The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: TellisaW on November 05, 2017, 08:40:41 PM
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What are some small ways to save money? I'm in college but I have bills to pay every month and with holidays coming up, I need try to start to saving money now.
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Listing what types of expenses you have and how much you tend to spend on them would be a good start.
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Start with questioning every single expense and purchase. Ask yourself if you really, really need it. If it's an item, can you buy a used one instead? Walk everywhere. Buy non-perishable groceries on sale or in bulk. Simplify.
If you come into any extra cash (e.g., side-gig, extra shift, gift, etc.), put it into a savings account that you'll never touch.
Rinse and repeat.
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Question your spending and ask yourself if each purchase is important to YOU. When you're in college there is so much group-think - let's go out tonight, let's order pizza, let's go shopping, etc. You have to build your frugal muscles and keep them strong. But that means not going with the flow. You may feel uncomfortable being out of step with your friends/peers, and you have to learn to be ok with that.
re: gifts. No one you are purchasing a gift for wants you to over-spend on them. Don't get sucked into the consumer mentality. You can make gifts, thrift gifts, gift used books, etc.
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Looks like you don't know where you re spending at present.
Sign on personal capital and figure out:
What expense you can remove entirely (cable TV, etc..)
What you can do cheaper (cheaper rent by living elsewhere or sharing, etc...)
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Read through the case studies here, lots of people get lots of great advice from here.