8 Frugal Tips to Save Money as a Student

Nowadays, overconsumption and overspending are normalized in our society. Especially now that shopping is just within our fingertips because of many online shops. We have so many more reasons to spend our money which makes some people often forget to save some penny. Frugality doesn't mean being cheap. I want to break this misconception. For me, frugality means living within your means and managing your resources carefully. It is to live a simple yet comfortable life.

When I encountered financial minimalism, I began to learn about frugality as well, and so I applied it to my life. As a student, here's how I live frugally:

1. Shop in ukay-ukay (thrift shops)

We millennials have been very much into shopping for our OOTDs or clothings for different reasons. Some wanna be “in” for the trend, others wanna boost their confidence, while others just really love fashion. As a student, we tend to have a limited amount of money in order for us to shop. Shopping in ukay-ukay or thrift shops is one of my go-to activities! It may be tiring but it is worth it. Especially once you find a piece of clothing for only under ₱100, high quality fabric, and also branded. It's the best feeling ever! It feels like you won the lottery.

2. Have basic essential clothes

Owning a few basic clothes will make you look less of an outfit repeater. Having these garments are classic and the fashion that you can put into will never get out of style, in short, these are timeless. Try investing into high quality pieces of basic clothes and add it into your wardrobe. These pieces are mostly neutral colors. Here are some apparels:

• white shirt

• black shirt

• denim shorts

• denim jeans

• denim jacket

• white sneakers

3. Budget your money

Once you received your allowance for the day or week. Try to identify how much money you are going to spend on that specific day and keep the excess amount. It's easy. Here's my technique when we still have face-to-face classes:

a) Receive ₱100 as my daily allowance

b) Put ₱20 on my wallet for my transportation back and forth, and another ₱20 for emergencies, in case I want to buy food at the canteen or I need to photocopy some handouts.

c) Keep ₱60 inside my savings wallet at home.

Do not tag along all of your money with you. Keep some. Once you practice the art of budgeting, there's no turning back.

4. Bring snacks or packed lunch

To avoid going to the canteen or eating outside, make sure to bring a snack with you to fuel up your energy until school is over. If your school schedule is going to be the whole day, make sure to bring packed lunch. Even a simple but healthy meal will do, like boiled egg, tuna, or chicken. And as always with rice!

5. Always have water bottle

Getting thirsty can not be avoided, especially if you live in a tropical country like the Philippines. Buying water bottles is costly and not eco-friendly because of the usage of plastic bottles. Imagine if you buy a water bottle everyday on weekdays. You will spend ₱100 per week (if ₱20 per water bottle). That ₱100 can already purchase other valuable items or just add it into your savings. Just always remember to stay hydrated!

6. Avoid eating outside on daily basis

Joining a get together with friends at different fast foods or restaurants is surely enjoyable. But not regularly. Learn to say no. Personally, when we have face-to-face classes, I have friends who eat outside regularly, but I don't go with them that often or I head straight home. I only join them occasionally if there's something to celebrate or when I just feel like going out with them. Most of the time, I prefer home-cooked meals because they are delicious and healthy, plus you can eat as much as you want without thinking of spending money. Eating less outside absolutely saves me a lot of money.

7. Uninstall Shopping Apps

Lazada, Shopee, Zalora, Zilingo... Name it! Those are one of the reasons why we rant over being a "broke af" millennial. When we get bored and have nothing to surf on our phone, we open a shopping app. When we see our idols wearing cute clothes, we also feel like wanting to get one, and so we open a shopping app. Uninstalling shopping apps will help us to avoid tapping that "Add to Cart'' button. Remove the temptations out of our phone, guys.

8. Avoid paying for Apps

Even though almost everyone is upgrading their accounts into premium, I have never been carried away. I always find a loophole to dig into free options. Instead of Spotify Premium, I can download music for free from several apps. As for me, Free Music does work. When it comes to watching movies and series, I don't want to be the "Netflix now, broke later" kind of person. Practically, I make use of websites that offer free movies and series. It doesn’t work for everyone, but it does for me.

"Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship."

Those are my simple steps in living my life frugally in order to get my bank account thicc in the future. I want to take advantage of this stage of my life that I am currently in. While I am still a student who lives with my parents and doesn't pay any bills or doesn't have many expenses, I take this as an opportunity to save money as much as I can in order to reach my goals in the future.

I have already shared my 5 big goals in my first article. Feel free to read it here.

Leave a comment on what you think about frugality and if you have any other tips to save money as a student.