Being a student is fun and brings a lot of experiences, yet being a student nowadays is also expensive because of a lot of factors like fare increases, tuition increases, etc. The most recent pandemic we experienced also affected students. Due to Covid, additional expenses have been added, and it’s really good to find ways to be able to save money as a student. Our practical tips may also be helpful for you.
If you are a student, I’m glad you are already thinking of saving money and want to explore how you can start saving now. I’ll give you some tipid tips and some hacks on how you can save money while you are still young and studying.
Tipid Tips for Students
1. Pack your own Baon.
Pack Lunch?
Yes, you heard it right. Pack lunch! Cook food at home and bring it to school!
We no longer do this as a student once we get older. It usually starts when we get to high school, and we notice that our classmates no longer get their food at school and go to the canteen to buy food instead.
So we usually follow them and insist on buying food at the school canteen.
There’s nothing wrong with getting your food from home and eating with them during lunch break with your baon. You can also encourage them to bring their own, so you can all save money.
Doing this can help you save and eat more too because the food sold in school canteen or restaurants is normally limited. You have to pay more if you want more.
2. Bring your own water.
Bottled water is much more expensive than bringing your own bottled water.
A 500ml bottled water will cost you P20 or P25; if you will buy two bottles for the whole day in school, that’s already P40 or P50 for a day. Plus, if you have your water, you can avoid buying soda or other unnecessary drinks that may also cause harm to your body in the long run.
So buy a water bottle suitable for your daily need in school, and do not forget to fill it in and bring it every time you go out. This will not only help you save money but also helps the environment because you can help in reducing disposable water bottle waste.
3. Walk to and from school if your house is not that far.
The next tip is walking!
I remember when we were young, we used to walk to and from school. Nowadays, I seldom see kids walking from school to their homes. I remember how fun walking was back then.
Maybe 20 years have made a lot of changes in the weather and the number of cars on the road, but depending on where you’re from or how safe it is for you to walk to school I suggest you try this. Wake up early and walk to school if it’s possible. It’s a form of exercise, and if you encourage a friend to do the same thing, you can have more fun doing this daily.
If it’s not possible in the morning then maybe you can try it in the afternoon, you get to save money and exercise at the same time.
4. Stay away from the canteen.
This tip is kind of a logical tip. Simply stay away from temptation.
If you’re not hungry, then don’t park yourself near the food station. This way, you will surely avoid buying food because you’re just craving it.
5. Stay away from friends who don’t know how to save.
Stay away from friends?
Yes, just distance yourself from friends who are not careful about their spending. These are probably friends who love to buy expensive things, eat in expensive restaurants, or buy a lot of unnecessary things or food.
Stay close to friends who also have goals to save money and know how to manage their finances. This way, you can learn from each other and support each other’s savings or financial goals.
6. Buy second-hand books.
Books are an essential part of being a student. We need books to read about our course and learn more about what we’re trying to learn instead of buying a new one. Why not ask someone you know who’s older than you and find out if they have a book you can buy at a lower price as long as it’s in good condition.
Negotiate about the price and purchase that instead of buying a new book. You might be able to negotiate to borrow it instead then that’s going to be a better deal for you.
7. Read from the library.
Reading from the library is an alternative instead of buying new books. Check your library and see if the book you need is in there. You can read it in the library or borrow it to note the important points.
Some books required in school are not really needed and might get updated after a year or so, so reading or borrowing them from the library is another option for you to save money and avoid buying books that will only end up on your bookshelves.
8. Stop your bad vices.
IF you have vices, then it’s time to stop.
Things like smoking or drinking too much alcohol are, first and foremost, not good for your health. So stop it as early as you can. This will help you save money now and in the long run.
Develop healthy habits, and it will surely benefit you in the future.
Your Step-by-step Guide to Saving Money for Students
Now that we learned some tips for you to be able to save a little bit of money with our tipid tips above. Let’s now discuss how you can achieve your saving goals.
1. Set your goal.
To save money effectively, you have to set up a goal.
Know why you want to save money in the first place.
Focus on one goal first and see if you can quantify your goal. You must know the exact amount you need to achieve your goal.
After knowing how much you need, identify how long you want to achieve it. You must set a date and determine how many months you wish to achieve your goals.
2. Develop the Habit of Saving.
Saving money is hard. Our money seems to be constantly needed somewhere.
I think with anything, starting it is the hardest part. That’s why we have to have a strong why before starting.
Knowing your why will push you to really start saving money.
If you’re finding it hard to save, I encourage you to start small. Start with an amount you know you can handle, then be consistent in doing it and eventually, you can start increasing the amount.
Once the habit of saving money is imparted to you, you can continue doing this when you start receiving your pay or when you already have a business in the future.
3. Know how to budget your money.
Knowing how to manage your finances is very important for saving more money.
Learn how to budget your allowances; you can also try the envelope method in budgeting.
Budgeting involves knowing your needs, wants and financial goals.
Knowing all of these will help you save. You can read more about our budgeting guide.
4. Track your expenses.
Always write down your expenses. Writing them down will help you understand where your money is going.
This can help you realise where you are spending too much money on. You might realise that a lot of your spending is on unnecessary things. Review your list from time to time and eliminate these unnecessary purchases or reduce them.
5. Maximise your skills to earn extra income.
To achieve your saving goal faster, you must find ways to earn extra income.
If you have talents that you can offer to people, like drawing, painting or if you’re good at designing or calligraphy.
You can start drawing for other people or even for the teachers who might need some visual aids for their class.
Be creative and find ways how you can market your skills to help others while earning an income as well.
6. Find part-time jobs.
Another way that can help you save money is to find part-time jobs. You can find restaurants that offer part-time employment to students.
You can also find part-time jobs online. Some companies are also open to accepting students to work for them online. You just have to find out your skills or learn new ones you can offer online.
7. Find scholarships.
Another significant expense in school is the tuition fee. To save more money from this, you can look for companies offering scholarships. Here are some of your options:
Private Companies
Some private companies have scholarships, so you can approach people from your school who might be able to endorse you for scholarship programs.
Government
The government also offers different scholarships, so do your best to excel in your studies to pass some scholarship exams that the government conducts.
You can check this list for some examples and ask your registrar’s office if they might have application forms for these scholarships.
Landbank also offer some so check their page as well.
School
Another scholarship you can take advantage of is your school’s dean’s lister scholarship. Know the average grade you need to target to get a dean’s lister scholarship.
Varsity
Are you a sporty person?
If so, then this is for you. Schools are also offering a scholarship to varsity players. Some schools are also giving allowances along with free tuition fees.
You can approach school administrators to ask about this opportunity.
Conclusion
There are a lot of ways you can do to be able to save money from your allowance. You can start by checking on yourself and following our tipid tips, and then follow our guide to find ways to earn money that will help you save more and achieve your goal faster.
Saving money as a student is not easy, but this is possible if you have determination and discipline.
Saving money while you are still young is important and will be helpful for you in the future.