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Top Money Saving Tips for College Freshmen 

 Originally Written: August 13, 2010

By  Hanna Trafford

Moving from high school to college or university can be a very stressful time for all involved. There are a lot of changes and lot of new responsibilities – one of which is handling money.

Living at Home Is Easy

When teenagers live at home, there aren’t very many financial decision they need to make – parents make them. Once they move to the college life, they suddenly have to learn to handle the financial matters on their own. Helping them with tips on how to handle the situation will make the financial transition easier.

Knowing How Much Things Cost

Help your teenager make a list of mandatory monthly expenses so they understand where money has to go. That includes things like, rent, utilities, transportation, groceries, parking, school supplies, debt repayment, and student or activity fees. Once you know establish where money has to go each month you’ll be able to set up a discretionary fund and a savings plan along with your teenage student.

Create an Allowance Fund

Creating an allowance fund will help with setting limits for things like entertainment, eating out, clothing, and special purchases. It will be important for your teenage student to stay on budget no matter how tight things get.

Keep Receipts Organized

Set up a system that will make it easy to keep receipts in one place. Organizing them by month and by category and keeping them in a safe place will help in controlling the pre-determined budget.

Being Frugal is Not being Cheap

Help your teenage student look for creative ways to save money. Consider carpooling, public transit or biking as a means of getting around. Figure out how to plan to bring lunches and snacks instead of buying it . Check out on buying  text books and lab supplies second hand if possible.

Hope you have enjoyed these tips – please send in your comments, suggestions and experiences, your input is always welcomed and very much appreciated


Hanna Trafford


Hanna is the mother of two grown sons Dan and Dusan Nedelko, and is also the Grandmother to Jax, Cohen and Mila. She is the lead editor of Mama Knows and is hoping to create an exchange of communications with other grandmothers, mothers and daughters - giving everyone the opportunity to learn and share about everything that is "Mama"

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  • Sometimes college studnes forget what’s really important. They need to learn that what you need far outweighs what you want. When I went to college, I WANTED all the good stuff — I wanted the brand name products I was used to back home, I wanted an expensive cell phone, I wanted to drive around my car, etc. Once the bills started coming…I realized I had to do something about it. I switched over to generic brand products – they actually were very similar to the brand name products. I switched over from my contract phone to a pay as you go Net10 cell phone. The minutes cost as little as 10 cents/minute and there are no contracts, no overages, etc. They have some pretty cool phones too. I then switched to a bike. Theres no need to drivee a car around campus — the bike helps me save on gas and energy!

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