Cost-saving Tips

Learning to budget is important. Learning to stay within your budget is equally important—and can be achieved with a few tricks to save money without leaving you hungry or bored.

• Buy used furnishings.
  From table lamps to cutlery, you can find great deals on all sorts of furnishings at second hand stores and garage sales. Or even better, use Mom and Dad's old furniture.

• Keep your phone simple.
  Don’t buy services such as call waiting that you don’t need, and take advantage of packages that offer reduced-rate long-distance calling. Cell phones are an added expense that can easily be cut—especially on campus where there are free phones in many buildings.

• Consider going “cable free.”
  Many students find that with their active lives and heavy course loads, they don't even have time to watch TV. If you really want cable, choose the basic cable service and ask about special hook-up rates for students.

• Reduce utility costs.
  Turn your heat down when you are not at home (especially if you are away for a few days), turn off unused lights, take a shower instead of a bath, use blankets or a towel to stop gaps at the base of doors leading outside, buy energy-saving light bulbs, don’t leave taps running while you cook or brush your teeth. There are many little ways to save energy costs!

• Ask for student discounts.
  Many businesses offer student discounts. Remember to carry your student ID with you at all times.

• Look for cheap entertainment.
  There are lots of options, including cheap Tuesdays at movie theatres or second-run movie theatres, free or low-cost live theatre on campus, free concerts and festivals, free Huskie athletics games, free Campus Rec activities, potluck parties, and more. Use your imagination!

• Buy used textbooks.
  Many students sell textbooks when they are finished using them, either through ads in the Arts Tunnel or around campus, through the U of S Bookstore or through Browser’s—the used bookstore/café on campus. When you’re finished with your textbooks, you can sell them for cash too!

• Bring lunch, snacks and beverages from home.
  Buying lunch on campus is much more expensive than bringing a home-packed lunch. Save campus lunches for a treat. Make sure to include snacks, such as bars, gum and cookies on your grocery list, and remember that $5.00 = 5 cups of coffee on campus or 60 cups of coffee from home.

• Take a walk!
  Why not walk to school, the store or the gym? You will save on bus fare or gas and parking—and more importantly you'll do your body some good.

• Grocery shop smartly.
  Write yourself a grocery list to avoid impulse buying, and always eat before you go shopping. Take time to consider what you are buying, and why. Do you really need brand name items? Buy in quantity when it is more economical, and freeze in portions that will feed the appropriate number of people. Buy “in season” fruits and vegetables.