Never Pay for Something You Can Get for Free
Even though I managed to rack up $20,000 in student loans during grad school, it certainly could have been worse. Some college students graduate with credit card debt in addition to their student loans. I was fortunate enough to avoid this by living frugally.
Sure, it was tempting to spend the extra loan money on a nicer apartment or nicer stuff. I could have thrown a few parties or spent a little extra when I was out with my friends. However, I decided to follow one of the golden rules of frugality instead — never pay for something you can get for free. Throughout college, I’ve managed to save thousands of dollars by following this simple rule. Here are a few examples:
Couches
I never paid for a couch while I was in college. College towns are full of free couches. If you can’t find one there, then ask your friends and family. You’re almost guaranteed to find a friend or relative who has an extra couch they’re no longer using. I got my last free couch from an old high school friend who was graduating when I was starting grad school. I used it for three years and then passed it on to another friend for free of course.
Beds
Another piece of furniture I never paid for in college was a bed. My roommate’s parents had an extra bed that they let me borrow during my undergrad years. In grad school, I borrowed my sister’s old bed from my parents’ house. Be sure to keep in touch with your friends and classmates as the end of the semester approaches, because that’s when people usually move. This is the best time to find free stuff, because everyone is trying to get rid of the things they no longer need.
Dishes and Silverware
I’m not going to lie. It helps to be a younger sibling, because you get the benefit of hand-me-downs. I used my older sister’s dishes and silverware throughout grad school. If you don’t have older siblings, then check with your friends. In addition to my sister’s stash, I also got an extra set of dishes and silverware from a friend. So the dishes didn’t exactly match with each other, but who cares? They were completely free.
Electronics
Once again, friends and family are your best best for finding free electronics. Your dad will be happy to give you the old TV from home to make room for that new flat-panel HDTV. In the past few years, I’ve used an old TV from my parents and shared a new TV with a roommate (his TV). I recently acquired a 4-year-old TV absolutely free from one of my friends after he got a flat-panel HDTV.
Drinks
This one is plain and simple. Either be an attractive female or know the owner of the bar.
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The drinks section is particularly true in my experience. I would trade hockey tickets for drinks. The owner of my favorite bar while in grad school was a fan of the schools hockey team so on Thursday night I would eat dinner at the sports bar where the hockey coach would hold his weekly hockey show. Not only did I get to meet the coach and players on a regular basis, but inevitably the coach would be offereing free tickets to the crowd and I always ended up with a pair.
I would then give these tickets to the owner of my favorite bar, and he would hook me up with some free drinks and occasionally some grub. It probably helped that I was a particularly large tipper (it greatly improves the quality of drinks and scores free ones frequently too) and would spend almost every week night there making use of the five cent specials for food.
Now I would also claim my “free” student ticket to the game too. As a grad student the ticket was supposed to be $8 since we don’t pay the activities fee that the undergrads pay for the free tickets, but if you go to the box office the night of the game and show your id, even though it has “GRAD STUDENT” in big bold letters across the front, the cashier would give the free undergrad tickets just to speed up the process and get to paying customers.
Now about the drinks — I’ve seen some site that teaches you “bar tricks” so that you can get drinks from unknowing foks, can’t remember where, maybe something English? or YouTube. Learn how to shoot pool and play darts, free drinks and money too. Just don’t play with the drunks, they get so mean.
[...] Broke Grad Student gives tips for free furnishings and even drinks on the town in Never Pay for Something You Can Get for Free. [...]
I agree with this. I get both disappointed and excited when I find out that something I’ve been paying for is out there somewhere, for free. I recently got a thrill from finding free magazine subs on the internet.
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