Saving Money on Christmas Presents: Part 1

Christmas is the time of year where families get together, have dinners, exchange gifts and spend time together. Unfortunately the exchanging of gifts part is a lot harder for university students to do since we have zero money to begin with it. Personally I know I need to spend less than I did last year so this post is going to cover ways to spend less but still have great presents for your loved ones.


One of the things that I definitely recommend is purchasing Christmas presents early, and spread purchases over a period of time. What I did last year, was go on a spending spree way too close to Christmas, panicking about that fact that I needed to get gifts for everyone. This tends to lead to over spending, having a huge credit card bill come new years and the quality of your gifts may not be as you intended.

Some ways to save money

• Make purchases online. Use eBay, check for coupon codes, online sales. There are usually fewer sales closer to Christmas because retailers know that you will be buying no matter what in December, no matter the price. Take advantage of sales now instead of December. Also when making purchases be conscious of free shipping deals, especially in Ontario we already get killed with taxes, its best to try and get free shipping if possible.
• Check out some DIY projects on Pinterest if your the crafty type and make a unique present instead. It will definitely be a lot cheaper than purchasing the product yourself.

Keep an eye out for my Twitter feed @cheapstudents I will be posting various deals that I find. Closer to Christmas I will also have another part to this post, so make sure to check it out as well.

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Halloween on a Budget

Halloween tends to be a time where students go out, and drink, and drink...And something that makes it a bit different than any other night out is the additional challenge of coming up with a clever costume. In addition, Halloween falls on a Wednesday this year. This leaves us with a bit of a problem, the additional issue of coming up with not just 1 but 2 costumes this year all within a student budget.

In most cases you have your go to costume, the one that you are dead set on wearing and it's your showstopper. But you are slightly troubled by the fact that you may need a second costume for the night Halloween actually falls on as well as trying to pull together the pieces on your main costume as well.

Here are some great ways to save cash while trying to make your costume(s).

• Purchase accessories off of eBay (check shipping since were pretty close to Halloween now)
• Check out thrift stores
• Look for ideas in Halloween stores, but don't actually buy anything from there, they tend to be overpriced
• Check out Dollarama for some cheap accessories
• Make your costume or part of it. Go to a craft store and get supplies (or get cheap supplies from Dollarama as well
• For additional ideas check out Pinterest, there are usually some great things floating around on there.

For those who struggle to come up with costume ideas..

Check out some awesome and easy last minute costumes. You can often find a lot of what you need for these costumes at one of the places above or even within your own clothes.

http://familycrafts.about.com/od/costumeideas/tp/fastcostume.htm

http://www.ecouterre.com/7-more-last-minute-halloween-costumes-haunting-your-closet/

Image Source

What cheap and easy Halloween costumes have you used in the past?

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How Facebook can save you money

Facebook is a place where we waste countless hours checking notifications, searching through people's photos or whatever else you may do. But there's also a way to save yourself some money here and there by just liking a few pages on Facebook. These posts will show up in your newsfeed and are easy ways to gather coupons, learn about upcoming deals and even get yourself some free stuff as well.


Here's a list of a few great pages to like.

Canadian Coupons
They often post great offers, free samples and coupons. Some of these are time sensitive
https://www.facebook.com/canadiancoupons

webSaver.ca
Coupons exclusively, find out about new mail out coupons.
https://www.facebook.com/websaver?ref=stream

Burnbrae Farms
Often has time sensitive and limit number coupons. Sometimes even free offers for their products.
https://www.facebook.com/BurnbraeFarms?fref=ts

You can also like the fan pages for your favourite stores and companies. They often post deals, discounts and exclusive coupons for those that like their pages.

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Starbucks...Cheap

I rarely purchase coffee or other beverages from Starbucks but recently have bought a few pumpkin spice lattes because they are truly awesome. Except the only thing is that a medium..oops sorry grande costs me over $5.00 and it made me think first about all the other things I could be buying myself and also I wanted to figure out how I could get my pumpkin spice latte cheaper. So check out the recipes below for some seasonal and all-time favourites of mine from Starbucks and see if you like them and if you save yourself a bunch of money in process. What's not to love?

Pumpkin Spice Latte
Since it is fall and everyone loves their pumpkin spice lattes. Why not save yourself at least $5 and try out this recipe from Recipe Girl.

Chai Tea Latte
Also one of my personal favourites, the Chai Tea Latte. Check out this recipe on how to make your own.

Gingerbread Latte
Check out this slightly altered version that doesn't use the same gingerbread syrup that has a ton of sugar and other bad for you ingredients.

Also check out this Starbucks recipe guide from Freebies 4 Her with a variety of recipes that you can make at home, and save a bunch of money doing it.

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How to Save Money at the Library

The library is a place where you study, and spend quite a lot of your university life. But it's also a place where you can save quite a bit of money through a variety of services that are available. Check out the following list of the ways that your library saves you money and from hauling around an extremely heavy backpack.

• Borrowing textbooks on reserve.
• Check with your library but most often your professor will put at least 1 textbook on course reserves. You can not buy the textbook at all, or just save yourself the back strain by borrowing the book from the library instead of hauling it to school with you.
• Borrowing a laptop
• Most university students have their own laptops. This is mostly just a way to save yourself from a super heavy backpack. The University of Guelph has rental laptops for 2 hours at a time.
• Borrowing books to read instead of buying them from chapters
• If you want to do some casual reading on certain topics that are academic in nature you can often find a wide variety of books at your university library. Save yourself from buying them from Chapters or off Amazon and instead just borrow the books.
• Borrowing documentaries and more "academic" movies
• If you are an avid documentary fan, a lot of schools will have a bunch of "academic" type movies. Search through your university library online database to see what is available, they may even be helpful for your classes.
• Watch/download movies and tv at the library
• By downloading movies, tv and music at the library you can cut down on using your bandwidth at home. Some schools may block the use of torrents on some computers.

Ways to save money when studying at the library

• Bring your own food
• By bringing your own meals to the library you are often able to save quite a bit if you spend a lot of time in your university library. Even bringing snacks and a refillable water bottle can help save a ton of money in the long run.
• Make sure to return books, laptops and textbooks on time
• It's amazing how much a late book can add up in terms of fines, it's important to stay aware of dates and renew checked out books if you are unable to make it to the library by the due date.
• Bring your own coffee maker
• Yes, I have seen it before. You could honestly bring your own coffee maker to the library if that's what your heart desires. All you need is a plug
• For the less intense people out there; Make your own coffee/tea before coming to the library
• Making your own coffee instead of purchasing coffee/tea from Starbucks, Tim Hortons or Second Cup can help save you a ton of money by the time the end of mid terms and exams.

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