Life on a Budget: A College Student Experience
Meet Timothy Curry, who also goes by Tim. Tim is a senior who is majoring in graphic design at Colorado State University. He is currently in his last semester of college, and like many students, thinks about how he can be wise about finances while still being able to do the things he likes to do. As an off-campus resident, he has learned how to stock up on food and use discounts. I interviewed Tim in person and sat down with him to discuss his experience with budgeting in college.
*Disclaimer: This piece has been edited for readability.
Q: What are some of your hobbies?
A: Working out..eating..sleeping… and creating art. I like to draw.
Q: What are some of the costs that come with your hobbies? What are some of the expenses for art, specifically?
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A: Art materials are really expensive depending on what you want. They can range from 60 bucks to 100. With graphic design, you have to pay for Adobe Suite, but being a student, you can get a discount for 20 dollars a month. As far as the gym or buying workout clothes, that’s kind of just something you have to pay full price.
Q: You mentioned the student discount with graphic design, are you familiar with, or use any other discounts?
A: One of my favorite discounts is at Safeway. Every Friday, I receive two discounts. You get a Safeway discount and then being a student, I get the ten percent off student discount. That helps a lot. I don’t think a lot of people know about it though, but basically grocery shopping is on Friday’s.
Q: Do you go out to eat with friends, go bowling or go watch a movie? Or do you prefer to do activities like hiking — something that doesn’t cost anything?
A: It’s 50–50 on that depending on when my friends want to hang out. If they want to hang out right when I get paid then I’m like “let’s go!”, but even a week later I’m like “I gotta save money”. It just depends on the day and time everyone wants to hang out.
Q: How’s living off-campus going for you in regards to trying to balance rent, groceries, and other expenses?
A: It sucks. It sucks trying to balance rent and groceries on top of textbooks, which I still haven’t purchased yet because I can’t buy them. Rent is so expensive. You pay rent and have 20 dollars left, and textbooks are 200 dollars so it’s difficult. I’m trying to find a way to make that work.
Q: What advice would you have for someone who wants to live life comfortably and be able to go out and do all those things while being on this so-called, “college budget”.
A: Find all the cheapest discounts at the first of month. I’m sure King Soopers has it. Safeway has it. Find all the cheapest foods so that you can stack up — kind of like a monthly hibernation. Gather all your food and fill up your cabinets with ramen, peanut butter and jelly, and spaghetti. I know spaghetti is really cheap. Fill up your fridge with cheap food that you wouldn’t mind eating over and over. It might suck eating the same thing over and over but that’ll help you a lot in your pockets.
