Saving Money in College

The running joke in college is the fact that everyone is poor. It's honestly true. Especially for someone like me who is kinda high maintenance. Even if you have a job like I do, BYU has restrictions on how long you are able to work on campus each week. Not to mention that Utah minimum wage is WAYYYYY lower than I am used to. Yikes.

While that's the case, I'm also trying to live that boujee lifestyle. Luckily, I have gotten kind of good at saving money while in college through various tactics. This post is gonna be all about these strategies to help you both save money and earn a little extra cash without a job. "Living the life but not paying the price" if you will. I will have two sections. Ways to save money and ways to earn money. Hope this helps you guys out!

Disclaimer: Nothing in this blog post is sponsored. All thoughts are my own and from my own experience.

Saving Money

Ibotta

I am fairly new to this app, but I really like it for groceries. Basically, the app gives you cashback for items that you purchase. I use this at Walmart, Target, and Smith's. To use it, you can search the app for food you are buying or going to buy, match the item in store to the one on the app, and after you finish your purchase, scan the receipt and you will be awarded cash back. Once you hit $20 cashback, you can use it in gift cards or have it sent straight to your bank account. I really like this because it is so easy to use, and there are actually a lot of items you would buy usually that with this app can save you money. Halo Top Ice Cream is one of my favorites to use with this app as well as one of my favorite healthy pizza options. It may take a couple trips to reach that $20 minimum cash out, but in the long run, you save money. BE SURE TO ASK ME FOR MY REFERRAL CODE!!!

Common Coupons

Know your everyday coupons. This goes for mostly specialty stores like Ulta, Michaels, and online stores. These stores 9.5 time out of 10 have a coupon that week. Ulta has the $3.50 off of $15 coupon, Michaels has a 20% off coupon, and many online stores have free shipping codes if you just know where they are. Never be afraid to just ask the sales associate if they have any coupons going on right now. They will be happy to help you save money. I know from personal experience. These small coupons may not seem like a lot at the time, but pennies add up. Especially on a college budget.

Birthday Perks

Let's just say that the month of July was a month of a LOT of free food. Since my birthday is during July, there are a ton of free things I get. Free Sephora gift, free Starbucks drink, free Nothing Bundt Cake, bogo Tucanos dinner (Brazilian BBQ), discounts on a lot of my favorite stores, free burger at Red Robin, etc. The list is kind of never ending. It's actually really fun to just see how much free stuff you can get around your birthday. Highly recommend. Just look up a couple lists on what places offer birthday perks!

Student Discount

This one, not gonna lie, I kinda hate asking about student discounts, but like it'll save you some money. A lot of students go without asking about student discounts. Usually these discounts are about 10% and like the rest of these, it adds up. Tommy Hilfiger (my personal favorite), J Crew, Topshop, Asos (free shipping), Charlotte Russe, Madewell, and even Kate Spade all offer student discounts. A ton of electronic brands like Apple, I have heard, offer discounts to students as well. Don't be afraid to ask. Everyone knows the pain of being on a college budget, and companies are sympathizing. Take advantage of it while you can. A couple more places include: Subway, Burger King, Chick Fil A (free drink? hmm), and Chipotle (free drink). Here is a list of even more discounts: Student Discounts. Get in the habit of just asking.

Take Advantage of Your College

Now, if you're not like me, high maintenance, I highly suggest working out at your college gym. At BYU, its free for students which will save you a lot in the long run. Gym memberships can be expensive. If you like the basic gym equipment like cardio machines and barbells, just use the free stuff. This goes for other activities on campus like events, movies, and in BYU's case, museums.

Free Trials

This mostly has to do with subscriptions to things, but most fitness places give you a free trial of their services. I tried OrangeTheory with a free trial and I really liked it. The actual membership is WAY out of my budget, but it was super fun to go one time with a friend for free. Netflix, Hulu, Spotify Premium, and even Amazon Prime offer free trials for 30 days or something. Not gonna lie, this summer I strategically had my Hulu free trial for 30 days and right after, used my Netflix free 30 days. It was great.

Honey

I talked about Honey a little bit in my #OOTD post, but I'll quickly go into it again. Honey is for online shopping. You are able to save and make lists to keep tabs on your favorite products. One of my favorite things about it is that you can have Honey email you whenever the price of an item that you saved has changed. This is very useful for when you want to buy something that might go "out of trend" and be moved to the sale section. Or even when a newer version of something comes out and the older versions become cheaper. It'll help you remember those items that you really want, but aren't sure if you can justify the price.

Groupon

For some reason, I feel like there is a stigma around using Groupon and I have no idea why. The number of times I have used Groupon for fun things... I went and got facials with my friend for $19 with a Groupon when it usually costs $50. There are great deals for hair coloring or cuts, eyelash extensions, fitness classes, and one that I can't wait to try out, axe throwing. All of these deals come at a fraction of the cost it usually would. Just try it out and look through what your city has. There are seriously some great deals on it. I just recommend you read the fine print of each Groupon to know when they expire and to also do research about any beauty/spa businesses to make sure they are reliable.

Earning Money

College Studies/Surveys

One of my favorite things I did to earn money my freshman year, was participating in studies. These may be a little difficult to find at first, but they are a super easy way to make cash. I had a friend who had me do a meditation session for an hour each week for 6 weeks, and I got paid $80. It was literally the easiest thing ever. I also did one where I did a 1 hour acoustics test that had me rate the annoyingness of sounds and I got $40 for that one. Literally so easy to make money, you help your fellow students get data, and often times, you get cash on the spot. I went out and bought the James Charles pallet right away after the first one. To find studies you can do, either search on your college's website, go into some of the STEM buildings and ask, or ask any TA or graduates that you know. Most studies will be conducted by graduate students with the help of undergrads, so asking around is your best bet or keeping your eyes open for little flyers around campus.

Poshmark/Consignment Stores

Again, I talked about this a bit in my other post, but I had to include this one because I actually did do this to earn money. Once I got to college and started to update my wardrobe, I decided I also needed to get rid of stuff to make room. I decided to create a Poshmark account. Now, in Washington, I would go to a consignment store first and have them see if they would take any clothes, but since they don't have them here, I opted to sell online. Poshmark is an app where you can sell your clothes. It is really easy to use. You just post a picture, list a price, and wait for someone to offer or buy. I've sold a ton of my old Lululemon stuff and a makeup pallet that I wasn't using. Poshmark then takes a small portion of the price you sold it for and creates a pre-paid shipping label for you. At that point, you can just pack your item in any box, and ship it out. Super easy, quick, and earns you more money than donating clothes you don't want, or trying to sell them at Plato's. Make sure you are honest about what you are selling though because customers can still return a product if it is not what they were hoping for.

Facebook Market

This is basically the same as Poshmark, but local. You can sell anything, and have people come to you and pick it up, or you can offer shipping. This will also have a different demographic from Poshmark, so it is worth listing your items on both. You can also buy from here for pretty cheap too.

Rent Out Your Passes

This may just relate to BYU because I am not sure how other schools do passes for sports games, but here, you buy a ROC pass that lets you into all the sports games. These are great to rent out if you don't plan on going to a game. Often times, someone wants to go but doesn't have a pass. For BYU, there is a Facebook page where people post when they want a pass and how much they will offer. It is a pretty good way to get money. I did it a couple times and easily got $50. Not sure how it will work this year with our digital passes, but if there are any equivalents you have, a pass to a theme park, a punch card for a fun center, a camera, musical instrument, as long as it is not illegal, try renting it out.

Become an Ambassador

I am probably going to do a whole separate post on this, so I won't go deep into it yet, but a ton of brands are always looking for social media ambassadors. I have been an ambassador for a couple brands in the past, but I am currently one for a backpack brand here in Utah. Sage & Harper. Brand ambassadorships are usually for those who have a large following on social media. The company will usually either give you a product for free to test out and promote on your social media, or give you a discount for their store to use. BEWARE though! There are a lot of fake stores or sketchy brands that will try to recruit you. Make sure to do research and genuinely like the brand before accepting any ambassadorships or collaborations. Let me know if you want a separate post about being an ambassador!

Event Staff

Every so often, college campus' will have events that require extra staff. New Student Orientation, concerts, or big rival football games, these large events tend to need more staff to keep things organized. Look on your college's student employment site and check if there are any positions needed for temporary jobs like these. They will take up a short period of time, but earn you some money, so it might be worth it!

Sell Your Textbooks

This one is kind of a "duh", but a lot of people actually forget. If you can't sell back your textbooks to the school, or anyone in particular, there are often a couple different ways to sell your books. Facebook pages for your school let people know what you are selling or looking for, and there are often textbook sell and resell places around your campus. If you don't think you're gonna need it again, try to sell it. Textbooks are expensive, might as well get some of that money back if you aren't going to use it again.

Side Hustle

Are you good at the piano? Photography? Makeup? Sports? Painting? Math? Cooking/baking? If you are, try to make it into a little business for you. In fall, I found that a LOT of people were asking me to do their makeup for Halloween and other events. I never made them pay, but that was because I didn't think I could. You can. Make you talents into a side hustle. Find people who want piano lessons, or photoshoots, personal trainers, or tutors. People will be willing to pay as long as your prices are fair. It will help you develop your talents/hobbies, and will help you earn some cash. I am planning to start a little photography account on Instagram for myself because I have found that a lot of people like how I take my photos and edit them. I am just a beginner, but I want to gain experience through some cheap and fun shoots with people who want them. @alenab.photography will be the handle so give it a follow! I also plan to make makeup a side hustle for myself especially during the Halloween season. I haven't decided if I want to make an Instagram for that one too, but let me know if you want any Halloween makeup done by me this year! I am taking a stage makeup class in fall, so I am hoping to step up my game even more! Side hustles are so fun and I highly recommend trying it out. It is all on your own time and is completely your style.

Saving money in college really is just saving small amounts here and there and earning when you can. With all these tips, be sure to also be mindful of how much you are spending and on what. A lot of money will go towards food whether you are buying groceries or eating out. Give yourself a budget for food, beauty/fashion, and fun. When you make purchases, ask yourself if you really need it, or if you could live without it. Stick to your plan and you will be cruising through college with some basic but valuable financial planning skills.

And so ends my official Back to School series. My upcoming posts will be more about college living rather than getting ready for college itself. I won't be posting a long post next week if I post at all because I will be coming back from a quick little trip to California, but I might be able to do a quick recap of what we did. But for September, we have some posts I am really excited about. How I edit my Insta pics, some party makeup looks, my skincare routine, and some fall fashion essentials. Let me know what else you guys wanna see!

Alena

Saving $$$ in College