Saving money in college can be very difficult due to all the expenses we have to attend to. First off, to be able to save money you need to be able to make money. If you need some tips/advice on how to realistically make money in college, click here for my recent post on how to make money in college. However, in this post, we will discuss a couple of practical ways to help save money in college.

 

1. Use Apps That Give Discount Codes.

UNiDAYS

There is an app called UNiDAYS specifically made to give discounts to college students. UNiDAYS has discounts for many popular places like Adidas, Urban Outfitters, Missguided, Asos, and so much more.
They also have discounts on services like Apple Music, Lyft, Megabus, and different phone companies. They will have you use your edu email account to sign up. This app is so useful because it offers discounts to so many different stores.

Here is the link for the website: 

Other Discounts

• Get codes from Youtubers because they always have them in their description boxes. Examples of sites include BooHoo, Fashion Nova, and Vanity Planet. Head over to my post on my 10 favorite beauty and fashion YouTubers and go to their videos to get their codes!
•  Target has an app called Cartwheel which has many deals of the week. So, on every trip to target make sure you take a look before making a purchase. 
• Ulta Beauty always has coupons on their app that give you $3.50 off of a $15 purchase but be aware that some things are excluded in this promotion.
• Find apps for the stores that you love; they almost always have discounts.

2.Be Sure To Ask If There Is a Student Discount Everywhere You Shop!

Most places have them but they don’t advertise it because they want you to be oblivious and pay full price. Don’t be afraid to ask! They will gladly make you pay full price for something that you can get a deal on. These big companies are definitely not missing out of on that money, but it makes a great difference to us college students. So, always be sure to ask cashiers if they have a student discount promotion going on. Also, be sure to always keep your student ID with you just in case they ask to see it. 

Places That Usually Have Student Discounts

I’ll name a few places that usually have in-store student discounts:

fyi: some will be location specific, meaning it will not be applicable at every store you go to.

Electronics

• Apple/Apple Music
• Adobe (My school (Penn State) actually just began giving us Adobe for free! So be sure to check if your school offers these resources before spending your own money.) 
• Microsoft (Penn State also gives us free Microsoft office)
• Dell
• Phone Companies: Sprint, AT&T, T-mobile

Entertainment

• AMC Theatres
• Cinemark
• Regal Cinemas
• Many museums give students discounts (Philadelphia Art Museum is one!)
• Spotify

Transportation

• Greyhound
• Amtrak
• Student Universe
• Geigo
• Allstate

Apparel

• Asos
• Steve Madden
• Topshop
• BooHoo
• Goodwill

Websites

• Amazon

Food

• Dunkin Donuts
• Qdoba
• Chipotle
• Subway
• Chick-fil-a
• Mcdonalds
• Buffalo Wild Wings
• Burger King
• Pizza Hut

This section is the longest because it’s my favorite. A lot of these places have apps that you can get additional discounts. Here are some of the ones I currently have on my phone. 

 

This information was gathered from https://www.giftcardgranny.com/blog/student-discounts/

Visit them to get a full list of places and details.

 

3. College Is A Wonderful Place With Many Free Things Available To You.

You need to make an effort to find them and utilize them.

• If you live on campus use your RA as a resource. I am an RA and we are literally required to do things for residents every week. Typically, when I have programs there is food there and the best thing about it is it’s free.
• Attend programs done by different organizations on campus because they will have food as well.
• At the beginning of the year, there are usually many events happening on campus. Check those out because they usually have free things such as water bottles, t-shirts, pens, lanyards, etc.

The important thing about this tip is to actually get out there and be active on campus. You’ll never get these things if you’re always cooped up in your room!

 

4. Have A Change Jar To Put In Spare Change You Accumulate Throughout The Month.

You will begin to see how much you truly accumulate over a period of time. At the end of the month, you can take it to a change machine that will give you bills for your coins. Places that I know to find change machines in Philly are Pathmark, Fresh Grocer, and Walmart. If you are not from Philly or don’t have a Walmart near you, be sure to check your local grocery stores.  

 

5. Don’t Go Out To Eat Too Often.

Think about how much you make every week and learn to budget what will go towards food. Honestly, it should not be that much because of the previous tip on free food around campus. Next, you need to utilize your meal plan! You have it for a reason so please use it; plus it is already paid for, so you don’t have to go directly into your pockets for money to get meals.

 

6. Find Free Or Low-Cost Activities To Engage In.

• Once again, college is a place that has many opportunities, however, you need to keep your eye out for them. For example, my university has showings of recent movies for free every Friday and Saturday night in our student center. There are also many arts and crafts tables and different activities going on those nights and it’s all free.
• If that doesn’t work out for you or you would like to watch something they don’t have then look for theaters around your university that have discounted tickets on a certain night of the week. Our theater has $5 Tuesdays and we usually only go on those nights because it is half off.
• Do things with your friends that are free. You could have a picnic on the quad, with food you brought with your meal points of course!
• You could be adventurous and go on a hike or you all could go to a free yoga/zumba/pilates classes your university recreation center offers.

Honestly, when you are in good company what you do doesn’t really matter. So, you can find free things to do with good friends and save money at the same time. 

 

7. Go Thrifting!

I personally love thrifting because I find so many unique things for pretty cheap. I am really into high waisted jeans and it’s easy to find authentic 90’s mom jeans in thrift stores.

Go Thrifting in Person

•  Good Will is a good place to start when thrifting because they have a wide variety of things to choose from and it’s really cheap. They also have certain days where a specific tag color is on sale and other little promotions like that. A great thing about thrifting in person is you get to check for fit and make sure there aren’t any damages that will be a deal breaker for you.

Go Thrifting Online

•  There are many websites and apps like Poshmark, Depop, and Mecari that you can shop for gently used clothing, accessories and many other things.

Shopping at Regular Stores

Before anything, always look for sales! If you feel it is absolutely necessary to shop at a known/popular store, you should assess how much you will actually use the product. In relation to clothing, a good way to save money is to buy staple pieces that can be used for many outfits.

If you feel it is absolutely necessary to shop at a known/popular store, you should assess how much you will actually use the product. In relation to clothing, a good way to save money is to buy staple pieces that can be used for many outfits.

I don’t recommend buying a bright pink floral print blazer from Zara for $70 because how often would you actually wear that? However, if you got it like that then it’s all your’s honey. It’s just important to shop within your means. It was Jay Z that said if you can’t buy it twice then you can’t afford it. Live by that.

 

8.  Save Money On Beauty Products.

Make-Up Products

• Find brands that are good quality and cheap such as ELF, NYX, Black Opal, and Wet and Wild. There’s no need to spend hundreds of dollars on expensive makeup when you can get things that are affordable for sometimes the same quality.

Make-Up Removal

• Don’t buy expensive make-up wipes. Baby wipes are just as good and they are only $1 at the dollar store. 
• You can use coconut oil and a soft tissue/napkin to remove makeup as well. As you may know, coconut oil can be used for many things and make-up removal is one of them! Just be sure to be careful around your eyes.
• Buy a reusable make-up cloth. This particular tip will help you save so much in the long run. They are just five dollars at TJMaxx (that is where I bought mine from and my friend got hers from Walmart for $3.) With these, all you need to do is clean it with soap as often as you see fit.

Conclusion

These are the tips I have on saving money in college for now. I hope that you learned some new things and will implement them in your daily routines. Let me know what you do to save money in college in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!