Savvy Saving Students

There’s no denying it, college is expensive. From tuition increases (mine is currently at a whopping $47,820) to costly housing and insane book expenses — college is no place to be reckless with money. With the poor conditions of the economy, it seems we’re being affected more than ever before.

The good news is that we’re not hopeless — far from it. While I’ve only been back at school for two weeks, I've already seen a huge change in students’ ability to save money and adapt to high prices. This year, many of my friends brought bikes to school this year to replace their cars, which of course is great for the environment too. One of my friends, on top of her heavy courseload and internship, has three jobs.

Because I live off-campus, I don’t have a meal-plan. Buying groceries every week can get expensive, especially when you’re a picky vegetarian health-nut. Luckily, my roommates and I have developed a system where at least once a week two of us make dinner for everyone else.

Textbooks and school supplies are another money drainer. I hate buying textbooks that I’ll never open for a class. At Syracuse we can sell them back at the end of the semester, but we get less than half our money back for even an untouched textbook. New York Public Interest Research Group reported that during the 2007-08 school year, the average college student spent $988 on books and supplies. Imagine what else you could do with that money! (That’s 270 grande lattes and almost 4 iPods!)

If I have a friend in my class, I’ll often split the textbook with them. I also like to check out Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, and Half.com for cheaper prices. I ended up saving $50 on my marketing textbook this semester after searching online first.

Regardless of the harsh economic conditions, I’m really pleased to see students at my school being so careful with their money. People often have the perception that college students are careless with money — but from what I’ve seen, our generation is definitely acting responsibly.

Tell me, do you have the back-to-school money blues? What are people at your school doing to save money? How do you try to save cash?