Ok So Im getting into some serious serious debt with the combined cost of tuition, books, rent, utilities, phone bill etc... etc..
I was wondering if anyone had any money saving tips. Iv had a few good suggestions such as:
-Clip coupons-they really do work
-have pot lucks and save the left overs for your next meal
-buy in bulk (ex cosco)
-watch for deals in fliers etc..

Does anyone else have any good suggetsions?

Remember that those daily/weekly/monthly habits really do add up. $3 per day is a bit over $1000 over the course of a year.

Buying coffee, lunch, etc. is much, much more expensive than bringing your own. Particularly if for you coffee really means a $3.50 Latte rather than a $1.25 Tim Horton's.

If you are going to have a cell phone, make sure you have a plan that suits how you use the phone; and be concious of how you use the phone and ways to make it cost less. If you are only using the phone very occaisonally, 7-11 and PetroCanada of all places offer pay as you go cell phone plans that are about as cheap as you can get for very light use (the per minute rates make it unsuitable for heavy use; but the top ups stay valid for much longer than most of the major carriers, so if you are only using it for a couple quick calls per week it's the best bet). Virgin Mobile offers plans that for many people would be less expensive than the "big name" carriers, particularly if you are a lighter user, where you can't seem to get around paying at least $25-$30 per month. I personally don't have a cell phone, but I've been looking into ways to get one cheaply for light use.

But I don't think I'm going to convince many people to give up the cell phone glued to your ear, so just be very concious of what plan you get, and think of things you can do that might help you save a bit of money. If you are talking to the same few people 90% of the time, there are plans suited to that. The exact hours that constitute "evening" hours can vary from plan to plan, and can make a big difference for some people.

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try to eat at ur friends place as much as possible...no i'm kidding. I have found that in dumping my change into a bucket continualy at the end of every day i have managed to roll over 100$ since this school year started...its not tons but its a good start.

some saving tips that i go by is that ofcourse have a nice plan for ur phone look for deals and sales in stores!! but tht can be really time consuming and nobody has tht spare time in uni life to go through each flyer loooking for sale and deals!!
also the best thing to do i think is not to use a credit card it always make a person spend more than they have and then gives them stress in the end of the month.
i also believe that a person should try to have a good social circle especially with peers cuz they can help u alot in terms of notes or examz or eve njust telling what professors expect from their students!
and ofcourse party less and n buy uesd books also works in a stationary store so u get employee dicount!!;)

Go here: http://www.flyerland.ca. This website has all the sales, etc... that one would need; all the best sales are on the home page. If you live in a specific region.

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UOIT Commerce 2012

I bought my Rogers pay as you go cellphone(Nokia, w/camera) for $60.00 after $80.00 mail in rebate. And Rogers offers $100.00 time cards that last 365 days...so if you only use 1 a year thats $8.33/month for a cellphone with 1 cent/minute evenings and weekends. Texting is expensive though, .25 each outgoing(incoming texts are free), so I don't do much of that.

As for money saving tips:

- Keep track of every penny you spend, and I mean every penny, write it all down, or better yet use a spreadsheet, it's amazing how a little accountability can change your spending habits.

- Never throw away meat bones without making soup broth from them first. I put all my meat bones in a grocery bag and freeze them until I have enough to make a big pot of broth. Then I add some fresh veggies and rice to the broth and you have a good 7 - 10 meals worth of extremely cheap and filling soup.

- Set yourself a budget...and here's the kicker....STICK TO IT!

- Learn to fix it yourself.

- Buy store brands to save money. EXCEPT condoments, I have had bad experiences with store brand ketchups and relishes(E-quality relish and Our Compliments Ketchup... )

- Use at least three times as much water than the label recommends when making juice. Saves money, and also reduces your sugar intake, which is good too.

- Realize that buying things on sale isn't saving money, it's spending money. (for non essentials obviously)

- Do not buy french fries, buy potatoes and learn to clean/cut potatoes into home fries yourself. 2 pounds of fries = $1.50 - $2.00.......10 pounds of potatoes = 2.00 - 3.00.....

- Do not eat a lot of cheese, cheese is very expensive even when it is on sale, use it sparingly.

- Use powdered milk, it tastes the same as the real thing when you cook with it and is over 7 times cheaper than bagged milk and it won't spoil. Not so good for drinking though.

- Reduce your internet/phone/tv to bare minimum levels for your needs and bargain with your provider for a discount. I recently did this and lowered my monthly bill $30.00!

- Take advantage of student discounts.

etc, etc..

Oh, and I forgot to add that buying an SPC might be worthwhile if you do a lot of shopping at the stores that participate in giving the student discounts. It definitely pays for itself quickly, especially if you tend to shop at the stores a lot or make big purchases. It's less than 10 bucks and you would be saving a lot more than that throughout the year!

Anyone who is considering the above idea, but has too much money to be a real hermit, please mail me any money you'd like to dispose of. I don't take credit cards.

Our offices are open 9am-5pm, monday through friday.

Budget, budget, budget. If your budget doesn't work, adjust it so that it does. Stressing out because you set goals that don't work (and it can be hard to know before they're tested) isn't worth the time or energy. Someone said to track every penny - it really works! Don't forget to build in a small fund for any meds you may pay for, drinking (if that's your thing?), and all the other random miscellaneous stuff that comes up. Miscellaneous stuff always comes up. Even if you're only setting aside a few dollars a week, it adds up.

Consider paying a competent friend a meal or ten dollars to trim your hair for you.

Skip the dryer and air dry your clothes. It might mean a one-time expense of a small drying rack, but it'll save in the long run and your clothes will actually last longer.

If you're buying it bulk, make sure it's freezable or that it keeps well! I let a lot of food go bad on me before I learned that lesson.

Look into student discounts too, especially for those miscellaneous things that come up. The ISIC card has saved me respectable amounts of money over the last few years.

hey it's true! value village/goodwill are awesome, especially if you know how to sew/craft a bit, which expands your selection ridiculously.
of have a clothes swap with your friends. get together with a few friends and get them to bring all the clothes that they no longer want/wear much, and swap, decorate, find new uses.

and agreed about the debit card/credit card thing. Just carry student id, bus tickets and a few dollars. you can't spend what you don't have... (that's what i've been doing in high shcool at least...) plus you don't have to worry about losing your wallet; there's not much to lose.

for entertainment, go to local concerts ($2-$10 for the entire night!), community movies (sometimes they have free outdoor movies during hte summer), rent movies from the library

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"My parents live in Ohio; I live in the moment." -himym.