Financial Killers During College- The 3 C’s

Do you want to know how to save money in college? We’ve narrowed down financial issues to three key areas.

There are three C’s that many of us spend most of our money on. If you haven’t guessed yet, the three dreaded C’s are clothing, cars, and courses.

How can you save money in college?

Saving money on clothing is key.

One of the basic needs of life is to be clothed properly at all times. It’s also nice to have dress clothes so that you can look good when you go out or to look proper when you go for a job interview.

But you definitely DO NOT need to buy the newest TNA pants or Sean John T-shirt every pay check, leaving minimal money for savings and food.

I personally believe in having a nice sized wardrobe with clothing for all occasions. I’m not telling you to never buy clothing or to walk around looking like a scrub, just to not let your weekly new jeans be the reason you never save any money.

Let’s look at the math of a young person who goes shopping every week to buy the trendiest clothing:

$100-200 a week x 52 weeks = $5,200-10,400 .

Do you believe that? If you spend $200 a week on clothing (which will only get you a pair of pants) you’ll blow over 10 grand a year. The funny part is most young people will spend way more than $200 a week when they go shopping, but I don’t even want to look at those numbers because I don’t want to depress anyone. The really scary part is that many young folks will use their student credit card to pay for new clothing.

Here are some tips that I follow to save money on shopping:

1. Go at the end of a season. People think it makes no sense but trust me if you buy your summer clothing for the next year after the current summer has just ended, you’ll save a ton of money.
2. Buy in bulk. Don’t go to the mall every week buying a new pair of pants. Try to wait until a time where you feel you absolutely need new clothing and go buy enough clothing so you will not have to go for another lengthy period of time.
3. Go to warehouse sales. Most of our favorite brand names have warehouse sales once in a while, and you may not find the newest style there but you will surely find the best deals.

Transportation is a great way to save money in college.

You don’t need a $20,000 car with expensive rims, a DVD player, and a flat screen to get around. All these hip hop videos have left young people convinced that they need expensive cars with ridiculous upgrades. The truth is that these are extreme luxuries.

If you think about it for a lengthy period of time and come to the conclusion that you absolutely need a car because your work or school is too far or too time consuming to get to, then let me give you some suggestions on how to save money:

• Buy used and bargain hunt. Think of a car that you really want and then go to all of the online car trading sites and check all of the auto trader magazines until you find someone selling that car for a reasonable price. When you find the right seller, try to bargain to reduce that price a little bit.
• Buy a car that will be fuel efficient. I know that most cars that are good on gas do not look the hippest, but who cares? As long as you are spending less money than everyone else who cares if they have a Hummer and you have a Toyota Corolla?
• Plan your trips. I suggest that you drive only when you need to get somewhere urgently, and a little walk down the street never hurt anyone.

Save money for college with your courses.

The message is choose your courses wisely. I have seen too many people my age squander away thousands of dollars because they got into a program that they realized wasn’t for them or took a course they didn’t enjoy or need.

Just like anything in life you must do you research prior to beginning a course or an entire program. The best ways to conduct research are to speak with people who have taken the course/program, go to www.ratemyprofessors.com to ensure you choose the right professor for the course, and to never stop working hard.

Before you even consider taking a program or course then you must at least read the description and realistically ask yourself if you’re going to be able to commit yourself fully to the task at hand. If you insist that you must drop a course or program then do it within the specified deadline that includes a refund.

Education can be the greatest investment you’ll ever make, but if you keep on dropping courses/programs and not doing the work, it will put you in financial despair with many years of debt.

That’s how you can save money in college.