture. You are doing Mother Earth a favor too.

10. Stay active, join an organization. This will keep your body active so you don’t have to a member of some gym, with the exception that this is the food club.

11. Go volunteering on the weekends, this is an opportunity for you to meet new people and it doesn’t cost anything; if not

12. Sleep on the weekends. You barely sleep during days with classes, so take advantage of the weekends to rest and chill. This is good enough time to get ready for another stressful school week.

13. Never get on vices or if you can’t try to minimize it. College can be full of parties and events and these instances call for expenses. Remember, you are in college so play the part. (Read: You are not earning good money yet).

14. Get an apartment near your university. Rent may be higher but if you consider the pesos you spend on transportation on a relatively ‘cheaper’ apartment every day. You will realize that if you combine the cost, it is actually cheaper, if not the same costs.

15. Get a roommate. If you’ve done #14, but the costs is still higher, get a roommate! You can share the costs and you always need friends anyway.

16. Buy second hand text books. 

17. Open a savings account. You have to safeguard your money but do it while earning interest.

18. Avoid the big spenders when you hang-out. You’re big enough to realize that when you hang out with these people you also spend more than the normal budget.

19. Invest in your learning. Get a hobby, investing on education pays the best interest.

20. Subscribe in iMoney Philippines for more financial tips! That’s right!