Get More Bang for Your Buck: How to Stretch Your Dollars During Your College Years

Compared to 15-20 years ago, attending college and all of the expenses related to attending college, are quite costly.  If you are a young person preparing to begin college, or if you are already attending college, here are a few practical money-saving tips that will help you stretch your dollars, and make your life much easier during your college years.  You will find many of these tips to be very relevant, especially if you live off-campus and are not fortunate enough to receive financial support from family.

·Clip coupons.  While this may seem like common sense, or even cliché, people of all ages and financial backgrounds, fail to incorporate this when devising their shopping budget, by clipping coupons.  Believe me when I tell, you can greatly save money on such things as groceries, personal care products, cleaning products, and the like.  The bottom line is, do not underestimate the advantages of clipping coupons, for it is a surefire way to stretch your dollars.  The great thing about clipping coupons, is you can use them at  discount stores like Family Dollar and Dollar General. Two precautions to consider when purchasing cleaning products at Family Dollar and Dollar General; make sure you exercise comparison shopping when it comes to cleaning products.  I am advocating that you take this advice, because many of Family Dollar’s and Dollar General’s store brand cleaning products, such as their glass and window cleaner for example, works better than Windex as it does not streak. The second precaution is Family Dollar and Dollar General have greatly reduced the size of many of the products that they offer, but raising the price.  For this reason, depending on what you are buying and how badly you need it, it might be more cost-effective to buy that same item at Target, for example.

·         Live in Public Housing.  Before any of you frown up your little faces, know that there is absolutely nothing wrong with living in public housing.  What is most beneficial about living in public housing is the fact that if you are eligible to live in public housing, your rent is based on your income.  This is an ideal situation because if you lose your job, your income drops to zero until you regain income.  Over the years, public housing has vastly improved and by streamlining qualified applicants, by conducting thorough background checks and renovating many of its older housing communities. For these reasons, it would be worth your while to consider completing an application with your local housing authority, to see if you qualify for public housing.