How to save money while in college

The College (University) years typically are a student’s first steps into adulthood so it is a perfect time to start establishing good money habits such as savings and how to create a budget.

College is supposed to be about learning and there are lots of things to learn about money management skills through different tools such as budgeting. Money is a subject that is unavoidable regardless of your current stage of life.

When you’re a college student living away from home, you try to make sure you don’t run out of money but unfortunately, it happens often. Therefore, most college students are tempted to do ungodly activities such as having sex for money, selling drugs and stealing because of running out of money or not having any money to meet their necessary needs. One way to avoid this situation is by creating a budget.

The basic principles of budgeting, like living below your means, still apply even when you are in college, hence the college budget should include the same things adults deal with after school – how much you spend on food, rent, clothes, entertainment, etc. Creating a budget and executing it are two different things and it’s important to execute the budget that you invested the time to create. And through the budgeting process, you will be able to save money and avoid wasting money on unnecessary expenses. Because of that, this week I will share the three ways to cut cost while in College:

Course materials

Textbooks could eat up a large chunk of your budget. It’s a common practice to purchase all your textbooks in college but this option is expensive. The best options are to rent the textbooks from friends/colleagues or buying used textbooks from used bookstores or college mates that are a year above you. There are different used bookstores in Tanzania that can help you on that as well as libraries that can guide you to find cheaper textbooks.

Housing

Housing cost cannot be avoidable but it can be controlled. Whether you live in dorms (at school campus) or in off-campus accommodations, housing is likely to be one of the largest expenses. The general rule of thumb is that, if your college is in a big city then it will probably be cheaper for you to live on campus but if you are attending a college in a small town, then it’s cheaper to live off campus. Another effective way to cut housing cost is by having roommates; living with roommates can save you money on rent.

Entertainment

It’s college, so I understand you need to have some fun, going out clubbing, eating out but make sure when you do that, you aren’t spending the money that you might need for important things (necessities). This is the area where more money gets mismanaged than any other area on your budget. The best way to ensure that you spend as much as you can afford on entertainment is to save money little by little as you can and put it aside in a piggybank for entertainment purpose.

In conclusion, the challenge is not making a budget; it’s sticking to it. Being responsible with your budget isn’t about not spending money, it’s about spending wisely. The basic principle of budgeting is to never spend more money than you make, otherwise you run the risk of getting into debt that might be difficult to get out of. This is important for any stage of life but more important while you are in college since it’s where the foundation of adulthood is made.

Therefore it’s worth it to invest your time to create a budget that works for you and once you have done that, you will be able to see clearly the areas where you can save as I’ve shared in this article.

Lastly, I want to remind the college students that it’s easy to forget about a budget when you can live freely off loan money but keep in mind, that education loan is not free money. It’s a debt. And you will have to pay it back so you will be miles better living within your budget throughout your college time.

Mr Mkwawa is a seasoned banker