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The new year is upon us and it’s always a good time to look to improve certain areas of one’s life. If you are a college student in the Boston area and one of the areas you are looking to improve in your life is your financial situation, the following resolutions might just be able to help you with that.
1. Resolve to eat at home. The average cost of a meal at a restaurant is $8 to $12, and yes, fast food is included in the average–if you like fine dining, you’ll be paying $20 to $50 per meal in Boston. The cost for students to buy groceries and eat in the comfort of their Boston college apartments? $6 to $10. That is roughly 70 percent of the cost of a cheap meal and 50 percent or less of the cost of a fine dining experience.
2. Make a resolution to shop around to make sure you’re getting the best possible deal on housing. Often when you start college, you don’t get to put as much research into finding a place to live as you probably should. In some cases, you are unfamiliar with the area, too, which makes it even more difficult to get the best possible deal on Boston university apartments. The beginning of new year is a great time to look around a little more throughly. You may be able to find better deals by expanding your search and looking at Allston apartments, Brighton apartments, apartments in Kenmore or even a good Fenway apartment. There are good deals out there for Boston university housing–you just need to find them.
3. Use your student ID more often. Your student ID can get you discounts at restaurants, clothing stores, museums and many other places in the Boston area. It’s a great habit to get into to start asking if there’s a student discount wherever you go.
4. Walk more. Walking is great exercise, first of all, and cheaper than any aerobics class or gym membership. Walking is also basically free, so every time you choose to walk somewhere instead of taking a car, bus or train, you are going to be saving some money.
5. Resolve to cut back on the nightlife. You’re supposed to be studying anyway, right? If you’re over 21, the temptation will, of course, be there to go out and have a few drinks on occasion. The fact is, you’re better off staying home and having a drink with your friends. A mixed drink in a bar can cost you up to $10. A beer can cost $3 to $5. It’s much cheaper to buy it in a store and bring it home (if your Boston apartment allows it). Another benefit of drinking at home is that you don’t need to catch a cab or risk a drunk driving arrest. The cab could cost $10 to $20; the arrest could cost thousands. Even if you’re a soda drinker, you can drink a six pack at home for what you would pay for a glass in a restaurant or bar.
6. The internet is your friend. Make a resolution to check on the internet before buying anything, particularly electronics. Chances are that whatever price you find in a local store can be beat online, even with shipping costs. If you’re willing to buy something used, you can save even more. Sites like Ebay and Amazon.com usually offer new and used options for a variety of items.
New Year’s Day is a time of renewal and it is a great time to fix the things in your life that need fixing, including that lack of money in your pocket. The resolutions above should get you on track to saving money. Now stick to them!
