- Take your pre-requisite classes at a community college and pay cash as you go.
- Get creative with textbooks. Buying used is a no brainer, but there are other options. Check out this article with great ideas like sharing, renting, or buying an older edition if you can find it. If you do buy, resist the urge to highlight. Keep them in stellar condition for the best possible resale value.
- Do not borrow money for living expenses. The ease it will buy you now will be taken from you for the next 20 years while you pay it back. You won’t need it anyway because you will……
- Have at least two side hustles. There are so many possibilities, the opportunities are endless. I am not a college student, but live a similar life being a new entrepreneur, so I have multiple side hustles. Click here to register for a list of my favorites.
- Live like you are a pauper. Because if you have to borrow money for school, you are. There’s not one thing wrong with that. What is wrong is borrowing money for school and living like a prince (or princess). What does this mean? Let me tell you.
- Use rebate apps. Here are my favorites with referral links that will net you extra $$$. Rakuten (formerly Ebates); look here for rebates on just about anything you can buy online. Think outside of the box, Lyft rides, Plane tickets, Clothes, Entertainment. Watch for bonus days where the cash back is as much as 10x higher. Ibotta; look here for groceries, there are particularly good rebates on liquor. Not that I’m saying to go buy some liquor, but if you’re heading to college, I know what that’s like.
- Search for deals. Use Groupon. Hey, launch Groupon through Ibotta for extra savings.
- Stalk Facebook Marketplace for free events and goings on.
- Become a chronic researcher of saving money. It gets a little addictive.
What if you already went to school and you already have a lot of student loan debt? Well, that is a bummer, but all is not lost.
First step, check into refinancing to make sure you have the lowest interest rate possible. I checked mine through a student loan broker called Credible. I found them to be very helpful. You can check for rates here without it hitting your credit. If you decide to proceed, you will get some referral cash for using my link- $100 if your loans are less than $30,000, and $200 if your loans are more than $30,000.
Second step, start the debt snowball. Don’t know what that is? Google it! Dave Ramsey came up with the idea and it’s great.
Are you feeling overwhelmed? Schedule a free call with me so we can get into the details of your situation. Fill out this questionnaire so I have an idea of what’s going on before we chat.