Hidden Treasures of Life: Money Saving Strategies-The Single Girl- Making Ends Meet in Graduate School

Graduate nursing school is filled with many things including studying, going to clinical, and finding some “me” time to keep yourself sane. The underlying matter however is that in order to do things you need to have money to pay tuition, rent, groceries, bills, and all of the other essential items needed to successfully get through school. If your school is a private school like mine, money can really be tight. I have learned a whole lot in the past school year about a thing or two about saving money. I have coined myself the bargain queen because I can always find the best deals on stuff in the market I shop in and have applied this money saving strategies to other areas of my life not just in the market setting! If you're in graduate school then I hope these tips will help you manage your money and allow you to save a dime or two for your future…or your student loans!

1) Shop at farmers market type stores like Sprouts- Try to avoid supermarkets and specialty stores. If you shop at the large chain store you will actually pay more for less items. When I used to shop at big chain supermarkets I would spend a fortune for produce. At Sprouts I can get so many fruits and veggies for a really great price such as 3 sets of green onions for a dollar, a bag of carrots for 97 cents, and other great deals. They also have great deals all throughout the store and I generally get out of the store with a ton of foods for about $25-$50 and this food lasts me 2-4 weeks!

2) Be aware of manager’s specials- Sprouts (again) is excellent about this. Every week I find manger’s specials on meats and fish. I absolutely love manager specials! This is truly the highlight of my market trip it is like an expedition and the specials are my treasure! I can get meat and fish that is close to the sell by date at a reduced price. Where I live salmon is expensive around $14 a pound but I can get it via the manager special for 2-3 dollars and even cheaper than that. This is also found with ground beef/turkey and all sorts of yummy items.

3) Save change- Many people think nothing about change however when you actually save change, it quickly builds up and you can use it in case of an emergency when you are low on cash. I make it a habit to save my change and dedicate it to my “student fund” kind of like a piggy bank for school. I set money aside and it is only to be used for school related manners.

4) Try to limit shopping to essential items and pay with cash not a credit card- When I was younger I loved going to the mall and shopping for clothes, after a year of graduate school when I do shop for clothes I really get uninterested after the first store. I already have so many clothes that shopping for them is pointless to me. I am at a point in my life where I only buy what I need even if it is just a new toothbrush. If you buy things you don’t need then you wasted money especially if you do not have the money to begin with! In order to really do this make a list before you go to any store and stick to it. The beauty of paying with cash is you cannot buy extra items you do not need or can afford.

5) Document Every Purchase you make in a month- This step may sound extreme however it really shows how much money you are spending and where it is going. This really allows you to see if you need to cut back on one area of your budget and if you can allocate funds to another area.

I hope you are able to utilize these money saving tips that I use in your life. Every Saturday from today until the end of August I am going to feature wonderful bloggers that will share their tips on how they save money in their lives!

These lovely ladies include:

Amanda from We & Serendipity