23 Actionable Money Saving Tips Every Student Need
The post is all about money saving tips.
Being a university student on a budget is not easy and if you are constantly checking your bank account, thinking of ways to minimize your spending and save some money, then you are at the right place!
You are going to learn about all the saving tips from budgeting, controlling your spending, and more.
After learning about all of these saving tips, you are going to a pro and extra at managing your money, leading to the ultimate financial freedom!
Best Money Saving Tips For College Student
General Saving Tips:
1. Set Saving Goals
It can be hard to save when you have nothing to aim for. Set some saving goals, for both short term and long term, visualize when and work towards your goal.
Be sure to set realistic goals when you do so. You do not want to be setting a goal that is impossible to reach.
2. Automate Your Saving
Automate your saving by setting up a direct deposit from your paycheck into a high-yield savings account or money market account.
That way you do not have to make the effort to save money but get the result you want!
3. Prioritize Emergency Saving
It is important that you save for emergency. In case if you lose your job or face an unexpected expense, your emergency fund could be saving your life (maybe literally too).
You least amount you should have for your emergency fund the triple of what your typical monthly expense should be. As you work towards your saving, you can then increase it and start to build up.
4. Compare Savings Account
Putting your money into a saving account not only could help you save, but might even earn you some money with interests.
Compare banks and savings accounts to see which best suits you, consult a financial adviser if needed.
Spending Habits Tips:
5. Budgeting Your Expense
The easiest way to start saving money is to keep track on your expenses and create a monthly budget plan. I’ve always recommended the 50-30-20 budgeting rule for anyone just starting out.
In addition, you can also get a budget planner or make one on your own by using excel or Google Sheets to help you track better. There are also budget apps available to download so you could get easy access from your phone at anytime.
6. Cancel Subscriptions
Oftentimes you might be paying for subscriptions that you don’t even use or need. It’s easy to forget about them because of auto payment.
Review your credit card statement carefully and cancel any services you no longer need, including streaming, food delivery services, gym memberships, ec.
7. Use Coupons
Coupons are available everywhere online, in store, newspaper or magazine, and sometimes posted to you. It’s a easy and convenient way to save money while buying the product you want.
Before making any online purchases, try digging into the shop website or any of the email newsletter you might be subscribing to, to find any promo code available.
8. Compare & Save
One of the most direct ways to save money is to compare prices before making a purchase. The same item might be cheaper online than in store or vice versa.
Different websites and e commerce platforms might also offer the same product in different prices, so spend a little time to do your research before buying.
9. Have a Shopping List
You need this tip if this has happened to you before: You went into a store looking for one item and you left the store with more than just that.
It gets so easy to be distracted when you are shopping in store, especially when the placement of items and the lightings in store are designed to make you purchase more.
Which is why it is important to have a to buy list so that you could focus on what to buy and not what you don’t need.
10. Buy In Bulks
While I do not encourage you to bulk, it can be cheaper to buy a product in bulk.
Make sure you check the price and do some calculation to see whether or not you are really saving though.
11. Shop Online
Personally I find myself buying less impulsively when shopping online. Yes I might be adding every items to my cart, but I take more time to think whether it is a need or want.
Shopping online is also easier to find promo codes and many items are for sale only for online purchases.
12. Annualize Your Spending
Take some time and reflect on where you spend your time. Are you spending $8 dollars everyday on a cup of coffee? That’s almost $3k a year!
Setting out what you’re spending and where, can help you see where your money’s going and where you could potentially make changes.
Daily Spending Tips:
13. Lower Your Utility Bills
Another great tip to save some money is to cut back on your utility bills. A great deal of your monthly expenses go into utilities. By reducing them, you will find yourself with some extra cash.
Change your energy provider, switch to LED lights, Invest in a smart thermometer are all ways to do so.
14. Cut Back On Rent
Rent is another big portion of your fixed expense. Cutting back on it is probably the quickest way to save money.
Consider moving to a smaller apartment or sharing a living space with your friends or family.
15. Meal Prep
Not only does it save you time, meal prepping can also save you money by avoiding the temptation of dining out and spending a extra $20 dollars a day on a meal.
16. Carpooling
Carpooling is when you share a single car ride with other people. By doing so, you can split the cost of fuel and save some money on gas.
Consider sharing a car ride with your friends or coworkers who live close to you
17. Designated No-Spend Day
Dedicate a day each month as your “no-spend day” where you spend absolutely nothing on that day.
After you have gotten used to it, you can even increase the times you do it every month from one day to two days or more.
Practical Saving Tips:
18. Opt Out of Promotional Message
You will spend less if you are not tempted by the endless promotional messages you receive from your email and phone message.
Dig deep to you inbox and unsubscribe from any of the promotional newsletter might be subscribing to.
19. Do It Yourself
You can save a lot by making your own decorations or modifying and repairing by yourself.
Get creative and use recycle materials to create your next piece of home decoration before impulsively buying it in store.
Extra Saving Tips:
20. Take Up a Side Hustle
You can save more when you have more to save. Consider starting a side hustle, working a few gigs as a freelancer or pick up a few shifts at a bar or restaurant.
21. Sell Any Unused Items
You can also make a few extra cash by selling any unused items at your house, you can also declutter your place while doing so.
It is a great way to help you reach your saving goal faster.
Long Term Saving Tips:
22. Get Out of Debt
The longer you delay paying off your debt, the larger it becomes because of interest. And you do not want it to be the reason keeping you behind from saving money.
In order to save money and reach financial freedom in long terms, you need to get rid of any remaining debt as soon as possible.
23. Plan Ahead
Like we mentioned earlier, having a saving goal can help you to save. Wherever your saving journey may lead you, it’s always better to plan ahead for any future events.
Big life events like: buying a car, buying a house, having a baby, getting married, switching job requires money. It’s best if you could make plans ahead to avoid burden in the future.
This post was all about the best actionable money saving tips to help you reach your financial freedom as a college student.
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