DegreeGo Blog

College enrollment costs are just the beginning of your college bill. Once classes are paid for, college students have to deal with other expenditures like lab fees, textbooks, and–I know it seems silly to say it, but it’s true–food. When you’re running from that class that gets out at 6:45 pm to that class that starts at 7:00 pm and you haven’t had a bite to eat since that break you had between 11:15 and 1:00, chances are you’re living off of snacks, and that can start to add up really quickly.

Here’s some ways you can start saving money this semester because, let’s face it, the recession is still a real killer to our bank accounts.

Textbook bills are outrageous!

Some textbook bills are as steep as $1000 a semester, especially for those technical majors that are walking around with who-knows-how-many hardcovers topping at 700 pages in length. Fortunately, there’s ways to combat that extraordinary textbook expenditure, like:

• Getting your textbooks in e-book format, like the option American Sentinel University has to offer
• Buying your books used, especially from online sources (ask your professors how they feel about the “previous edition”)
• Renting books (it’s true, many schools offer it!)
• Sharing textbooks with your dorm mate that happens to be in the same class
• Check out the book from your campus library and make photocopies of the sections you need–or better yet, scan!

I don’t know what to do about these lab fees!

In some cases, you can’t get around this one. Many labs have a straight fee that you just have to pay to participate. There’s other “lab fees” you can cut corners on, however, such as purchasing materials for that ceramics class. Try to purchase materials in bulk; get your classmates together and set up a strategy where you buy one large quantity and spread it across several people.

The food receipts are piling up.

The daily mocha might not be necessary; instead of running to Starbucks every morning, invest in your own coffee maker. You can get some powdered Ghiradelli mocha blends to throw in your coffee and save yourself over $200 a semester.

Look into dorm meal plans your school has to offer. You’ll want to get a dorm meal plan that doesn’t involve you starving, but also doesn’t involve you eating a ton of food at the end of the semester simply to make sure you’re not wasting money.

Be health conscious of the snacks you eat. A small bag of beef jerky can last you throughout the day and is also more nutritious than those half a dozen candy bars you’re constantly picking up at your school’s snack bar.

Lastly, if your dorm has a kitchen, utilize it. It’s healthier to cook your own meals and it ends up being easier on the budget that going out to restaurants all the time.