Freshman year of college I didn't have a job, and my food was covered in my dorm expenses(which my parents paid for). This summer I started up an internship and had to pay my own expenses for things like rent, water, groceries... so I realized my budget drastically needed to change (well.. first it needed to be created). I was spending about $40/week on eating out(I know this is bad) and basically spending 100% of my allowance every month on stuff.
For summer, I realized that I needed to make a change and start being more responsible.
I stopped eating out entirely, instead opting to have friends over to cook, or go on picnics to parks for fun! It's way more fun to have an activity to do with people as well, I totally recommend it if you're trying to cut back on eating out spending.
I started using the YNAB budgeting application. The method it uses of giving every dollar a job is fantastic. It totally makes me feel relaxed about having bills like rent even though I never had them before. I never have to worry "do i have enough for rent?" because it's already budgeted for. I also got 12 months for free just for being a student!
I started shopping at grocery stores and meal prepping. Instead of eating out and shopping at convenience stores for food, I started meal prepping. I recommend the subreddits for meal prep and slow cooking, they're awesome! I just prepare breakfast tacos, soup, sandwiches, and stuff and I can eat off it all week. It has also made me eat a lot healthier.
I switched to vaping. Instead of paying 6$ for a pack of cigs and going through 2 grams in a blunt everyday, now I'm saving money and being healthier (ideally it's healthiest to smoke nothing at all, but cmon I'm a college student). My lungs feel a lot better and I'm saving tons of money on weed and cigs. I recommend /r/vaporents .
Cancelled Netflix, Hulu, HBO in favor of physical media from the library. Now when I want to watch a movie or tv, I go to my local library and rent dvds, blurays, and books. They literally have almost every dvd in the criterion collection, it's insane. All for free. You get to keep them for 2 weeks and you can have 3 at once. I can't believe I never did this before, it even has better selection!!! Fux u netflix!!!
Anyways, I was able to save 40%+ of my internship money so far, with no signs of stopping. It feels nice to have a little nest egg now, in case anything comes up in the future!!
June 24, 2018 at 04:54PM
