mjl1717 said:
this is good advice-pick at most only 2 or 3 bible textbooks since you probably wont use those big monsters for step 1. Also go to discount supermarket and by some Banquet frozen chicken pot pies and pizzas,stock up on tea, sardines, tunafish and other cost effective foods. make sure you always have 3 good pairs of jeans. soymilk doesnt really spoil fast nor does it need refridgeration, you can by 12 chicken franks or regular franks on sale for maybe $1.00. learn how to make your own chili concarne, its nor hard.
"queasy" is the word that came to mind first when reading that
You don't have to eat the super nasty bum food, but I do agree that wise grocery shopping is a key way to save some extra bucks. Try to stock up on items when they are on sale or even better "buy one get one free." Go to the grocery store once a week and get the stuff on sale (that you might actually use) and try to stay away from buying random overpriced products when they are not on sale.
Cable/internet is a big expense for me (ie $100+ per month), so I recently cancelled both because I am away for almost 2 months during my last summer ever and don't need to pay for that in my empty apartment. I don't have any plans to get the service again anytime soon because I will be pretty busy during the upcoming 3rd year and don't expect to have the time to sit around and watch hours of cable like I used to. It also helps that I am in an apartment building and can almost always pick up someone's free wireless internet signal
😉 . I may go back to getting the internet and a cheap version of cable sometime in the future.
Rent is probably the biggest expense anyone will have. If you can, buy a place and buy it early in your education. I waste money on rent because I live alone in a nice place, but I like it that way.
Don't waste money on textbooks, and try not to buy books that are brand new unless you just hate looking at someone else's highlighting and notes scribbled all over the pages. I made the mistake of shelling out far more than I needed to on books for the first two years. Some first year kid is going to get pretty darn lucky when he/she buys all of my basic science and review books when I offer them up for super cheap about two months from now.
Check the library -- it will have most of the books you may need for classes
Self control in avoiding "blowing money" is the other key to living on the scraps that the financial aid office throws in our direction. This includes thinking twice before buying some new overpriced clothes that you really don't need or deciding to buy another round of shots at the bar that will send your tab skyrocketing up toward triple digits. I have done this kind of stuff way too many times and feel like a fool when I think about how many times I have wasted opportunities to conserve money.
I hate living on loans as do most, but good luck!