Money Saving Tips for Student Families

[gmichaellarsen]

A fellow JD/MBA friend of mine and I just started The Provident PhD, a blog written by and for graduate student families to share ideas for saving money during the financial gauntlet of grad school. Check it out and give us your creative ideas for making ends meet, particularly if you're managing grad school with a spouse and children.

[Sigaba]

Does poaching BB's like the gradcafe count as a "creative idea"?

[eco_env]

I can't speak for everyone on GradCafe, but I don't mind people posting links, as long as they are relevant and not posted multiple times.

[gmichaellarsen]

Thanks for the support, econ_env. We're not making money off the blog; just trying to offer helpful money saving ideas for fellow grad student families.

[long_time_lurker]

Work hard (do other paid employment), make good investments (nothing like making money with money), and use coupons and deal sites like Groupon. Also, keep track of your budget and identify things you don't really need (or for that matter enjoy that much) and eliminate them. This will free up resources for needs as well as splurges, which if you live frugally the rest of the time you can actually do pretty often. The Premack principle does wonders for getting work done.

[eco_env]

Groupon? Isn't that usually for stuff that's a waste of money anyway? the only somewhat practical groupon deal happening in my area now is for shoes. out of 13 deals.

[ktel]

Groupon? Isn't that usually for stuff that's a waste of money anyway? the only somewhat practical groupon deal happening in my area now is for shoes. out of 13 deals.

I use it mostly for restaurants and the odd personal care thing I like to do. Other people might consider that a waste of money, I consider it saving money on things I do anyways.

[long_time_lurker]

Groupon? Isn't that usually for stuff that's a waste of money anyway? the only somewhat practical groupon deal happening in my area now is for shoes. out of 13 deals.

Yes, most of the stuff is either not interesting or frivolous, but it takes literally less than a minute a day to look through.

I use it mostly for restaurants and the odd personal care thing I like to do. Other people might consider that a waste of money, I consider it saving money on things I do anyways.

This is the key. For instance, I try to take my wife out once a week, her choice. So we know we're going to go out to eat, wine tasting, whale watching, etc. anyway. A lot of pizza places including one we like recently had a pay $10 for $20 gift certificate promo on Groupon. We bought the maximum, because we do pizza once a week anyway.

[maylenedizon]

If you live frugally the rest of the time you can actually do pretty often.