How to save $$ in grad school

[Quynh2007]

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Well, I poorly did a search for this, but gave up because I couldn't find it, so please merge it if you can find it. Let's start some money saving (and perhaps even money making) advice for those of us on a very tight budget.

Salvation Army - i got great deals on furniture (they should knock off at least 25% if something has been there for 25-30 days. so check how long it's been there before buying)

Food Stamps - minimal requirements if you are a student, and it's $155/mo

CVS - take advantage of ECB - i haven't really paid for a purchase from them in a while, i just keep using ECB and buying products that give me ECBs, lol

slickdeals. net
fatwallet. com

i use these sites for all my shopping needs. In fact, because of them i'm buying a laptop for my dad tomorrow at staples, and using their suggestions to buy certain softwares, after rebates (50 of them, so not for the rebate shy), will actually be making around $100 to buy that laptop. I found out about a free after rebate laptop cooling pad and notebook bag from Circuit city, and use coupons they make aware to shop at target, etc.

as i don't own a car, i can't really comment on getting deals on gas/insurance

 

[Jon4PsyD]

Hey there,
Ok first of all--what are ECB's?!! I'm at CVS a lot so I'd really like to know what you're doing!! Also my classmates have been yelling at me to just apply for foodstamps already (I'm a BROKE student, and also Blind...) I assumed they were something difficult to receive. Apparently not?

As for me--Uno's has an awesome deal in Boston where from 4-7 all food eaten at the bar is $2.99. I live there a lot. I buy all the supermarket brands of sodas, cereal, food, razors, shampoos, mouthwash, etc etc. It saves a lot! And of course I visit home a bit, and my parents usually will drop me a few bucks before I head back to Boston each time. I feel BEYOND cheap, but living in this city is a huge financial burden. I've been lucky enough to be using my Grandmother's inheritance on my M.A. (which she'd be thrilled it went toward education), but I don't have money for spending really..so I live a pretty tight lifestyle. Haven't bought a new pair of clothes in the longest...SIGH..LOL

Jon🙂

 

[Squarepants]

The refurbished laptops at Tigerdirect.com are *excellent*. I've bought two Gateways from them now without problems. I'm currently typing from one, and the other is across the room with my parents.

In general, if you have to buy something electronic, buy it online. The selection is 1000x better than what you'll find in a physical store, and you won't have to deal with salesfolk.

And yes, shop at a supermarket if at all possible. Things will always be cheaper there than at the local food places at your school, and in addition, you can buy in bulk, which is always good.

 

[Quynh2007]

CVS FAQs:

http ://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=168312&t=476573&highlight=cvs

and every time i go, i always take a $4 off $20, and $5 off $30, and spend $30, and already have $9 knocked off (this may vary at your store), always include manufacture couons second, then give them my ECB coupon.

for this week 8/12-8/19, here is the link for their deals
http
://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=234923&t=568641&highlight=Venus+Breeze+Razor

it's a little confusing, but basically any product that has GET $XX ECB when you buy it, use your CVS card, and next time, that $XX gets taken off your purchase so for example today:
$2.99 x 10 for Aquafresh toothpaste (I didn't buy this many, but for our sake let's make the total before taxes and coupons $30)
- $5 off $30
- $4 off $20
- $2 x 10 manufacture coupon (they also had a 2.99/per mail in rebate, so you can make $30 off of this too)
= $1 + tax, BUT because the aquafresh toothpaste has $3 ECB/per, you get a $30 ECB coupon

so you pay $1.09 for 10 toothpaste (theoritically only, since they limit you to 3) AND a $30 coupon to apply to your next purchase.

you go and buy let's say 15 Oreos (which have $2ECB/per)
$2 x 15 for Oreos (totals $30 ECB)
$11 for 2 Digornio's Pizza ($11 ECBs)
- $5 off $30
- $4 off $20
- $30 ECB coupon
= $2 + tax, but you also get $41 ECB coupon for next purchase...and so on


so as you can see, while this scenerio is highly unlikely because they have a limit to how much ecbs you can get per product/how much product you can buy, if you shop SMART, you can save a lot.

good luck!

also, on those two websites i listed in my first post, you can find a $5 off $25 to use at target. i bought a $100+ item, and was able to get back $20 LOL 🙂

 

[Quynh2007]

well, here in TN, which I assume is similiar everywhere else, since i know it's basically the same in new york, you need:

ID
Proof of Citizen ship
Proof of Income and Resources (generally resources need to be < 2000 minus house, cars, etc - just a bank statement showing you are poor is good enough unless you've got stocks, etc somewhere)
Rent and Utility bills
- work 20 hours (you need proof by either paystub or like me my finaid award letter and a letter from my advisor saying I work 20 hours a week)

getting food stamps for a student is really easy, unless you drive up to your appointment in a really expensive car or wear expensive clothes to the appointment (even then...)

 

[Quynh2007]

oh yes, you should always try to get promotions on your cable/internet. It took me an hour calling and talking to customer service and trying to find someone who'll give my friend a good deal and got away with this:

COMCAST OLD BILL:
$43 High Speed Internet
$75 for Digital Cable, HD, sports package

first time, I only asked for the $19.99/6 months HSI, which I got EASILY
it took me 12 CSRs to get my cable down to $33/3 months Digital Bronze

COMCASTNEW BILL:
$19.99 HSI
$43 for Digital Cable (+ HBO), HD, Sports package

save: $55 at least for the next 3 months. Of course, when the cable promotions end, will be calling to see if there's another promotion going on. yes it takes persistance, but when you can end up saving this much per month, it is worth the hassle. 🙂 keep threatening to cancel, switch, always offer someone else's deals (say Yahoo DsL is $14.99, can you give me something similar, etc).

ALSO, this is GREAT
most likely your school has a deal with some wireless provider to give you a discount.
My undergrad gave 19% off your Verizon Wireless bill
My current one gives 20% off sprint, 10% cingular/verizon.
This could be individual OR family plans. Go to your school's website in the search put in something like cell phone discount and they might have something!

if you have service with someone else, if you want to break your contract to get in on this deal, there's a plethora of websites out there that show you how you could break contracts without having to pay an early term fee.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Here are some things that I do/did:

Got a cable promo...dropped when it went up to $120. ('net was paid for by my housemate's work for the first 2 years. 😀 ). We got our cable back bc of a hurricane (it knocked everyone out, and the cable guy just went back and turned everyone on...score!)

FatWallet. I'm an original member from way back in the day. Once you learn the lingo and the way things work, it can be a gold mine. I don't have the capital to flip everything like I use to, but it is great if you are looking for certain $$$ items.

BBQ / Group Cooking. Many of my friends can't/don't cook....so I offer to cook for them, if they bring over the food. When you split it amongst 6-8 people, it is dirt cheap, and everyone eats well. We usually do it when studying for an exam, or on a weekend.

School events. I LOVE school events. I think the various students think I am in 8 different programs at school. Everyone tends to know/like me, so I get invites to everything from class presentations (where people bring food) to full Gala's ($100+ / plate). Next to the Galas (GREAT networking opportunities), the presentation events are my favorite. You get to see some interesting speakers, and you get some food too. You just need to get to know all sorts of people, and the food tends to find you.

-t

 

[RayneeDeigh]

The #1 best solution: move to a socialist province in Canada.

Not to sound like the geico people or anything, but I just saved a WHOLE BUNCH OF MONEY on my phone bill. I hooked up phone service (or rather ordered it to be hooked up) through a government service that is completely free. They hook up all your phone, water, electricity, whatever you need. And if you use the service, you even save the $70 connection fee and the first month's bill ($48 since I'll have long distance).

I'm so excited, haha. Anytime I can get the government to pay for my luxuries is a good day.

I must say though, I am a little worried about textbooks this year. Only two of my classes have their lists posted and already it's going to equal over $300. I can't wait to see what happens when the other 4 courses are posted.

 

[danzgymn86]

^^Can you find the books online for cheaper?

 

[RayneeDeigh]

^^Can you find the books online for cheaper?

Good idea! I'm going to try to find the ones that were posted. Unfortunately the other ones are taking so long to be posted that I doubt I'd be able to get them in time for classes (Plus I don't know which address to send them to).

But for second semester that would definitely work. Thanks.

 

[Ollie123]

Don't buy books until you talk to some upper-level students!!!!!!

I just saved myself a few hundred dollars because I found out there is absolutely no reason to buy any of my textbooks this semester. Sometimes you'll find out interesting things like "You'll only need the assessment book in the clinic, and there's a copy there" or "That professor ignores the book and puts everything in the notes, don't bother", etc.

Also - are you really taking SIX classes this semester? Are there a lot of electives you wanted to take or is that standard? Can I ask what the courses are?

That seems like a ridiculously heavy load for a grad student, I don't think any of the programs I looked at had people taking 6 classes a semester, even as a first year. I have 4, and 1 isn't a "real" class.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Definitely ask about books.....in retrospect I could have skipped most of my 1st year books (minus the DSM and some assessment primer books).

-t

 

[RayneeDeigh]

Don't buy books until you talk to some upper-level students!!!!!!

I just saved myself a few hundred dollars because I found out there is absolutely no reason to buy any of my textbooks this semester. Sometimes you'll find out interesting things like "You'll only need the assessment book in the clinic, and there's a copy there" or "That professor ignores the book and puts everything in the notes, don't bother", etc.

Also - are you really taking SIX classes this semester? Are there a lot of electives you wanted to take or is that standard? Can I ask what the courses are?

That seems like a ridiculously heavy load for a grad student, I don't think any of the programs I looked at had people taking 6 classes a semester, even as a first year. I have 4, and 1 isn't a "real" class.

Excellent! When I see my lab group in San Francisco I'll ask them about which textbooks I REALLY need.

Sure, let me pull out my trusty course list. Okay so first term I have:

Ethical and professional issues in clinical psych
Stats 1
Psychological Assessment
Proseminar in Psychology
Directed Research in Psychology
Thesis Research

So I guess maybe the last two sound untextbooky. I'm actually really surprised (and worried) about the course load. On top of all that I was just informed recently that in the next two years I need to complete one course each in Cognitive, Physiological, and Social psych unless I can prove I took enough in Undergrad. I only have enough specific courses in Cognitive so far so that means sometime this year I'll have to find time to either take a physiological or social grad level course.

 

[Ollie123]

Oh okay, that doesn't sound so bad. Didn't realize thesis and directed research would be included (not that those aren't time-consuming, just that I don't really think of them as a "class"). I dont have to take directed research credit since I'm on an RAship, but other than that it sounds like we've got about the same schedule except I have psychopathology instead of "Proseminar" (whatever that is).

 

[paramour]

Compare textbook prices from those sold in your campus bookstore and those located online. You can typically find them cheaper online. You can also *usually* get free shipping on textbooks if they are over a certain amount, which is most of the time since we all know they are not cheap. Before you buy online, however, search for promotional/coupon/discount codes. You can often find codes that will save you on shipping, a certain dollar amount, or a percentage of your order.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

This isn't 'easy', but for people who e-bay...it is pretty easy money.....

I use to flip DVD box sets on E-bay (buy from liquidators and wholesalers, then re-sell to e-bay), take the invested money + profit and buy discounted GC's to Borders (typically 15% or so discount), and then use those in conjunction with the 20% off coupons. You need to find the right CS Managers, though most don't mind taking 20% of 'special orders', which end up being many of your books. You can always order the books, not pick them up, and then buy them off the shelf with the 20%.

I found the above method to yield at least 60% off, and with a good flip you can make $ + your books. (15% GC, 20% coupon, plus whatever you make from ebay...which can range from 15-100%+).

It sounds like a lot, but it isn't too bad if you can dump all of your DVDs on e-bay in a week, mail everything out, and only use paypal. Buying GC's is easy enough. The alternative it to flip directly through Borders, though I'd prefer not since I didn't buy the disks there originally.

I did the e-bay thing and paid for my books, and made a profit for my entire training. My biggest deal was a piggy back on a Costco & Warner Brothers MIR deal for "Friends" & "Sex in the City" box sets. Between the Costco and WB rebate I got my cost per box set from $30ish down to ~$12, and flipped for $19 and change, so I made ~$75 profit after fees per 10 box set series (with SitC going for $20+ per box set), and flipped 10-12 complete series for $700-$800 profit, with an initial investment of $1800-$2000. Since I did everything at once, it was maybe $80-$100/hr worth of work.

Of course, after that...I decided to just find cheap deals on DVD Box sets, and the traded them for used books from fellow students. 😆

-t