Need to stretch your budget to fit your needs and your lifestyle? There are a bunch of things an OU student living off-campus can do to make a tight budget way roomier. Here are our 10 best tips for getting savvy with your money:
1. Eat at home.
We love a good lunch at Bagel Street Deli, but start doing it 4x a week and all of a sudden you’ve spend $60 just on lunches. Grocery shopping, packing lunches, meal prepping, and/or making dinner at home is way cheaper on all fronts. This is also a great excuse to visit the Athens Farmers Market on Saturday mornings!
2. Cut your coffee consumption.
Just kidding – but a little coffee maker for your uptown apartment and a bag of coffee that gets you through, like, dozens of cups, is maybe $50 total. How many lattes can you get for $50? Maybe 10. Make your café visits more of special occasions, like study sessions or meetups with friends. You’ll notice a difference in your bank account in no time.
3. Don’t buy new textbooks.
Way more often than not, the new textbook recommended for a class is simply a new edition of an existing textbook, meaning the difference between them is very small. Then there’s also renting used books online, which is a great way to save money, as well as avoid dealing with old textbooks from past classes piling up in your apartment.
Another option is to borrow from OU’s libraries. You can quickly check if the textbook you need is available through their online website here. With all these options, buying a new textbook is the last resort, especially if you want to save up.
4. Live somewhere you can do laundry.
Rent an apartment near Court Street that has laundry in-unit or in the building. Weekly trips to the laundromat aren’t only expensive, they take forever. And living near campus and uptown means easy walking access to everything, including classes. Everyone knows walking is the cheapest form of transportation – it’s free!
5. Share your housing expenses.
Having roommates can save you money on utilities, wi-fi, rent, groceries and household supplies. The trick is to choose quality roommates that share these kinds of values; it could easily go the other way if you aren’t careful about who you want to live with.
6. Get a part-time job.
Working on campus is tops, obviously, for convenience. But since you live uptown, getting a part-time job on Court St is just as convenient. And the vendors understand this is a college town (obviously), so they’re used to working with busy student schedules.
7. Be thrifty.
Whether you’re furnishing your off-campus home or just need a self-care day of retail therapy, Athens has nearly as many thrift shops as bars. UpCycle Athens does clothing exchanges pretty often, where you can trade clothes you don’t want for ones you do – no cost! And ReStore has tons of furniture pieces that work for a college student budget.
8. Don’t pay for exercise.
There’s nothing wrong with Planet Fitness, and it’s a pretty affordable situation on its own. But why would you pay a membership and drive to and from PF when you have Ping just down the hill? It’s free to OU students, and it’s got way more going on than just weight machines and treadmills. Rock climbing wall, anyone?
9. Nail down your parking situation.
If you have a car, rent a long-term parking space off-campus. You’d be surprised how quickly daily metered space use and a few over-the-limit parking tickets can add up – they’re $35 now! Plus, it gives you easy access to your car all the time, but you avoid having to move it around daily, and you never have to worry about not having a space to park in.
10. Know your budget in the first place.
Giving yourself a set of boundaries will help keep you accountable. But you don’t have to be militant about it – plan a little bit of fun room in your budget in the first place. You can be great at pinching pennies and having fun.
If you make a couple changes and follow these simple tips, you’ll easily be able to scrounge more money together for fun nights out with friends on Court Street. And, of course, those quad lattes you mainline during finals.
Living with Roommates in a 3-4 Bedroom Apartment Can be Great for your Budget
Before you stick to solo-living in a studio apartment, maybe consider living with a few friends in a 3-4 bedroom apartment or house. If you don’t hate the idea of living with others, then having roommates might be a good option as well.
When you do the math, living with roommates could actually be cheaper in the long run. By splitting the utilities, security deposit, and more, you’ll be able to save some hard-earned cash. Plus, living with others won’t be as lonely as living alone.