Are you saving to buy a car? Planning a holiday? Concerned about the fact that your savings account seems to be depleting? These posts are for you!
University can be hard! Lectures, tutorials, assessment, trying to make new friends, and on top of all that, working to earn some spare cash. For optimal study, Griffith University recommends spending a total of 10 hours study on each 10 credit point course per week, which doesn’t leave you with much time to earn spare money in my experience. So while I may not be an accounting major, I have picked up some saving tips over the years in order to help a little cash go further.
This post will focus on some saving tips while on campus; I will cover some general tips in a later post.
Bring your own food
Lunch: It’s lunchtime on campus – you’ve got a million readings to catch up on, an assignment to complete and you need to pick up a textbook from the library, but instead you’re stuck in a huge line at the campus fast food store. Sound familiar? Instead of wasting your time purchasing potentially expensive and poor tasting lunches why not pack your own? I guarantee you will save a bucket load of cash, and chances are it will be tastier than anything you buy, because you made it and you know exactly what you like! I know, bringing your own lunch means that you actually have to find the time to make it, but I promise, it really doesn’t take long – and when you think about all the time you could have spent queuing up for food, you are probably saving time anyway.
I’m not saying you should forgo takeaway lunches completely, rather think of them as a treat. When you do purchase food why not take advantage of the many meal deals on campus – like the $5 meals offered with your choice of beer, cider or soft drink from Nathan campus’ Unibar on Wednesdays, pretty decent if you ask me!
Snacks: The campus lolly shop is great for those days when you really need a sugar fix, but $2 per 100g is fairly pricey if you are making regular purchases. Why not head to the supermarket and pick up a value pack of your favourite treat instead? Then you can divide the pack into smaller containers and keep one in your bag, all ready to go for when you just need a sugar hit to get you through that 5pm lecture.
Take advantage of free stuff and discounts
Griffith University hosts a range of free events throughout the semester for students, from free entry into Unibar parties to live entertainment and cheap food during market days.
Throughout the semester, student groups such as the Griffith Mates also host a range of free events for students including Games Afternoons and International Trivia, why not go along and have some fun! Take a look at what they have to offer on the Griffith Mates website.
Have you picked up any saving tips on campus? Share them here!
