College can be expensive. The tuition alone is enough to make you at least a little sad. But let’s not forget all kinds of other expenses. That cold hard cash that you saved working that summer job can be gone in what seems like an instant. It doesn’t help that there are hundreds of stores, restaurants, and various kinds of entertainment vying for your dollar every day. However, there are so many ways to save little bits of money, and they can add up to a big difference.

Grocery shopping (or shopping more if you already buy your own groceries) is a huge area where you can slim down your budget. Sure, fast food may seem cheap at the time, but it ends up being extremely expensive in the long run, as well as potentially having negative effects on health. 

While grocery shopping, you’ll want to look for the store brand. These tend to be cheaper than other brands. Also, healthier food can end up being cheaper than unhealthy, processed items. If you just look for healthy, store brand foods, you can trim down grocery spending significantly.

If you have a meal plan, make the most of it. Never end the week with leftover meals unless you plan on using them on Saturday. A lot of the meal combinations come with some sort of side. If you end up not being hungry enough to eat the chips after you finish that sandwich, save them for later. They could come in handy when you’re craving a snack. Fresh Food Co. is a very efficient way to utilize that meal plan as well. Especially around finals week, you can hit them up for breakfast, get some studying done, and then grab lunch while you’re still in there. That’s two meals for one.

Your food budget alone can take some pretty serious cuts, and you can still be fine. Besides food, there are other smaller ways to save some cash.

They say, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” The work it takes to bend down and pick up a stray penny is probably actually worth one penny. Personally, I have saved some $6.50 in coins that I’ve found on the ground. That’s enough to buy a lunch. It may not seem like all that much, but money is money.

If you have to pay your own rent and utilities, there are many things you can do to ensure you spend only what you absolutely need to. First of all, always pay your bills on time. There is no reason that you should pay any late fees, as they are a total waste of money for you. In the summer, rather than having the A/C on, open the windows up. If it’s just a bit cooler outside than inside, you can easily get some cold air flowing through the house for free. In the winter, you can throw on more layers rather than using the heat. It’s okay to cave and use the air conditioning or heat sometimes, but opening windows or putting on warmer clothes can save large amounts of money. Of course, always make sure to turn off any and all lights that are not in use.

Finally, return returnables. Why wouldn’t you want that couple of cents? Also, especially during welcome week, hunt around for returnable cans the morning after a party. You can make a killing off of people’s cans that they obviously didn’t plan on returning. It may seem like a pain, but you could end up with possibly $30 extra in cans and bottles alone.

Everyone could always use some extra cash. Follow my advice and maybe you’ll see your bank account shrink at a slower rate. Or maybe you’ll just spend that spare money on something else. That’s up to you.