Why doesn’t money last? Because there’s a lot to spend on and there’s so little coming in. Students, especially, are at the receiving end of this because they only have what their parents or guardians give to them.
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Now, as a student, how do you manage your finances to ensure you’re not broke every time? Even when you get little money, you can still manage it. I’ll show you how.
1. Rewards Cards
For every dollar you spend, you can get it back. You just have to know how to do that. Before you spend so much on textbooks at the beginning of the semester, take note of how you’re paying for them.
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There’s something like a rewards credit card and if you pay with that, you could receive a reward like airline miles in return, which is a very good offer.
2. One Card For All
Instead of carrying multiple rewards cards around, you can combine all of them into one credit card. It will contain multiple credit, membership, loyalty, and gift cards in one.
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This will keep your wallet organized and when making a purchase, you can scroll through your stored cards, click the button, and swipe away.
3. Mint Budget Chart
Mint is a free application that organizes your financial accounts and lets you view all of them in one place. This is good for setting a budget and tracking your financial goals.
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You can also have the app on all your devices, like your phone, laptop, and whatever else you have, so that you can keep track of your spending at all times.
4. Put Your Wallet on Your Phone
Mobile wallets exist and they enable smartphone owners to store a lot of things on their phones. These things include coupons, event tickets, boarding passes, store cards, and other forms of mobile payment.
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Some of these wallets include the Square Wallet app and also, the Google wallet. So, organize all of these things into a place that’s very convenient for you.
5. Handy Budget Apps
There are budget apps you can have on your phone that will help you save money. For instance, you can use ATM Hunter to avoid paying extra fees at the ATM.
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You can also find budgeting apps that will alert you about a discount when you walk into a restaurant or store that’s offering a discount.
6. Ask for Student Discounts
There’s a lot that your student ID can do for you. So, be a budget-conscious student and carry your student ID everywhere. When you do, you’d be surprised about how many stores, restaurants, and movie theaters offer discounts for students.
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So, enjoy the benefits of being a student and take that ID with you everywhere. It will help you save a lot.
7. Take Advantage of Amazon Student
There’s an app called Amazon Student, and it’s a free app that allows college students to scan barcodes to compare textbook prices. But, that’s not even the best part. You can actually sell textbooks and other items in exchange for Amazon gift cards.
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They will cover the cost of shipping the cards and students that sign up for their student program will also get free two-day shipping for 6 months.
8. Monitor Groupon and LivingSocial Daily
There are exciting things to do in your campus environment and you can also save to participate in such activities. You can save through Groupon and LivingSocial deals.
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Both of those online sites can provide the best local discounts and deals on a range of things like events, restaurants, travel, and even entertainment. If you take budgeting seriously, you will monitor those sites daily.
9. Rent Your Textbooks
Why buy textbooks when you can rent them? If it’s a textbook you’ll only be using for a short time, it will be best to rent them.
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You can look for sites where they rent textbooks. Chegg and Amazon do that and you can search for your textbook list there. There can be some other advantages like some companies offering free shipping when you’re returning the textbooks.
10. Follow Budget Tips on Pinterest Boards
There are a lot of money tips and budget advice that you can find on Pinterest. Just find the specific boards in their online bulletin.
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There are tips ranging from how to save on online orders to ways you can get your budget back on track. Just search for Budget on Pinterest and explore so many of them.
No More Excuses
With these tips you have now, you don’t have any excuses anymore. You can now manage and save your money easily and effortlessly.
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Try to not be lax and take them seriously if you want to save your money and never go broke as a student.