Surviving College on a Budget

               College is supposed to be an exciting time with new surroundings, new friends, and being on your own for the first time. It can also be very stressful, overwhelming, and expensive. Keeping a budget and managing your finances is crucial during these four years. Between tuition, pricey textbooks, and minimal income, money is extremely limited. The most important thing for college students, besides getting good grades, is learning how to become resourceful and thrifty with your money. Here are a few suggestions and recommendations on how to get by:

                Grocery shopping, a necessity can get rather costly. For the basics such as Easy-Mac, breakfast bars, bottled water, snack food, plastic cutlery, etc the Dollar Store is very cheap and offers these basic college must-haves. Target or Walmart are also good options; both are notorious for being inexpensive and both have relatively large grocery sections. Budgetary wise, make sure to set an amount to spend every other week or monthly, depending on how often you plan to shop. For example set the max around 20 -30 dollars per trip. Try to buy only on-sale items and purchase mainly generic brands. You don't need anything fancy.

                Room décor and cleaning products can be hard to find affordably, but trash cans, plastic drawers, towels are all important things you need for your dorm room. Again, Target and Walmart are good options for these basic needs. You only need them to last for a few years. Look at your budget and decide on how much you can spend. Decide if you want to purchase everything at once or buy only a few items at a time.

                Miscellaneous spending, aka cash for  those extra occasions where you crave Starbucks, Taco Bell, or a day trip with friends, look for deals in the area at museums, downtown attractions, etc. The Collegetown Network always has specials on the weekends, and the SLIC desk in Doyle sells movie tickets for four to six dollars.

                I find these tips helpful and remember to keep your eyes and mind open for fun things to do. Just because you're on a budget, doesn't mean you can't have fun!