Having a life on a budget
Just because you're living on the cheap this year, it doesn't mean you can't still have fun. You just have to be careful about how you're spending your money. Remember, if you're living off of OSAP this year, every dollar you spend is on loan; a dollar you will have to pay back one day (with interest!). Think about that when you're ordering pizza, heading to the mall or buying a round at the pub.
So how do you still have fun this year without being your class Debbie Downer? Here are some tips on keeping your entertainment budget to a minimum.
- Rent movies as a group, stay in and make popcorn. It's cheaper and much cozier.
- Buy used CDs and trade in your old ones. Grooves record shop downtown can help you with this.
- Get movies from the library, you can rent classics on DVD from the public library for no charge.
- Check out the discount student nights at Rainbow theatres downtown ($4 on Tuesdays)
- Empire theatres offer post-secondary students admission, pop and popcorn for only $9.99! Must show your student ID.
- Download your favourite shows instead of paying for cable. Copying and selling these items make you a naughty pirate, but downloading from a free site run by the network is just fine.
- Instead of dinner and a movie, try breakfast and a movie. Seriously, go to a diner that serves 24hr breakfast after the movie and enjoy $4.99 bacon and eggs at midnight. Both delicious and thrifty!
- Browse the library instead of your local Chapters. If you see something you like, you can borrow it for FREE! You can also read magazines at the Fanshawe library at no cost; they have tons! So stop wasting your money.
- Make coffee at home, take a travel mug to classes during the week and make it at home on the weekends. Even if you splurge and buy the expensive Tim Horton's tins or Starbucks brand coffee it's still much cheaper to prepare it at home (and better for the environment...no paper cups).
- Consider having a cell phone instead of a home phone.
- Get your hair cut at a student hairdresser! Apprentice salons offer you cut, colour and even aesthetics at a fraction of the cost. Try London's DeVog school. Only the students with the highest marks and the best abilities are offered a position in their advanced apprentice program. Call 519-439-8540.
- Quit smoking, I'm not even going to begin to talk to you about the health benefits (this is not the forum) but for cost alone, please lord give this up ASAP. At $8 a pack times 365 days a year...MERCY! That's almost $3,000 a year; knock it off!
- Stop driving, not completely, but to school and work and back. You have that free bus pass; use it!
- Make pop and chips a treat! Remember when you were little and you would stay up late on Friday nights and eat chips and pop in your pajamas? Make it a treat again and limit the junk food to weekends. You'll be healthier and save money.
- Change your bank package to a student deal; you'll usually get unlimited ATM withdrawals, free cheques and other perks.
- Clothing Swap! Heading out to the Club this weekend? Get together with friends before hand and borrow each other's clothes rather than buying something new (BONUS: do each other's hair and split on a Mickey, before you drink said Mickey of course).
- Check out events happening at the college; movies in Oasis, stand-up comedy, even theatre tickets at reduced rates! Our Entertainment VP's job is to give you on-campus entertainment; make him earn it!
- Stop buying bottled water pronto. No lecture here on the environment and fossil fuels. Just buy a thermos or reusable bottle and stop throwing your money away. Simple as that.
Remember, you're here to learn but you need to make sure you get out and have some fun too. Just don't blow all your OSAP in the first month or you'll be too broke to go out when you finally make some friends!
So how do you still have fun this year without being your class Debbie Downer? Here are some tips on keeping your entertainment budget to a minimum.
- Rent movies as a group, stay in and make popcorn. It's cheaper and much cozier.
- Buy used CDs and trade in your old ones. Grooves record shop downtown can help you with this.
- Get movies from the library, you can rent classics on DVD from the public library for no charge.
- Check out the discount student nights at Rainbow theatres downtown ($4 on Tuesdays)
- Empire theatres offer post-secondary students admission, pop and popcorn for only $9.99! Must show your student ID.
- Download your favourite shows instead of paying for cable. Copying and selling these items make you a naughty pirate, but downloading from a free site run by the network is just fine.
- Instead of dinner and a movie, try breakfast and a movie. Seriously, go to a diner that serves 24hr breakfast after the movie and enjoy $4.99 bacon and eggs at midnight. Both delicious and thrifty!
- Browse the library instead of your local Chapters. If you see something you like, you can borrow it for FREE! You can also read magazines at the Fanshawe library at no cost; they have tons! So stop wasting your money.
- Make coffee at home, take a travel mug to classes during the week and make it at home on the weekends. Even if you splurge and buy the expensive Tim Horton's tins or Starbucks brand coffee it's still much cheaper to prepare it at home (and better for the environment...no paper cups).
- Consider having a cell phone instead of a home phone.
- Get your hair cut at a student hairdresser! Apprentice salons offer you cut, colour and even aesthetics at a fraction of the cost. Try London's DeVog school. Only the students with the highest marks and the best abilities are offered a position in their advanced apprentice program. Call 519-439-8540.
- Quit smoking, I'm not even going to begin to talk to you about the health benefits (this is not the forum) but for cost alone, please lord give this up ASAP. At $8 a pack times 365 days a year...MERCY! That's almost $3,000 a year; knock it off!
- Stop driving, not completely, but to school and work and back. You have that free bus pass; use it!
- Make pop and chips a treat! Remember when you were little and you would stay up late on Friday nights and eat chips and pop in your pajamas? Make it a treat again and limit the junk food to weekends. You'll be healthier and save money.
- Change your bank package to a student deal; you'll usually get unlimited ATM withdrawals, free cheques and other perks.
- Clothing Swap! Heading out to the Club this weekend? Get together with friends before hand and borrow each other's clothes rather than buying something new (BONUS: do each other's hair and split on a Mickey, before you drink said Mickey of course).
- Check out events happening at the college; movies in Oasis, stand-up comedy, even theatre tickets at reduced rates! Our Entertainment VP's job is to give you on-campus entertainment; make him earn it!
- Stop buying bottled water pronto. No lecture here on the environment and fossil fuels. Just buy a thermos or reusable bottle and stop throwing your money away. Simple as that.
Remember, you're here to learn but you need to make sure you get out and have some fun too. Just don't blow all your OSAP in the first month or you'll be too broke to go out when you finally make some friends!
