The Sneaky, Hidden Costs of College Life (and How to Save It)

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College is getting more expensive every year. And beyond the crazy tuition, there are a number of trickier, hidden costs that can drain your wallet when you get back to school. These costs can rise quickly, but there are some easy ways to cut and save money. At the very least, knowing about them can help you improve your budget a little.

School related expenses (other than tuition)

In fact, tuition fees are just the base price of your education. Formal education comes with many additional and substantial costs. You may not be able to get around all of this, but you can at least save a few bucks on a lot of them.

Parking

The parking lot is large. Most college campuses charge students a parking pass fee, not to mention meter parking closer to office buildings and classrooms. You probably already know this, but you may not know how expensive these passes are. For example, when I was in college, I was haphazardly budgeting for parking, but I figured it wouldn’t make that much difference. I was surprised to find out that it was $ 75 per semester and it threw my budget for a month. A year later, the cost of parking jumped to $ 100. Be prepared not only for the starting price, but for such hikes as well. But that goes for any of these costs, including training.

Depending on where you live, you can always skip the pass and opt for public transport if it’s cheaper. Some types of public transport may even offer discounts to students . Or go cycling if possible. You can also swim with a classmate and share the costs. During my last year of college, I skipped the pass altogether, scheduling all my classes after 5:00 pm and on weekends when parking was free. When that was not possible, I would opt for the online version of the course, or, if possible, the taped versions I watched from the campus library after I left work at 5:00 PM.

Course materials

In addition, there are classes that charge additional fees for using their labs, studios, or materials. Some classes may require you to purchase certain materials yourself, so you should be prepared to plan your semester. You can’t get by without a course fee, but if you have to buy materials yourself, you can save money by buying used ones or sharing the cost with a friend. Your campus bookstore likely used course materials, and you can often find them online as well.

Books are a fairly common expense item, so it’s hard to categorize them as “hidden”. But it’s worth noting that you must be prepared for these costs because they are expensive. According to the College Board, the average student spends $ 1,200 annually on books and supplies. Here are some options for saving on textbooks :

  • Take rented books on sites such as Chegg .
  • Shop at major stores like Amazon or Barnes & Noble , then look for coupons to get these discounted books.
  • Take advantage of buyback programs offered by some retailers. Your college bookstore probably offers it, but there are also Amazon, Chegg, and Barnes & Noble, and prices are usually better.

One of the most frustrating things about spending so much money on books and materials was that I often didn’t even use them . After the purchase, I went to class only to find out that the book was not needed; In some classes, the professor did not even teach from it, and I could learn the material and pass the exams flawlessly without even breaking their book. To combat this, I asked friends who attended the class if they used the textbook very often. If it isn’t, I just didn’t buy it. This may not be the best advice for new students, but after a while you will adapt.

For many classes, it makes sense to wait for the first few sessions to see if a book is needed or not. You can also use a site like RateMyProfessors.com to see if former students have any ideas to come up with.

It takes longer to graduate

Before going to college, I carefully planned my next four years. I also told myself that I could take on more hours than was reasonable given that I worked while I was in college. In short, it took an entire semester longer to graduate. This is a fairly common scenario for students.

This is difficult to combat because many individual factors affect how long it will take you to graduate. But if you expect it to take longer than expected, eLearners offers seven tips to save money on training. Some of the best ones are:

  • Community College : In the transcript, all credits are equal – meaning that a bachelor’s degree earned in two years with credits carried over looks identical to one earned in four years on campus. But in your checkbook, not all credits are equal – you will save so much money.
  • Summer / Evening Classes: Summer semesters are generally not only cheaper but also shorter. While this results in longer sessions, they do not take up as much time on the calendar and therefore tend to be easier than the same sessions held in the fall or spring. As for evening lessons, by earning money as a student several times a week, students can continue their day work while they are in school.
  • Kill two birds with one stone in one course : definitely overlap if you want to finish the course faster. For example, Shakespeare’s lessons are often credited with theater and English. So if you specialize in both, all you need to do is sign up for a semester of Hamlet’s monologues and sonnets – and wash your hands of that requirement.

In my experience, these tips work. Summer training was not that expensive, so I loaded up as much as possible. And evening courses (and online courses) helped me keep my job while I was attending school. I also looked for courses that overlapped and could count on both the primary and secondary. If I hadn’t consolidated in this way, it would probably have taken me another semester to graduate.

Social events

Obviously, hanging out with friends usually costs money. Bars, restaurants and movie tickets add up. But there are some seemingly cheap pursuits that can end up being very expensive.

Clubs, sororities and fraternities

If you decide to be in a fraternity or sorority, you should definitely budget for it. Fees can range from a few hundred dollars to just over a thousand dollars, depending on whether housing is included. Kiplinger notes that if you join the group in the middle of the year, you may be paying for the last months as well. A budget for any necessary clothing, travel and special events. These costs may well apply to extracurricular clubs outside the Greek system. The University of Texas Longhorn Life student site offers compelling money-saving suggestions in this area:

Many women’s societies and fraternities understand that not everyone is materially happy. If they want you to be a member, they will work with you. Some have payment plans that allow members to pay their dues in small installments. If your home is part of a larger organization, scholarships or grants may be available for its members. Research the information online, or ask the executives at your campus office if they know who to contact.

Aside from checking with your chapter on payment options, weigh the costs and benefits of joining any college group.

Family visit

Depending on where you are from, home trips can be costly. Of course, if you’re going home for the summer, you probably won’t have to pay rent or campus housing. But airfare and petrol are still expensive. There are many variables in this scenario, but the bottom line is that the budget is for the ones that cost the money. Namely travel.

The good news is that there are many savings options available. You can save on flights, for example, by making a purchase at the right time . Your student discount should come in handy too. Here are some options:

If you’re driving, use GasBuddy’s Fare Calculator to find the lowest gas prices on your way home.

Sports

If your school is known for its sports teams, expect tickets to be expensive. Student cards should be cheaper, and if you plan on attending quite a few games, you might even want to look at student passes.

If you just want to have a good time, consider other sports activities at your school that might not be as popular or expensive.

Basic living expenses

If this is your first time living on your own, you may not notice many of the essentials. At home, you are probably used to having these amenities close at hand, so many of them are unexpected, and their value increases rapidly. Here are a few common ones.

Laundry

Many students forget to factor this cost into their budget. Depending on where you live (and whether you do your laundry or just take it home every week), this can be expensive. Most machines cost around $ 1.50 to wash and dry. With multiple downloads per week, that’s roughly $ 9 to $ 12 . It’s not a huge expense, but when you’re in college, an extra $ 35-50 per month makes a difference.

Plus the cost of the washing powder is added to this. One way to save money on this is to just use less ; he will probably do his job just as well. You can also cut your laundry bill in half by skipping the dryer entirely and hanging up your clothes to dry. Laundry services on campus can also be more expensive, so check with your nearest laundromat for prices. All in all, you just have to be prepared for these expenses in order to factor them into your budget.

Dining rooms and meal plans

Like airport food, campus food can be much more expensive. Most campuses offer meal plans that include a certain number of meals per week, but these are usually not cost-effective. For example, the University of Louisiana offers a $ 3,970 meal plan for the academic year. You get 15 meals a week, but there are about 32 weeks in the school year, which means you will be spending about $ 125 a week on food. If you shop on your own, you can spend significantly less than this amount.

By learning how to cook at home or even in your dorm room, you can save a bit of money. On such sites, like Student Recipes, you can prepare meals from the economical ingredients. It’s also easy to plan based on sales. Grocery Pal is an app that tells you what’s on sale in your nearby grocery stores. You can pair this with Supercook , a website that gives you recipes based on ingredients you already own (or plan to buy). Buy something on sale and then see what you can make with this material. If you learn how to make a meal plan and come up with a daily routine , you can eat relatively cheaply (or at least less than $ 125 a week).

Of course, you will want to explore options for your own on-campus meal plan before making a decision. And be realistic about your eating habits and schedule. You may not have time to cook and go grocery shopping. In addition, some schools have off-campus meal plans with food chains. If you are going to spend money in these locations anyway, you might consider opting for this plan. Some universities actually require a meal plan to be part of the curriculum, so it’s good to be aware of this beforehand.

Food is another area in which your student discounts are gold. There are several restaurants (usually chains) that offer student discounts even if they are off campus. Some of these offers are only available in certain locations so they are not advertised often on the website, but here is a large list of current student discounts .

Another option is to find a part-time job in the food industry. Of course, this is not an option for everyone, and we are not suggesting that you apply for a job just for free or discounted food. But if you’re looking for a part-time job anyway, many eateries will offer huge employee discounts or let you take your food home at the end of the day. My brother, for example, worked at the caterers on campus, and he and his roommate mostly ate leftovers from special events. Again, this is not an option for everyone, but it is something to consider if you are applying for a part-time job to make money.

Household items

Toilet paper, shaving cream, dishwashing liquid: when you first live on your own, you will be surprised by the many small household items you have to buy. You probably also want to avoid buying any of these from on-campus stores because the mark-up is usually high when compared to nearby off-campus stores.

One proven way to save on household goods is to buy in bulk from places like Costco or Sam’s Club. Just make sure you buy the right things, because some things aren’t worth it . Your dorm room or apartment probably won’t have the necessary storage space for a lot of toilet paper or paper towels, but you can share the cost (and membership fee) with your roommates or dorm mates.

You can also often find these items for cheap through Amazon Subscribe and Save. You also get 15% off if you order five or more items at a time and shipping is free. We’ve shown you how to get started with this . Likewise, if you don’t want to use this service, you can still find cheap household items on Amazon and they also offer a student discount program . Download a price comparison browser extension like Invisible Hand as you use it. That way, when you rate items on Amazon, you know you’re getting the best deal.

When you live on a college student budget, that little expense matters. When they add up, they can throw off your budget. There are so many ways to save money in each of these areas, but you can go a long way just by getting ready.

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