Being an adult learner, I have
found that it’s a struggle to save money on day to day needs as well as needs
for school. I live in Craig Colorado,
and this community is very well rounded with a savings plan for local college
students’ financing through financial Aid and numerous scholarship
opportunities, but further savings in terms of day to day expenses and needs
for school are always in demand. In my essay I am going to cover ideas for
savings on living expenses, personal uses of coupons and rewards points, and
new ideas for companies in their infancy. These resources and comments are
being written for the Dealspotr Couponing in College Scholarship, found at https://dealspotr.com/scholarship-giveaway.
Living
in the Craig community there are many sources and means to keep a tight budget.
My personal favorite is a points rewards system that is used by the local grocery
store. Every time you spend money at any City Market or Loaf N Jug Convenience
Store you get points toward the purchase of gasoline at Loaf N Jug. For every
one hundred points there is a ten cent reduction off of one dollar of gas; up
to three hundred points. This allows me to get cheaper gas by buying groceries
and supplies at City Market, money I would have spent anyway! There are also emailed coupons from City Market
for rewards members.
I also
use local thrift stores for clothing and supplies. Everything is donated by the
community. If one is in need, all an individual has to do is fill out an
application explaining what you need and why, and items can be granted at no
charge. A person can receive household
items, clothing or even cash. This can be utilized by college students that are
in serious financial crisis that need immediate help. The Community Budget Center
is a non-profit organization that grants low income individuals supplies to
survive. When items are donated a
receipt is supplied so that the donation can be used as a deduction on income
taxes, yet another savings for a college student.
I feel that
as a college student, using a credit card is simply unnecessary. At a young age
the usage of credit cards is basically borrowing money at a very high interest
rate, sometimes as high as twenty-four percent! If an individual uses a credit
card during college to pay for school supplies I think another way should be
found. For poorer college students, this
is a temptation that could leave the student swimming in debt, which college
can cause in itself. To find a local supply of cheap or used college supplies
is healthier than breaking the bank.
Use your student discount for
everything! I use mine to go to the local gym, which is normally a thirty-dollar
monthly membership fee. Membership is free
for me because I am a college student. Your college will post charts of college
events for entertainment, local events and free trials that are only linked to
the college, this is much easier to use then to pay for out of college costs.
College students are always looking
for more time, and here are some ways to save some. A student could create
search engines with a database of general facts on each individual for yearly
school supplies, with reminders so that things could be ordered in advance and
delivered automatically at a discounted rate. This would be a time savings as
well as a monetary savings for the student.
Another way to save would be instead of students taking the time to go
to their school or log onto Amazon.com they could go to a site like www.dealspotr.com, enter in yearly school
supply and book needs, and have them delivered at the most cost effective
price, researched by the site and delivered at the appropriate time and place.
The more one buys through a site like this, the cheaper the products become
over time through a points or rewards system gaining the company more credit,
consumers, money and rewards for the public.
Stephan Alcorn
