Back-to-School: College Savings Hacks

Back-to-school for college looks a lot like back-to-school for any other age group: checking lists, comparing, shopping. The only difference is that the price tag for that shopping list is significantly higher.

So, what's a college student to do? You can find specific phone deals, tech deals, furniture and decorating deals, but those are temporary savings — what about the rest of the year?

Let us tell you how you can keep the savings going with these simple hacks:  

1. Use your student email to its full advantage

Your .edu email address is a goldmine. Use it to get discounts and perks wherever you can.  

Top hacks: 

• Amazon Prime Student: 6-month free trial + 50% off after. 
• Spotify Premium Student: Free month trial then $6.99/month; comes with Hulu (with ads).
• Apple Music: Free month trial, then $5.99/month; comes with Apple TV.
• YouTube Premium: Free month, then YouTube and YouTube Music ad-free for $8.99/month. 
• Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365 Education, Grammarly: Lots of student discounts on software and tools.
• Local businesses (gyms, cafes, hair salons) often have unadvertised student discounts — just ask, or check with your school's student services office. 

2. Textbook hacks

The high price of textbooks isn’t new but thankfully technology has added options to save:  

• Library reserves: Professors often place copies on reserve — free to use. 
• Buy used, rent, or download: Sites like Valore, ThriftBooks, or even Reddit can be your friend. 
• Join or start a textbook exchange group on campus or Discord, Facebook, etc. 
• Open Educational Resources: Some professors will let you skip the $300 pain if you ask. 

3. Eat like a king (on a budget)

You don’t have to be a student to recognize that groceries feel like a luxury these days. If you don’t have a prepaid meal plan on campus and are looking to save money by making your own food, here are our best tips for doing it frugally:  

• Cook with friends: Make the unfortunate (you’re all broke) into something fun by splitting groceries, batch cooking, and rotating who hosts. 
• Buy frozen fruits & veggies: They’re cheaper, last longer, and are just as nutritious. 
• Generic is king: Store brands are often made by the same manufacturers as costlier name-brand items. 
• Coupon: You can use apps like Flipp or Rakuten to find local coupons and savings. Bonus points if you shop at places that will match competitor prices (ask about the policy at customer service).  
• Double-dip: Use rebate apps like Ibotta or Fetch Rewards on top of sales. 
• Lean on the wisdom of others: Rather than living on noodle cups and ramen, follow budget-friendly creators on Instagram, TikTok, or Reddit threads like /frugal to find different hacks and recipes for eating on less than $10/meal.  

4. Subscriptions, rewards, points – everything adds up

While a $5.99/month subscription seems affordable, tack on a couple more of those “affordable subscriptions” and you quickly start getting into the category of “I could’ve spent that money on a week’s worth of meals instead.” There are still ways you can enjoy entertainment without sacrificing too much of your budget. Plus, collecting rewards and points to add a little more to your wallet.  

• Share plans: Split and share access to Netflix, Spotify Premium, etc. with roommates. 
• Free trials: Use free trials to their full advantage! Programs like TextNow’s Perks give you free trials and discounts.  
• Get cash back: If you can qualify, use a student-friendly credit card like Discover It Students for cash back on all your shopping.  
• There's nothing cheaper than free: Sign up for all the birthday freebies you can find, and look for brand emails or texts that offer discounts and coupons.

5. Socialize for free

If you’re not on a family phone plan (or want to leave it to gain some independence and privacy), you may be dismayed to find the average cell phone bill can run up to $141/month. That’s a lot of money that can be better spent elsewhere, which is why TextNow offers phone service that starts at $0/month for unlimited calling and texting, plus access to select apps for convenience on-the-go. Add more data anytime you want, starting at $2.99/day. Plus, since you’re on campus with free Wi-Fi everywhere most of the time, why pay for an expensive plan you won’t be using?

College is an exciting time, and it shouldn’t be dampened by your lack of funds. Make those small dollars go a long way with easy, simple hacks — and never be more than a phone call or text away from the rest of the world with free service from TextNow.