Question:
I'm going back to school this fall and took out student loans to help pay for it. During school I will be working a part time job making minimum wage ($7.15) about 20 hours a week. I have a $200 car payment, $65 cell phone bill, and $50 Student loan payment from a previous semester. I've always had a hard time saving up money. Does anyone have any good strategies to saving up even though money is tight? I just always end up spending my money on gas or other needs. Thanks.
Answers:
I am a college student too, with significant bills, and a pathetic amount of money too. I don't have much help in the parental area, so I've had to do what I can at this point and it's not a whole lot more than just cutting expenses.
1.) See if you can get your car payment reduced. Either by extending the term of payment, or seeing if you can refinance it with another lender with a lower interest rate (and this is hard to do when you're young and have no credit or little credit or even bad credit).
2.) Pare down your cellphone bill. I don't like prepaid cellphones, I think they're a racket, they charge you $1 a day for each time you use it. Just get the cheapest cellphone plan you can. Mine is $40. No texting, no multimedia, no internet on the phone, none of that. It's not absolutely necessary for you to have it.
3.) See if you can get your student loan payment deferred now that you're going back into school. If it's a federal loan, and it's subsidized, you can defer it if you're taking at least 6 hours... and if it's subsidized, it will not accrue interest. If it is unsubsidized, you can still defer it, but it will continue to accrue interest. You could make "interest only" payments to keep it from growing.
4.) In terms of saving money, you could make your own lunches instead of eating out. Walking, riding a bicycle, or taking public transportation instead of driving, which will save on gas. Or perhaps carpooling with friends to share gas expenses. If you need to print stuff off or use computers, use what is on campus, and not at home. Printer cartridges are too expensive. Use the campus, you're paying them enough.
5.) Other ways you can make more money is to recycle items. Some places pay you for cans, paper, bottles, etc. Also, start clipping coupons to save bits here and there when you grocery shop. When you grocery shop, buy generic, and buy more "bulk items" (things you can eat for a long time). While a frozen pizza is yummy, a loaf of bread and some peanut butter will cover a lot more meals than the pizza will.
6.) For even more money, if there is a place where you can donate plasma (I know, it's drastic, but I've had to do it before to afford my textbooks), you can get some money there.
7.) Consider finding a job in being waitstaff at a restaurant. The hourly pay is awful, but the tip money is mostly under the table and usually restaurant management "figures in" what they determine to be your tips for taxing purposes (and it was always WAY lower than what I actually got), and I've always made more money as a waiter than I did at any other part-time job. Sometimes, I made as much money as a part-time waiter as I would've in a full-time job, and sometimes even more. I had occasions where I took home over $100 a night in tips alone, not counting my hourly pay. In a week's time, I could've made over $300.
8.) Last but not least, write down how much money you make in a month. Write out a budget of what bills you MUST pay. Then look at what you have left over. See if you're spending money on unnecessary things and "cut the fat."
Those are just some ideas. I hope they help.
Wow.me too. My source....M-O-M. Give em' the puppy dog eyes. Works every time.
Some companies will allow you to have your check deposited into multiple accounts. If so, have a portion sent directly to savings and the balance to checking.
Also, many banks and credit unions allow you to set up automatic transfers. Once a week my husband and I have $25 transferred to our savings.
Finally, on months where you get a "bonus" check (ie 5 paydays in a month instead of 4 if paid weekly), immediately put the extra check in savings.
If you are still having issues, open an account out of town (I have an account in NE and I live in AZ) and do NOT get an ATM card. Send a check once a month to the account. You can still get to your money but it is much more difficult, you cannot just go withdrawl it, you have to contact the bank and use fax or overnight services. This helps you to not spend the savings spur of the moment.
Put savings at the top of your priority list. Have your bank transfer a set amount out of your checking into your savings account each month. Not too much, because then you'll have to tap in to your savings to get by. Then when you make a little more money, don't forget to increase the amount!
Well, after you pay your 3 bills, (assuming those are the only 3) that leaves you with $70 a week. Do not use a credit card. period. Take out that $70 bucks a week in cash and use it for everything you need. (basically food and gas) normally I would suggest saving, but $70/wk is tight. But, if you can make it through college on that, (i did and i paid for college), you'll come out on the other side with only a student loan, and be way ahead of the game.
Don't eat out.
Don't buy clothes.
Don't buy coffee.
Ramen and rice and beans.
Good luck! I know its hard!
Making 7.15/hour working 20 hours a week you'd end up with $ 572/month. After taking out taxes and your other expenses you'll have around 140 a month. (depending on how much tax is taken). To help save money get direct deposit for your paycheck. Depending on where you work you might be able to have a percentage of the money from each check go into two separate accounts, usually 10% into a savings and the rest into your regular bank account. That way the money goes into your account automatically and you won't have to do it yourself. You can't miss money if you never see it.
If your not able to set that up then you have to have the disciplane yourself to take a percentage from each check and put it into a savings account. That's really hard to do, I've been there, espcially when your friends want to go out on a Friday night and you can't because you're trying to save.
One last thing, check the banks around where you'll be living to find the best interest rates on the savings account. There are also some great online banks that have better than average interest rates you might want to check out.
As stated, make saving your first priority. Paying your bills is important, but so is trying to be prepared for the unexpected.
Keep your eye out for other job opportunities as well. When I was in college, I couldn't survive on the retail job I had, so I started working for a bank. I found I really liked it, and went on to spend 10 years in banking. I spent seven years as a branch manager.
I used to hire people to work at the banks I managed, and the biggest thing a college degree meant to me was that someone could finish what they start. Even though college is a challenge financially, stick with it and you will be less likely to remain financially strapped.
Good luck.
That is a tough question. I am in college too and I know how tight things can get. I started keeping track of all my expenses in a check book register (free at any bank) and I realized that a huge chunk of my money was going to entertainment and food. I started to look for alternative sources of entertainment, for example renting a movie rather than going to a movie. Be creative, you will find that in some cases free can equal fun. Good luck to you.
Sorry but I cant relate 2 u since I'm rich and happy and going 2 Princeton so ya...I'm sure that your parents are rich so y dont they give you money 2 put into your account?Oh well I guess that not every1 is as rich as me so...Good luck!(AND I AM NOT A SNOB)
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