College Shopping: Getting a bang for your buck

By Deion Allen
October 27, 2016

Creative Commons/TheDigitalWay

Friday morning… the beginning of our weekend, the most glorious day of the week; why? because it’s payday. When we wake up, the first thing most college students do is check their mobile bank app to see if their direct deposit arrived. Once the money is in the bank, what is the first thing we spend it on?

Food of course! Food is a vital necessity, especially if you have no more money left in your meal plan. “Usually when I get paid, the first thing I spend my money on is food,” sophomore education major, Jessica Hayes said. “Groceries, fast food, whatever I need more urgently at the time.”

Spend, splurge, and squander. There are expenses that students are obligated to cough up money for, but for the most part, some college students tend to spend unnecessarily.

Creative Commons/Caden Crawford
Creative Commons/Caden Crawford

Every student I had the opportunity to speak with was unable to give an estimate as to how much money they spend in a week, hence they agreed that they spend unnecessarily and do not have a budget to control unnecessary spending. This splurging may stem from not being able to leave the store, or buying before the sale ends. Alijah Broadax, a junior psychology major, knows all about not being able to walk out of a store without buying more than what he planned for.

“A lot of times I just walk through the aisles in Walmart and just put stuff in my shopping cart that I didn’t intend to get on my way there,” Broadnax said. “When you shop at clothing stores, they sometimes give you a coupon that’s only valid for a couple of days, forcing you to go back and spend money.”

Another point of emphasis on money squandering is some of our daily expenses. Everyday we spend money on things we may considered are ‘needs’ but are actually ‘wants’. “I need my Dunkin Donuts, and my Wawa,” Hayes said. “I love coffee, just my daily dose that gets me going.”

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Creative Commons/TheDigitalWay

So how can we stop splurging? It all starts with creating a budget plan and not allowing yourself to be enticed by impulse buys. Stay away from the convenience stores and gas stations. If you are paying with a card, pay at the pump and avoid going into the store; you may be lured into spending money that you could be saving.

Look for coupons, online and in-store. Many times grocery stores mail out coupons to attract customers, take advantage of the pennies you could be saving for a rainy day. There are tons of websites that offer coupons. Retailmenot.com is a website that maintains distributing a collection of coupons to all its participating members, the stores ranging from clothing, to hardware, to beauty and health.

Last but not least, do not spend top dollar on clothes. Many of us are in the peak of our lives where we may feel as though we need to wear the flashiest clothes and most expensive accessories, which is arguably agreeable, but we can get the same expensive look for the right price if shopping at the right place.

“For clothes I usually go to Primark,” Hayes said. “It’s a cheap European store that has trendy looks for low prices, you can’t beat it.”

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Deion Allen

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