Lower Your College Cost Of Living

It hit me the other day that I have only 3 years until my youngest will be going off to college.

There … I said it.

It’s hard to imagine that she soon will:

• be getting her learners permit to drive this year
• have a drivers license this time next year
• have graduated from high school, and be heading off to college in 3 years

AND, she wants to attend college on the East Coast!?!? What is up with that!?!?! No offense, East Coast-ers … but that’s a long distance from our home base, so that’s out-of-state tuition, lots of expensive plane fares for me to go see her, and her to fly home to see me, etc. Oy vey!

According to two 2016 reports from the College Board, college tuition and fees are rising at a faster rate than financial aid and family income – by about 3 percent yearly, compared with virtually no inflation in the rest of the economy. Including room and board, the average total cost of a year of college at a public university is now some $20,000 for in-state students and $35,000 for out-of-staters, and more than $45,000 at a private school.

Life is changing fast. These next few years will fly by. So it got me thinking about lower college costs. Now, I am doing whatever I can to plan for college for her. And my adventures in saving for my daughter’s college education will be a conversation for a future blog post(s). We are working hard on all that at the moment, as I try to banish any lingering debt and get a firm financial foundation in place.

But what about some ideas on how to control expenses, and lower college costs while you are in college?

I thought this would be a timely post about lowering your college cost of living expenses. It is summer, but before long college students will be heading back to campus, and there might be a few ways to lower their college cost of living a bit.

Lower College Costs and Your Cost of Living

New hardback textbooks are some of the expensive required materials a professor can expect you to buy. Instead of buying an actual textbook, go for an online version, which can be much cheaper. If an online version of a textbook doesn’t exist, try to buy a used version from a friend or an online site.

After finals are done and you are done with all those textbooks, don’t just take them home and let them collect dust on the shelf. Sell them to underclassmen, or use services like bookscouter.com or half.com to sell them. Some university bookstores buy back textbooks as well.

Food at campus cafes, markets, or vending machines can be expensive. So make sure you’re prepared with snacks of your own. This way, you’ll save a few dollars and cents each time you snack, and save money over time.

It’s true we’re living in the age of Uber and Lyft, and sure, it might be faster to drive most places, but you’ll save so much cash in college if you take public transportation. Plus, utilizing buses and trains is better for the environment and it’s a definite way to lower college costs.

Show your college ID around town.  Many small businesses located in college towns will give discounts to students to show their appreciation for them shopping in their store.  Don’t be afraid to ask about student discounts.  This applies to discounts on music events, festivals, plays, etc.

Use cash and buy in bulk.  Using cash and not credit cards will save you in the long run by keeping you from paying interest on purchases.  Who wants to be graduated from college, and still making payments on stuff you bought while you were studying in college!  Buy in bulk when your living arrangements allow it.  Memberships to Costco, Sam’s Club, etc. can be very useful, and students can pool their resources to take advantage of the savings these warehouse stores provide on essentials they need; things like toilet paper, water, food, and cleaning supplies can be purchased for less at these stores.

Groupon has offers for college students to get 25% off local deals. Using these discounts can help college students save on many services; haircuts, manicures, fitness gyms and more.  You can also use phone apps to save money on purchases.  Ones like Retail Me Not, or iBotta are great to save on all kinds of things.  Here are two posts about great apps to try:  Cash Back Apps I Use – Part 1 and Cash Back Apps I Use – Part 2

Your campus and/or public library can become your best friend!  Here are some ideas of what you can get at the library for free:

• Borrow DVDs to watch of your favorite movies/series; save money by not subscribing to Hulu or Netflix, etc.
• Borrow music CDs; save money by not signing up for subscriptions to music services like iTunes.
• Books for English/Humanities classes – most courses require you to read 5 or more books per term.  Borrow instead of buy.

Here is some cool info, passed along to me by Valerie Cox of highervisibility.com, that shows how to save money on all those college necessities. It’s always good to have a hand in saving for college expenses – you might not have control over the tuition you pay, but you can sure take control over the other expenses involved in heading off to college! (This one has a cool infographic, so check it out!)

The Best Ways to Save on a College Budget

 

And here is an article by The Balance, all about how to lower your costs while on campus.

5 Ways to Lower Your College Cost of Living

 

This article from educationplanner.org, called 10 Ways to Reduce College Costs, has some great ideas about how to get the most out of college and still graduating with a minimum of debt!

Here are some links to other posts about how to lower college costs and dealing with college debt:

Student Loan Debt and Its Impact On You

Scholarships for Single Moms

Cut Grocery Spending Down To Size

How To Save Money – Automate Your Savings!