1. Don’t buy your books. WHAT? Don’t buy books? Okay, buy them, but don’t go through the bookstore, unless you have to! Check out Chegg, Amazon Textbook, or BigWords. I’ve been renting from Amazon since I started college, and thanks to my Prime membership, I get the books within two days and at a great price. Chegg is another awesome resource. I started renting from them my second semester of college. They not only have great prices on renting and buying new or used books, but they almost always send fun goodies along too. Last semester I received a new flavor of Red Bull, Tide Pods and a coupon for 3 months of Hulu for FREE! I just started using BigWords, but they are an awesome company who scans tons of websites to find the best prices!
2. Be prepared with supplies. Nothing sucks more than having to run in to the bookstore and grab a set of pens thats $4.99 when a pack of 10 at Walmart is $2… That $2.99 savings could have gone towards a Starbucks tea… Or Chick-fil-A! Buy your supplies early!
3. Check the clearance rack for notebooks and other supplies! All of the “fun” school supplies are long gone because no one actually cares about college kids and their need for school supplies mid year. But the clearance racks hold lots and lots of spiral notebooks. So what if the cover isn’t adorable? Mod-Podge a cute piece of scrapbook paper to the front and call it a day!
4. Invest in some form of a planner. The year is almost 3 weeks in and there’s a good chance stores are starting to put planners on sale, especially the ones that started in September! I received a Kate Spade planner for my birthday. It was on sale for $19, and thankfully my savvy aunt jumped on the sale and purchased it for me. If not a planner, use free printables or even your phone to store assignment due dates and test dates because we all know you probably won’t keep up with your syllabus the entire semester.
5. Look up everywhere that gives student discounts. Make a list of your favorite places, put it in your phone or planner and put those discounts to use! Student discounts can save you at SO many places, some that you would never expect to give a discount! Saving in one place can go to spending in another!
