10 Ways Students Can Save Money in College

Note: This is a guest post by Chloe Trogden. 

Trogden is a writer and manager for Collegegrant.net where she has recently been researching student guides. In her spare time, she enjoys camping, swimming and playing her guitar.


Going to college can be expensive. The cost of tuition is rising every year, as is
the total debt that students are accumulating. Finding ways to save money while
in college is critical to good financial health when you graduate. Otherwise, you
will spend the first several years of your professional life trying to climb your way
out of debt instead of enjoying the fruits of your labor.

Here are 10 ways you can save money while in college:

Plan Ahead

You can start saving for college when you are in high school. You have four
years to work and set aside money that you can use to offset the cost of tuition
or living expenses. Though you are unlikely to be able to save enough to pay for
your whole college education, you can probably save enough to at least buy your
textbooks.

Go to a State School

Private universities and colleges can cost 5 times as much as state schools –
more in some cases. While tuition at a state school might run you about $8,000
on average, tuition at a private school could be $42,000. Even if costs continue to
rise at state schools, the tuition will still be far less than a private school.

Attend Part-Time

If you have your heart set on attending a prestigious private school, you can cut
costs by attending part-time. Though your overall costs will end up being about
the same (or more after fees), you will free up time to work to either pay your
way through school or to start paying on student loans while you are in school,
reducing the interest costs.

Get Grants

Grants and scholarships are free money that you don’t have to pay back. The
more grants you can get, the less you have to pay out of pocket or borrow. Even
one grant of a few hundred dollars can reduce your expenses. Research all the
opportunities available to you and apply for them.

Buy Used Textbooks

Textbooks can cost you thousands of dollars per semester. Save money by
purchasing them used, either through online retailers or from your classmates.
You may be able to find a place that rents or trades textbooks, possibly saving
you even more.

Live at Home

Room and board is another big expense, whether you live in a dorm or live in
your own apartment. However, if you have obliging parents, living at home will
cost you nothing. You can’t beat those savings!

Eat at Home

Meals are another big expense. If you live in the dorm, make sure you stick to
the campus meal plan instead of eating out or constantly hitting up the vending
machines. If you live in an apartment or home with your parents, make sure you
cook your own meals instead of eating out. The savings will really start to add up.

Work Part-Time

Whatever money you earn while you’re in college can help you offset expenses.
Though you are unlikely to be able to hold down a full-time job, you should be
able to put in 10-20 hours a week. Look for jobs that are in your field, if possible,
to get experience while you work.

Write a Blog

Anyone can make money online through blogging and selling advertising or
affiliate products. Blogging is a great way for college students to make money as
it can be done on any schedule. If you create a blog that gets enough traffic, you
can even start making money when you aren’t working, allowing you to maximize
your profits while minimizing your efforts.

Attend Online

Finally, online courses offer students a lot of flexibility, allowing them to continue
to work full-time if needed while attending classes. If you can work full-time while
in college, chances are that you may even be able to pay all your own tuition and
expenses, reducing any debt when you graduate.

College is expensive, but it doesn’t have to leave you saddled in debt. Follow
these tips for saving money and reducing the total amount you have to borrow.

Who is Morgan Mitchell?

I asked myself that very question when I found this $5 bill a few weeks ago after selling some of our stuff. If you have been following this project you will understand what I am talking about (otherwise read the posts from January 2012 on). We were selling what we had in order to provide for our needs and then just trusting that God would provide the rest, and that he did! After discovering Morgan's story, it made me trust Christ that much more and reaffirm that He is always faithful.

If you aren't able to make out what is written on the top and bottom of this $5 bill, it says, "PRAY FOR MORGAN MITCHELL  MORGANS FIGHT=MY FIGHT." I was sort of puzzled at first because this was the first time I had ever seen someone write a prayer request on a $5 bill before, much less any currency for that matter. The only other things I have seen written on paper money before have been chicken scratch and the project Hank Eskin created in 1998 called "Where's George" initially for just $1 bills.

This person had to be pretty important to have their first and last name written on U.S. currency, much less written in all caps. Seeing as it is technically illegal to deface currency, the person that wrote this had to feel that Morgan Mitchell was one important girl or guy, but we will look past that (seeing as this request appeared to be an urgent request). My first challenge: Was Morgan a guy or girl? I have seen it both ways; like Morgan Freeman for example. 

So, I did what any other person would do; look it up on Google. Of course I just Googled the name  "Morgan Mitchell" rather than just typing in the whole phrase (which would have proved a lot quicker).  

Anyway, I concluded that Morgan Mitchell was in fact a girl, but which girl? There were like a million of them around the world! Okay, that was a little bit inflated, it was more like maybe 50. Honestly, I don't remember how many there were, I just made those numbers up. Let's just say there were a handful of girls with that name around the world. 

I was not convinced! I was going to find out who this was even if they were clear across the United States! I did what any other guy would do that did not see the obvious right in front of them, I looked for the names that appeared to be religious in nature. That proved to be a little more helpful. I think I was able to narrow it down to like 4 people. They were spread out around various states, except for one girl, she was from a town about 25 miles outside of Tulsa Oklahoma. 

My efforts were starting to pay off. Being the perfectionist that I am, I wanted to know for sure, rather than just assume that this was the individual I was looking for. So I did what would probably be the most obvious thing my wife would have said to do first, "Just Google the whole phrase for Pete's sake!"  Wow, I missed that one by a mile...or 10. By the way, who is Pete? My wife probably would not have said that, I just added that for dramatic effect. Back on track Matt...

After what seemed like an hour, I finally found who I was looking for! Just to think I could have figured it all out in like the first minute of starting this treasure hunt had I not read into it so much and totally missed the big picture. 

That's kind of like when God gives us two opportunities (both being equally as good) and we don't know which one to pick. We start to panic because we don't know which one is the right one and we either start becoming anxious and don't pick either (missing both opportunities). Or we pick one and think we have made a mistake and are going to miss out on our big break. See it as if God were giving you a choice. Either one you pick is going to serve God. Don't you think that whichever one you pick, God is going to get you to where he wants you? Long story short: it did not matter which word or phrase I typed in. I would have ultimately at some point in time figured out who the real Morgan Mitchell was. Okay, enough rambling...

Without further adieu, I introduce to you the Morgan Mitchell that truly needs our prayers more than ever before! The above link is an interview that was done by Fox 23 of Tulsa, just a few weeks ago. 

Morgan is an 18 year old high school senior who is battling cancer now for the 4th time, and still serving God! You don't find people like this every day, much less this young! The crazy thing about all this is that some really good family friends of ours have known and are very close to this shinning light. 

You can follow Morgan's health status from a Facebook fan page that was created in her honor. Please keep her in your prayers. 

And The Photo Booth Goes To...

Congratulations to Metro Christian Academy on being the recipients of the green screen photo booth package, as well as the signed Michael Dorn (Warf from Star Trek) picture. It sounds like Metro will use the booth during the Basketball season and either give away or auction off the signed picture! I am excited to see it put to good use! 

Also, I'm making progress on the Trade Mobile  little by little.  If you are a Facebook person, don't forget to "Like" the page. It is still pretty new. This is where I do most of my updates.

The Kimball Player Piano is nearing its final stages in fixing it and bringing it back from the dead. This is a desired player piano to have because it is so old and not produced in this manor anymore; Everything is digital these days.  I am blessed to have located one of only 2 known guys in Oklahoma that still work on these. Hopefully he can start this week!

Finally, a few days ago I had mentioned on my Facebook page that I had found something very interesting on a $5 bill. Hopefully, on Monday I will share this moving story on Facebook of the Five Dollar Mystery. I may post a story here as well; Depends on how much time I have! 

Have a great week!