Back-to-School: College Savings Hacks. PLUS, enter for a chance to win $120!!

Back-to-School for college looks a lot like Back-to-School for any other age group: listing, comparing, shopping, and prepping. The only difference being that the price tag that comes with that shopping list is significantly higher. So, what is a college student to do? You can find specific phone deals, tech deals, furniture/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:  

Enter to win $120!

Follow our TikTok and Instagram pages to learn how you can enter to win $120 for your college back-to-school haul!

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1. Use your Student Email to Your Full Advantage

Your .edu email 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: $5/month bundled with Hulu.

• Apple Music, Adobe CC, YouTube Premium, etc.: Student pricing galore. 

• Local businesses (gyms, cafes, hair salons) often have unadvertised student discounts — just ask. 

2. Textbook Loopholes

The (criminally high) price of textbooks story hasn’t changed in decades, but thankfully, technology has, and so have the options to avoid paying the bookstore prices:  

• Library reserves: Professors often place copies on reserve — free to use. 

• Buy used, rent, or download: Sites like Chegg, ThriftBooks, or even Reddit can be your friend. 

• Join or start a textbook exchange group on campus or Discord, Facebook, etc. 

• Open Educational Resources (OER): 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 are basically 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 and exciting by splitting groceries, batch cooking, and rotating who hosts. 

• Buy frozen fruits & veggies: They’re cheaper, last longer, and just as nutritious. 

• Generic is king: Store brands are often made by the same manufacturers. 

• Coupon!: You never thought you’d be like your mom, but hey, couponing works. The good news is that you can use apps like Flipp or Rakuten to find local coupons/savings. Bonus points if you shop at places like Target that will let you price match.  

• Double-dip: Use rebate apps like Ibotta or Fetch Rewards on top of sales. 

• Lean on the wisdom of others: Rather than living on cups o’ noodles for the foreseeable future, follow budget-friendly creators on Instagram, TikTok, or even 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 price 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 your free trials to their full advantage! Programs like TextNow’s Perks give you free trials and discounts every month.  

• Earn everytime you shop: Stack up the savings with a Honey browser extension or Rakuten to earn cash back for the online shopping you already do.  

• Earn even more: Speaking of cash backs, 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. And brand newsletters too! – they love to throw discounts and coupons in there.

5. Socialize for free

If you’re not on a family phone plan (or want to leave it to gain some independence and much needed privacy), then the average cell phone bill can cost you up to $120/month. Even without the student part, that’s a lot of money that can be better spent elsewhere. Which is why we offer phone service that starts at $0/month – unlimited calling and texting, plus access to select apps for convenience on-the-go. Add more data anytime you want, starting at $4.99/day. Plus, since you’re on campus with free Wi-Fi everywhere most of the time, why pay for service you won’t be using?

Don't forget – you can take that same $120 and spend it on the essentials that actually do matter for your college semester. Between July 23 and July 25, you can enter to win that $120 by following our TikTok page for more details.

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.