How to Save Money in College

Here are tips on how to save money while in college:

Develop a budget.
If you're not on a budget, you need to create one.  A budget can help you track all your monthly expenses so you know exactly what you will be spending each month.  This will help you forecast how much money you will need each month, which will help you when big bills are due (like insurance, rent, etc.).  This is one of the best ways to save money.

Track every dime you spend.
By simply jotting down your daily expenses, you can begin analyzing where you're spending the most money.  You might even be surprised how much money you're spending on food and entertainment.  Start a list of your expenses and divide into various categories; like housing, food, entertainment, tuition, etc.  Once you see your spending habits, you can begin decreasing certain expenses that are not necessary.

Clip coupons every Sunday.
You can save a lot of money by clipping coupons out of Sunday's newspaper.  The key to saving money with coupons is to only clip items you need.  Don't cut out coupons for things you don't need.

Make your own meals.
You might be shocked how much money you could save by refraining from buying food at restaurants.  Try to make your meals at home -- and bringing the food with you to school and work.  Save time by making big meals that you can divide up for later in the week.  This can save you potentially hundreds of dollars per month.

Use cash.
Force yourself to pay everything in cash.  If you can avoid using credit cards, you can prevent yourself from overspending -- and needing to pay high interest rates on your credit cards.

Lower your credit card interest rates by simply asking.
Call up your credit card companies and request that they lower your credit card interest rates. Depending on how much money you have on credit cards, you could save quite a bit of money by getting a reduction on your rates.  You'll never know until you ask.

Postpone big purchases.
Next time you're ready to make a big purchase.  Hold back.  Give yourself a week or two to think about it some more.   By simply waiting, you'll have more money in your pocket that you might need later.  And you may realize after a week that you don't need that pricey item anyway.

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