MONEY CONSCIOUS IN COLLEGE
How I Barely Spent Any Money While Living On-Campus
Going to college? Up to seven strategies you can use too.
For the first time, I was on my own in making decisions. Whether good or bad, my choices were my responsibility.
I seldom parted ways with my money. My money habits were to spend as little as possible and on only what was an absolute need.
Thus my college experiences were shaped by this. But in no way do I feel my experiences were shortchanged because I didn’t spend my change. Hope this wordplay gave you a little giggle!
Now that you have come here to read, here are the seven ways during college that I spent only a little money.
1| Buying in Bulk
At the beginning of the Fall semester, I bought in bulk.
My dorm stow-away bins were stocked with what I would need for the approximately four months in Fall (late August-mid December).
Most times I still had enough left by the end of the Fall semester that shopping at the beginning of the Spring semester did not require me to purchase as many items in bulk.
I restocked my stow-away bins with items that just needed to be resupplied for the four months in Spring (mid-January-early May).
For items I had remaining, I would roll them over to the following Fall and buy less in bulk that coming Fall. I repeated this pattern all the way through college.
In my mind, I had everything I needed to last me awhile. Having my necessities early meant that I did not need to go off-campus to buy when almost running out.
2| Sticking to My Meal Plan
At my college, a meal plan was required when living on-campus.
After a while, I did get used to the dining hall food rotation.
While some students barely used their meal plans or had swipes remaining by Sunday when they expired because they ate out a lot, I more often than not tried to use all my meal swipes by the end of the week.
My familiarity with the dining hall food rotation did happen fast. But thanks to the dining dollar allowance that came with the meal plan for the food court, I did have the option to eat there some times, too. This did give my taste buds from time to time some variety.
3| Not Having a Car
Perhaps it helped that I did not have a driver’s license and even if I did, freshman at my college were not allowed to have a car anyways.
Something as an alternative to Lyft/Uber that my friends did were use the Zipcars (membership-based model) located on-campus. These were a more affordable option than renting from traditional rental car companies.
So, I did not have any car-related expenses such as student parking fees, gas, car registration renewal, car insurance, and car maintenance.
4| Participating in Dorm Events
One of the best things about living in the dorms was there were a lot of student dorm activities, on-campus as well as off-campus that were free.
When the resident assistants (RAs) planned off-campus student events, I signed up and got to experience things (live plays, fancy boat rides, my highlights) I would not have otherwise.
5| Joining Student Organizations
Some student organization may have dues (one-time fees or semester fees). Professional associations typically have higher cost membership dues.
I did not choose my organization participations based on whether they had dues or not. My interest just worked out with the clubs I joined. They did not have fees except for one club sport. Looking back, it is most likely typical for volunteer service and religious affiliation organizations to not have dues.
6| Not Buying Books From The Campus Bookstore
Textbooks in the campus bookstore are at a premium price.
It is best to purchase textbooks from a third-party vendor like Amazon or Chegg for a significantly reduced price.
The only time I had to purchase books from the bookstore was for lab courses because the lab manuals were exclusively sold in the bookstore only. Paying full price went against my money habits, but in this case, there was nothing I could do about it because I had to take these lab courses.
I typically bought physical copies of my books used and if it was cheaper, as an ebook.
Also, it is worth checking in your campus library to see if any of your course textbooks are available on course reserves. These textbooks are generally available for in-library use only.
But, if they are available to be checked out for outside library use, your campus library website may say on their website, or you can ask your librarian the next time you are in your school’s library.
7| Using the Campus Shuttle
This depends on your college shuttle service.
My college’s campus shuttle was limited.
But a couple times on the weekends when I joined my friends to either one of the two nearby malls or grocery stores, we took the weekend route campus shuttle. This was a free commuting option to get to the local shopping centers on the weekends.
My 5th Year of College was Slightly Different
I lived on-campus all five years, but my fifth year was a little change since I decided to live in apartment-style on-campus housing. A meal plan was not required in this housing type, so I opted for a dining dollar allowance. This allowed me to buy my own groceries and cook my own meals, which cost less than having a meal plan.
Takeaways
I was as much as possible all for not on my wallet, lol.
I had the discipline going into college of not being a big spender thanks to my upbringing, so it was not tough for me to translate my spending habits to this new environment.
These were the seven things that helped me have an enjoyable college experience without spending a lot of money.
After reading this story, I know you would not be surprised that I can count on my two hands and remember all the times I did leave campus on my own funds because it was very rare.
What was not in walking distance or accessible by my campus weekend shuttle, required money to take the public transportation or rideshare (Uber/Lyft).
If you are saying this is extreme. I cannot see myself doing this. I want to enjoy college.
I am not offended.
But, rather than x’ing all that I did, try to find something from it that you could give a try. If it does not work for you it doesn’t work for you, but at least you gave it a serious try.
Thanks for reading my perspective on being money conscious in college :)
