With college around the corner it’s time to slowly add up the expenses. Where will your money go? How much money will you have to spend now? These are all important questions to think about.
Today I wanted to focus in on actually get to and from college, the transportation, and getting around when you get get to school. It’s not secret that commuting to school can be pretty expensive (unless you live a five minute walk away).
Let’s jump into it…
How you can save money on transportation in college:
(Note: Don’t worry, I won’t suggest that you walk 15 miles to class. Well, unless you want to.)
Use your FREE bus pass.
What most of us don’t realize is that a portion of your tuition actually pays for a bus pass. So technically, it’s not a free pass, but you do have access to public transportation. Most college towns are pretty good when it comes to convenience and public transportation. You can try taking the bus and saving yourself some decent coin in the process.
Find cheap parking.
If you don’t live on the bus route or the ride is just too far, and you happen to drive to college, I would recommend that you find cheap parking. Parking on campus can be pretty expensive. At my school we got charged like $17 a day just for parking. This is why it makes sense for you to go out of your way to find some cheap parking. You can park down the street, find a mall to park at, or drive to the bus station.
Batch your course load.
This is what I did whenever it was feasible. I would batch all of my courses into a few days so that I would’t have to travel to school so often. I was fortunate because my school allowed me to pick my own courses and there would always be a bunch of options. After some planning and detailed scheduling, I would usually figure out a way to schedule a bunch of courses into a few day period. I just didn’t think it was worth it to go all the way to school for one class. I always had at least two courses in one day.
Take online courses.
Online courses require you to spend pretty much zero money on transportation. In my last term I took a few online courses and I only had to show up on campus for the final exam. This was a quick way to save money on transportation, teach me some discipline, and find more time to work so that I could save up some money.
That’s how you can save money on transportation in college. You can put your savings towards other areas (going out or tuition) because I doubt that you want any more debt than you need.
Which method will you use to save money?
