Living Frugally – Your Home Away from Home

Though some students are lucky enough to stay in their dorm during their entire stay in college, some of them, including me, must venture out and go and find a new dwelling off campus. Living off campus can get quite expensive, but with some money saving tips it can be manageable.

Apartment searching itself can be a major task and incorporates a number of different variables such as distance from campus, local neighborhood, and the age of the apartment. Once you figure out your budget you can go and find the right apartment for you. One way to keep your costs down is sharing an apartment with a number of roommates. The more roommates you have may lower the price you pay per month, but it increases the likelihood of creating an unstable living situation as people feel the need to have more space.

Now that you found the perfect apartment it’s time to fill it up with furniture. Many stores such as Target and Walmart come out with back to school ads with the perfectly furnished room. I personally have never seen any college apartment room look the way they do in catalogs and unless you are independently wealthy, it’s not worth it to spend that much money on your room. One good cost saving way to furnish your apartment is just taking hand me downs from family and friends. What can be better than free furniture! While we’re still on the topic of free furniture, one of the best ways to add to your apartment is staking out the dumpster areas around the summer time. Many students who move out and don’t want to take furniture with them will leave them out at the dumpsters and are basically up for grabs. Not all of the furniture is old and dingy and you can sometimes score some pretty nice furniture at no cost to you.

Depending on your distance from school, biking or walking to school is the most economical form of transportation. Though I did live within biking distance of campus I chose to drive instead, which added to my costs and didn’t provide me a good form of exercise. If biking isn’t your cup of tea, public transportation might just be the key. Many universities provide “free” public buses to and from campus. I say “free” since the costs of maintaining a bus fleet and paying drivers is incorporated in the cost of your tuition. Don’t let your tuition money go to waste and help reduce your carbon footprint.

Another great way to save money is controlling the way you use your utilities in your apartment. My college was located in an area that is similar to many parts of the US; hot summers and cold winters. By restricting the amount of heat or A/C you use during different seasons will greatly lower your bills at the end of the month. I personally can not stand the summer heat, especially when I’m trying to sleep, so I always need to use the A/C during the summer. In order to offset the cost, I decided not to use the heater at all during the winter months. Though it never got cold enough to snow, it was still cold enough to require extra layers, but it did the trick. If you’re the opposite from me and can handle the heat then flip my strategy and you’ll be saving money too.