Any College Cost Saving Tips You Want to Share

[momoftwins]

My twins are heading off to college this coming Fall. Although I am so, so proud of them-I am so, so tearful. Sigh - sad mom. I think one is going to U Pitt and the other Ithaca.

Anywho, since this is the Budget Board what moneysaving tips can you offer to make this less painful financially once they get there.

I am talking about things like "where is the best place to get discount books."

Any hints from you veteran parents on any savings once they start.

Ok, back to sad mom.

Thanks!

 

[Psychodisney]

Start stocking up on toiletries etc when you see them on sale and build a stockpile. Otherwise, that's a big hit all at once.

 

[imsayin]

I am talking about things like "where is the best place to get discount books."

From other students on campus. They usually have a Facebook page or something similar where they can post what they are selling/buying. DD has done well buying used and selling her old books.

 

[4shinystars]

Don't buy too much. Those lists the schools send are a suggestion, but make note of what is banned. In my DD 1's college (graduated 2013), curtains, wall hangings and the like were not allowed, and only certain surge suppressors. Rooms are always smaller than you think.
Get to know roommate by computer/phone before fall, and share resources. One can get microwave, one fridge, and so on.
Many schools rent textbooks now. We've bought from Barnes and Noble online cheaper than renting at times. Chegg is a good rental site, although the prices aren't always the best. Check the for sale section of school website. Make sure the ISBN/edition matches what is required.
DD2 is going to Alfred University in the fall, and just like with babies, you know by the second what you do and do not need,lol.

 

[clh2]

The best things to check out - from a savings perspective are textbooks.

We've had great success with textbooks.com, as well as Amazon. If we "have" to get a textbook at the bookstore (part of Barnes & Noble) I always order SCRIP, so that our church parking lot fund gets 9%. Occasionally - the professors write a book, and it is only available at the bookstore. I also find that if I can't find a book through Amazon, textbooks.com, that sometimes it is cheaper through Barnes &Noble online, than it is through the bookstore.

For my DD's 2nd semester, she spent $50 on books. There was a pretty good "secondary market" of textbooks available through her sorority sisters! DD also sent a professor an e-mail to see if that section of speech/communications class used the electronic content that was included in the bookstore purchases. The professor said that "no" the electronic content was not required, although some students used it for studying.

My DD has had great success selling books back (if they aren't related to her major) through Amazon.

Also - if they are in the dorms - be sure to check out the meal plan options if there is more than one available. Many campuses have a "use-it-or-lose-it" approach to their meal plans, so you want to make sure that the meal plan is appropriate for the "eater" you have.

My DD is very specific about her toiletries - so she is on her own for purchasing them. Been that way since she could drive herself to the store.

From a cost savings perspective - see if you car insurance can be lowered if they are not taking cars on campus. Our insurance didn't do this, but I believe some insurance companies do, if your child is a certain number of miles away from home. This is a moot point for us, since DD now has a car on campus.

My DD was pretty specific as to what she wanted in her dorm. I knew she wanted things like a scale, an electric sweeper/broom thing, an electric tea kettle etc. I started to purchase that stuff for birthdays and Christmas, as well as if people asked what she wanted for gifts, I would suggest something from her list. DD also wanted an iron and a small ironing board. She is "very" particular about how her clothes look! She also went pretty stocked with things like bleach wipes for cleaning.

And - the one thing that someone suggested to DD - was to get "rain boots". DD actually wore out a pair already - and we got her a much nicer pair when we were visiting last month. At her university - water doesn't drain, so there are little lakes "everywhere" on campus. As the snow is melting, it is really a problem.

The other thing I would recommend - have a specific plan regarding finances. Be very clear on what expenses you will cover, and what expenses you expect them to cover. We are covering the basics, i.e. tuition, room and board, books and supplies. We expect that she cover all sorority expenses as well as her entertainment. We are also covering her car expenses, insurance and cell phone.

 

[wiigirl]

Get Amazon Prime. You can ship lots of cheap stuff to them with no shipping costs. Plus a lot of textbooks are cheaper through Amazon.

 

[momoftwins]

Ooh, some really good ideas already. I never thought of Amazon Prime.

Keep them coming. All of us college parents can use a little help

 

[jeffbear]

Check with the campus bookstore about a book rental program. A lot of schools are offering this service now (you spend about 20% of the cost of new books and are responsible to return them in decent condition), but a lot of the websites seem to be lagging behind on the info. Generally a quick call to the bookstore will get it sorted.

If rental is an option, I can't recommend it more highly.

If it's not ... then the Amazon Prime tip is great. Both my son and my daughter have found their prices roughly half of that of the more local options. And you can search by ISBN number to make sure you get the right editions. Pretty easy really.

Also check out local transportation options. Many cities have some sort or bus pass or general mass transit pass that also includes discounts on other services and will absolutely save money over paying individual fares. Depends on the city of course. Also check to see what the school ID will get them in terms of transit passes. There's usually a student discount, and in my Son's case ... students at his school ride city buses for free, which is great. We never would have known if we hadn't asked though.

 

[Marionnette]

My twins are heading off to college this coming Fall. Although I am so, so proud of them-I am so, so tearful. Sigh - sad mom. I think one is going to U Pitt and the other Ithaca.

Anywho, since this is the Budget Board what moneysaving tips can you offer to make this less painful financially once they get there.

I am talking about things like "where is the best place to get discount books."

Any hints from you veteran parents on any savings once they start.

Ok, back to sad mom.

Thanks!

Who buys books nowadays? You can rent from Chegg for a fraction of the purchase price. Or you can get the e-book version of a number of novels that are used for literature classes. Even some textbooks come in an electronic version that the student can "rent" for a semester or two.

I have two in college and one in medical school. Only the medical student purchases actual books and only a few at that. Grey's Anatomy is not just a TV show. It's a medical student's must-have reference book. The IT major didn't buy or rent any dead-tree textbooks this semester and the accounting major only rented one. Everything else was electronic.

 

[Marionnette]

Ooh, some really good ideas already. I never thought of Amazon Prime.

Keep them coming. All of us college parents can use a little help

Don't pay full price for Amazon Prime. They have a discount for families with college students. You need to have a .edu email address to verify that it is for a student, but all students have one.

 

[Kriii]

These tips come more along the line of how to save yourself from big unexpected losses. Check with your homeowners insurance to make sure the kids' belongings are covered in case of theft. Notify the auto insurance company if they are taking cars to campus. Rates may change based on the zip code and you will be sure to have the kids covered. Our insurance won't cover an accident if a friend drives our child's car, since it is titled in my name. Check with your medical insurance company ahead of time, if the kids will be out of network, to make sure they know how to locate approved providers in case of an emergency. Finally, I know others may not agree, but send a VISA with them. Unexpected emergencies occur. Chegg is also a good website for used books, but I like Amazon best. You probably know all of this, but the transition is so crazy I thought I'd put a little reminder list together. Congrats to your kids on being accepted into college!

 

[disfanforlife]

I have two in college. One is a freshman and the other a sophomore. Food is one of the biggest wastes. They want a lot of snack stuff in their rooms and get sick of the college dining hall food fast. So if there is an option for a smaller dining plan I would get that. Also, my younger daughter talked to her room mate ahead if time. One brought a tv and the other a fridge. Things like that can save money and space. My older daughter has applied to be an RA - if she gets the job her room is free. My younger daughter has a great academic scholarship - as long as her grades are high enough her tuitiom is covered.

 

[MrsPete]

For a freshman living in a dorm, a car is not a necessity; this will likely change in future years, as your students begin off-campus experiences like internships, student nursing, or the like, but for now -- while their classes are on campus -- it's not necessary.

My daughter's school includes book rental in the tuition, but for the few books she's needed to buy, we've found no "rule" for whether it's cheaper to buy, rent or download. Always compare.

Lecture your kids on watching their books. A friend of mine's daughter recently left her bookbag (full of textbooks) on a table in the cafeteria . . . long story short, her bookbag disappeared, and now she has to re-purchase $600 of books. It's super-easy to sell books online, so they're an easy target. My friend thinks that the thief probably thought the bag contained a laptop, but I think otherwise. If I were a thief, I'd be afraid to steal a laptop -- it might have that tracking thing, and the police might come to my door. But a book is hard to identify, and it can't have a tracking device.

Don't over-buy for the dorm room, but do splurge on everything necessary to make the bed super-comfortable (my daughter's extra-long mattress pad was only $15 new from ebay). For things you do buy, save the receipts in case you want to return things; for example, my daughter had a lamp to place next to her bed AND a lamp for her desk . . . but it turned out one lamp served her purposes -- she just swivels the head left or right, depending upon where she wants the light. In my own dorm, I had a fluorescent light attached under the hutch on my desk. Definitely send them with a good, refillable water bottle that they can carry around instead of buying sodas, etc.

College students don't need much in the way of "new stuff" for classes. Your kids probably have good backpacks and calculators. They definitely DO need a good laptop.

I spoke to a campus police officer at an Open House, and he told me that BY FAR the most common crime on campus is theft of laptops. He says college students feel all too comfortable walking away for just a moment in a classroom building or in the library, and when they come back . . . their expensive electronics are GONE. Consider a laptop lock for the computer (just a cable that can be wrapped around a desk or table leg; it costs about $15). We also bought a laptop decal (DecalGirl.com) for our daughter so her computer is "distinctive" and her friends would notice it being carried away.

We ended up spending more than we expected moving our daughter into school: We needed to rent a van, we stayed overnight in her college town, we ate several meals out. However, we don't regret any of that.

 

[mom2alix]

These tips come more along the line of how to save yourself from big unexpected losses. Check with your homeowners insurance to make sure the kids' belongings are covered in case of theft. Notify the auto insurance company if they are taking cars to campus. Rates may change based on the zip code and you will be sure to have the kids covered. Our insurance won't cover an accident if a friend drives our child's car, since it is titled in my name. Check with your medical insurance company ahead of time, if the kids will be out of network, to make sure they know how to locate approved providers in case of an emergency. Finally, I know others may not agree, but send a VISA with them. Unexpected emergencies occur. Chegg is also a good website for used books, but I like Amazon best. You probably know all of this, but the transition is so crazy I thought I'd put a little reminder list together. Congrats to your kids on being accepted into college!

This is a good point. A college in our town recently had a big fire in a dorm. It was the middle of the day and Nobody was hurt, thank goodness, but many students lost everything in their rooms. It could be very expensive to have to replace clothing, electronics, books, etc. if insurance doesn't cover it.

 

[Kriii]

Mrs. Pete's post reminded me, in addition to a good laptop lock get a good quality trunk and lock box. The lockers we found at Target and Bed Bath and Beyond were not too sturdy looking. We bought some type of cable to anchor the locker so it couldn't be carried off. There is also some type of safety feature on our child's laptop, so it can be located (or is it deactivated?) in case of theft. I can't remember exactly what it is, but I'm sure someone else on these boards will know. My child's dorm was broken into during a break last year and several items were stolen, so that made us pretty safety conscious. If a computer is needed for the specific major, check what the school recommends before buying. For my child's major, a specific computer is needed and there was a special offer on the computer and software. I think some schools also provide a laptop.

 

[klfrech]

My D is a junior pre-dental student at Pitt. Without question, your D will need a good pair of rain boots, as well as a good pair of warm, weatherproof snow boots. Although she might be opposed to it, a hat is a must. My D never leaves home without it! She must walk a couple of miles each day to and from classes.

As others have said, don't buy too much. It's easy to go overboard with girls. What you buy for freshman year may never get used again should she choose to live in an off campus apartment later on.

 

[TLuvsD]

We bought student insurance...it covers everything, year round, with a small deductible. It's very reasonably priced and will cover all her stuff when she goes abroad this summer.

Amazon Prime is available at a discount with a .edu email, so get the kids to set up those accounts...you can ship to multiple locations.

We buy textbooks, but one of our D's major is English. And she takes notes in the margins. I use directtextbook.com to compare prices (use the ISBN). Many colleges have the ISBN for textbooks online, you just have to know where to find it. At D's school the book list is part of the course catalog, and closer to the start of the semester it's consolidated into a list for each student. It's a handy guide for online shopping.

 

[MarthaJr.]

Keep your eyes open for a decent, cheap printer. This makes your student's life so much easier when they actually have to print something out for a class. Or, this would be a great item to split the cost with the roommate.

Watch for sales on laundry soap---pods seem to be the way to go for my son. (He is that rare breed of male that only wears an item one time and then washes lol.)

Get a high quality extra-long foam mattress topper for the bed. Those dorm mattresses are terrible and it's important that they get good rest when they finally make it to bed.

A hanging fabric shelf closet organizer really helps with storage in those small dorm closets.

Best of luck on this new adventure!

 

[ChiBub]

My tips are for tuition savings -- many schools charge a flat tuition rate for 12-18 credit hours per semester ("full time"). Obviously taking 18 credits each semester gets you the most bang for your buck. The extra 3 credit hours (15 is the norm) per semester adds up to one less semester needed to graduate (so the student graduates in 3 1/2 years). It's tougher academically, but can be a big savings.

Additionally, most schools accept transfer credits from community colleges. They can take online or in-person community courses over the summer (including between senior year of high school and the fall they start college) for a fraction of the price and transfer them in and have them counted toward graduation as if they were taken at the university. You just have to be careful to check that the courses they choose are courses that the university accepts as transfer credits. That can cut out another semester, allowing them to graduate in 3 years.

 

[reginaastralis]

I don't know if you use swagbucks at all, but I'm currently in school and I save my amazon gift cards to purchase any books that I might need to from amazon. I shop around between renting them with Chegg, but 9/10 times it's cheaper to purchase/rent from amazon (they rent books also.) With free shipping through amazon prime, I come out ahead than renting through Chegg mostly due to shipping cost.

This semester, none of my books were cheaper on amazon (and go figure, one was actually cheapest from the off campus book store) so I used some of my saved amazon money to purchase printer ink, pens, that sort of stuff ... while it might be a bit more expensive than going to walmart in some cases, it was free for me to order them with swagbuck gift cards and I didn't have the temptation of going into the store.