Student life is not all that glamorous as it looks in movies. There are times when your resources are limited and your college life feels doomed. As most students live on a budget there is a certain limit to which you can spend on personal projects, entertainment, co-curricular academic work and even, food. We understand your concern about the time of the month when finances begin to run low. However, we are only here to help. Follow this list of tips that will help you shop in a student’s budget without worrying about running out of cash.
Budgeting
Planning is a quintessential step of decision-making. Once you plan everything out, executing the action by following rules becomes easier. The plan for surviving on a student’s budget is creating a list including your shopping essentials and personal expenditure. Due to the presence of the list, you will know your limit when you visit the supermarket and not hoard products that are unnecessary and do not fit in your budget. Prioritize your purchase. Keep the items that you immediately need at the top and the ones that are unimportant at the bottom. It helps in disciplined shopping which in turn enables you to remain within your budget.
Apart from creating a budget list for shopping, you should also create a budget list to keep track of your expenses and savings. Aim to save a little money by the end of every month to not go bankrupt.
Promotions & Sales or Wholesale Liquidation stores
Businesses and brands are always up to serve discounts to their audience. This helps attract more customers. Use their business strategy in your favor. Hunt for sales and promotion goods or Wholesale Liquidation stores. It will help you get a quality product at an inexpensive rate. In the long run, it is something that leaves you with huge savings that you can use in the future. To understand how to look for these types of promotional sales, you need to identify the different seasons for different brands. One thing we know for sure is the clearance sales that take place at the end of every season like summer or winter. It differs from store to store; thus, you need to be ready with your homework to get the best of the deal. Apart from that small start-ups and businesses give free trial products at malls when they are just starting. So, keep an eye on that too. Additionally, New Year, Christmas, Black Friday are easy sales days when prices are significantly reduced.
Student Status
Having a student status is not all that bad as you can use them in your favor from time to time. Students receive special consideration at almost all places. Be it getting a visa or purchasing a Mubi subscription, your student status can highly benefit you and fasten or discount the service/product. All you need to do is carry your student ID along at all times to flash it like a superpower in times of need. There are also cases when you are required to make an early booking if you are a student. Benefit from it as your student status provides you with premium services at a bargain rate. Always remember, the status is precious because it will last only for a few years.
Cashback apps & Loyalty Points
Another business tactic brands use to profit their business is by enticing people to use their apps for discounts. There is nothing to lose by downloading the store app and making a purchase through it. It turns out to give you a cashback that you can use on your next purchase. These types of promotions occur only once in a while. However, in the long run, they give you huge cumulative savings. There are also loyalty points that you can redeem for an added discount on your purchases. You get products worth a specific amount based on your accumulated loyalty points. It is another way of saying that if you collect a certain amount of loyalty points, any product fitting in that budget is given for free to you and your loyalty point is subtracted.
Avoid Wasting
Be it food or a garment you are no longer interested in, the catch is to not waste it. Food is an essential need and expensive too. Spending on food is an everyday deal. Thus, try to buy food from affordable stores and do not let it go to waste. If you take too much in a serving, store the excess for the next time you eat. As for clothing items, you can thrift them and earn out of them. If you can control your food bill and use your old clothes for earning, you will reduce your expenses and gain money instead.
Student budget life is not a miserable life. It is only a way to make you financially sound for your future. You can enjoy and live on discounts with your student’s budget.
