When it comes to shopping and saving, there’s many common-sense solutions for students. Here’s a list of helpful shopping tips for strapped for cash students.

Use Discount Stores
They may be hard to find in some locales, but dollar stores still abound. Also, Big Box retailers can often be cheaper than other stores. Be sure to check out their prices. You can often save money by stocking up with larger purchases at these stores. For instance, buying peanut butter in bulk means less trips to the store and savings on each item in the long run, even though you might buy more than one jar at a time.

Look for Discount Sales
Expect more stores and businesses to feature sales in the near future. This can be especially true in a slow economy. Businesses will offer lower prices to entice shoppers to spend money. Information about sales can usually be found in newspapers and on a company’s website.

Make a List
A run to the grocery can be quick and fun, but you’re likely to spend more without a list. Make one before you go and focus on the essentials. Doing so will make you less likely to splurge on extras when you get to the store.

Set a Limit/Have a budget
Just as making a list before you shop can curb further spending. Setting a budget for yourself before you go shopping can help immensely. Going out to buy a dvd? Don’t start shopping for other movies after you find the first one you wanted. Same goes for music and video games.

Send in Those Rebates
Many companies offer rebates to entice buyers to purchase their product. Basically, they give you money back for buying their product once you mail in a form and receipt. Be on the look out for these offers as they can mean substantial savings. The other reason companies offer product rebates is that they know many people will not bother to mail them. So don’t be a part of the lazy crowd that loses out on saving money. Why throw away free money?

Combine Trips
With gas so expensive, it makes a lot of sense to do all your weekly shopping in a single trip rather than multiple ones. Try cutting down on the number of times you go out by combining trips. If you’re driving to stores, this will save you gas money. Also see if friends want to go to the stores too. It takes less gas than if you drove separately and is more fun to shop with friends.

Use Coupons
Old fashioned, lame, time-consuming. It’s true. Cutting out coupons and looking for them online can be all of these, but you can save a lot of money on groceries and other products just by grabbing these discounts.

Check for Student Discounts
Many stores near colleges offer students discounts. Simply present your student ID and get 10% off your order or a free drink with the purchase of a sandwich. Ask your school or local businesses if they give student discounts. Some schools even make lists of all the local businesses that offer student discounts.

Got your own tips? Post them below and share them with the rest of the class. Every tip helps. And maybe one day, just maybe, you won’t have to drink Natty Light.

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