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What are some good ways to save money?
It’s just about that time, Rowan. That’s right: the time for student load and financial aid refund checks. They will be available for pick up in the Bursar’s office for the next two weeks if you haven’t had a chance to get to the second floor of Savitz. And it’s best that we remember what we learned from Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility.” What exactly does that mean? Don’t cash the check from your tuition-overpayment and go out on one big shopping spree; February has already come and gone and you may be stuck in your apartment eating Ramen noodles when everyone else goes out Saturday night, wondering if fifteen cents will last until your parents put some money on your debit card or until your tax return check comes. Instead, it’s time to learn the best ways to save money so that you can enjoy yourself throughout the entire week, month or year, depending on how long you need your cash to last.
According to Stateuniversity.com, college students spend a combined $11 billion annually on food and beverages, whether it’s one meal at a restaurant, a cup of coffee in the morning before an 8 a.m., or an entire haul of just about everything at the grocery store. Therefore, this is probably the area where the most excess spending happens, and is also the area where the most money saving tips can be of service.
First of all, it’s probably beneficial to save the restaurant dining for special occasions, like birthdays and anniversaries. Meals at a restaurant can be upward of ten dollars per person, plus a soda and a tip. You could easily spend $20 just to feed yourself on a Friday night at the Outback Steakhouse. Instead, you could stay home with a group of friends or a date and cook together if you want a special meal. If you’re looking for something more casual, ordering take out or pizza could be a good idea. Most non-chain pizza places have specials on different nights of the week, during which a pizza could be less than $10. Domino’s, for example, has a deal in which you get two medium, two-topping pizzas for $5.99 a pie. Split that four ways, it’s less than three dollars a person when you could have been spending close to ten times that much individually.
Some pizza companies also have printable coupons on their websites for even better deals. However, if you absolutely can’t live without going out to dinner, there are other good ways to cut back on the bill. Instead of ordering sodas, which can be close to $3 per glass, not including refills, order a glass of water. It will save calories, make you feel less full, and you’ll enjoy the flavor of your food more since it won’t be overpowered by a sugary drink. Most restaurants also offer bread, soup and salads with meals, especially at dinner time, so appetizers aren’t really necessary, and there you can shave up to $10 away from the total.
When it comes to grocery shopping, it can be just as simple to save big bucks. With two grocery stores so close to campus, everyone should follow the golden rule, even if it makes you feel like a grandma. Shop the sales! Each store has flyers in the front of the store listing the best sale items of the week. At the beginning of the week, go to each of the stores, search through the advertisements to find the items you need and head to the store with the best bargains. Even if you have to buy half of your items at one and half at the other, in the long run, your wallet will thank you.
One thing that’s typically much cheaper at the grocery store is coffee. For around $5.99, you can purchase a two-pound container of Maxwell House. Compared to your $1.69 sixteen-ounce cup from WaWa or Jazzman’s, it’s quite the steal. Not to mention, pouring hot coffee into a travel mug will keep it much warmer for longer than any of those fancy cardboard cups could.
Another big college expense, much less useful than food for some of us, is our textbooks. One hundred dollars for a book to skim? That hardly seems worth it. There have been other options to help ease the cost, like used books at the bookstore and websites like Half.com. Still, though, they aren’t cheap. That’s where Chegg.com comes in handy. Chegg is a textbook rental website. The books can be rented for a semester, which is equivalent to 125 days, or a quarter, which is 85 days, or a short 60 days. The company asks only that you limit highlighting or writing so that they can continue to rent them out. At the end of your rental period, you simply log into your account, print a UPS label, and away it goes, back to Chegg headquarters. An adolescent development textbook formerly used at Rowan University, costing $133 brand new, can be rented for the entire semester for only $32. With a savings of one hundred bucks, you just bought yourself a lot more pizza and coffee by renting that book.
A final major expense is entertainment. Entertainment comes in many forms: you choose to go the movies, download some new music, or spend a night out at the bar. No matter the choice, though, the spending adds up. Try holding off from going to the movies on Saturday night if you can, when the crowds are big, and the movie ticket prices are bigger. The best time to go the theaters is early, typically before noon. AMC theaters have a special where tickets cost only $5, and there are fewer people in the theater. With more room to spread out, it is almost as if $5 is buying you a private show. Instead of downloading new songs from iTunes for 99 cents each, try Pandora. Pandora allows listeners to stream music for free, music that caters to their specific genre preferences. However, because this service is free and channel-based, you can’t choose the song that comes on next. This deters some people, but it can be really cool. It offers the endless possibility of new music discovery, all for the wonderful price of free.
And worst comes to worst, if you really can’t make a conscious effort to save money, if that check just burns a hole in your pocket the minute you place it there, at least try to make some extra money. Fast food places and supermarkets are usually always hiring because people need to eat, and there are bound to be plentyof these places in the areas surrounding campus. If being a service worker isn’t for you, there’s always the tutoring option. You could try posting flyers on campus for any classmates who might need help, or you could talk to local school districts. Some parents definitely want their kids to have the extra help. There are also many on-campus jobs. Listings often come through the Rowan Daily Mail.
Still stuck? I’m sure someone’s car is still buried under a nice chunk of icy snow, and apparently another storm’s predicted. Offer to dig out a stranded neighbor for a small fee.
