Actually useful ways to avoid spending money at Ithaca College

For college “free” is our favorite word. Most of us pay for our meals either out of pocket or through the school’s outrageously expensive meal plan and spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks for classes which we rarely use.

Trying to limit how much you spend can sometimes be extremely difficult, especially with so many temptations around you. On a night out, friends might want to order take-out, pay for a taxi instead of the TCAT or go to the bars every weekend. Some friends might want you to join them for brunch at Waffle Frolic and birthday gifts are always going to suck your pockets dry. What’s a budget anyway?

Fellow Bombers spend no longer! There are so many hacks and creative ways to save money on campus during your time at Ithaca College:

Bring Tupperware to the dining hall to grab lunch or dinner for the next day.

You’re already paying hundreds of dollars for your meal plan, so you might as well leave with more than one meal. Always carry Tupperware in your backpack to satisfy your hunger when you are comfortable in your room, or just don’t feel like gearing up to go out in the cold to the dining hall.

Go to all the floor events and grab the extra snacks at the end

Oh these are the best parts about living on campus. RAs hold cool events with load of snacks, especially around midterm and finals week when you want them the most. This is the perfect time to stock up on all things fruit snacks, pizza, doughnuts and ice cream.

Wear a puffy jacket to the dining hall and stuff as much fruit as possible

“You are only allowed to leave the dining area with one piece of fruit?” For 800+ dollars a month for the meal plan, I only get one piece of fruit every time? Yea, no way! Since it is cold all the time in Ithaca, you will always have a jacket to stuff fruit in. So pack on the pounds (in the healthiest way)!

Go to house parties instead of the bars to avoid spending more money than intended

Oh Moonies! We come to you with an idea of how much we wish to spend on drinks, but then we always end up wanting more. Avoid spending money on multiple drinks or opening a tab and go to house parties instead. If you’re a girl, most of the time you get in for free or just limit the amount of times you go to the bars.

Borrow someone else’s book in class so you don’t have to buy it

Don’t order your books until you start the first week of classes. Then, you have the opportunity to ask whether the book will be used or not. If the professor doesn’t stress the importance of the book, you’re better off just borrowing it from a friend once they are done reading it.

Take pictures of books in the library instead of buying them

Most books that you need in classes can also be found in the library. Instead of buying the book, just camp out in the library or take pictures of the pages for your own keeping. Genius right?

 Just add water

Almost running out of shampoo, conditioner, or soap but can’t buy any at the moment? Just add water, it expands the life of your shampoo, conditioner and soap and it creates more bubbles!

Go to TIOLI in Clarke Hall Basement

Take-it-or-Leave-it (TIOLI) is the greatest place to get all the FREE dorm decorations, kitchen-ware, hangers and storage items you could possible need. Highly recommend!

 Create a few DIY birthday gifts/presents

DIY projects can be both cheap, creative and special. Pinterest your best friend, go to TIOLI, even make some DIY Ithaca gear! You can never have too much!

For those of you who live off campus, shower in the guest shower and bathroom in the A&E

If you’re looking for a great way to save money on the water bill, the A&E has a great guest bathroom that is open for anyone. So if you spent your whole night studying in the library, you didn’t get the chance to go home, or you went swimming, the A&E will not let you down.

With this guide at your side, you are guaranteed to utilize all of your money that goes into the pockets of Ithaca College. So use it wisely!