Graduate school is not cheap.  Here are 6 penny pinching tips to save money while in grad school.

• Budget your expenses prior to starting school. I was amazed to know what I truly spent my money on prior to creating a budget. Monitoring 100 % of your income and expenses reveals areas of financial improvement where you could tighten up or splurge. Examples of nonessential expenses may include dining out, clothing, and online subscriptions.  Everydollar budgeting app is Dave Ramsey approved and can help you monitor your money.  Knowing and planning your expenses prevents unplanned stressors and is a good tool for planning your financial future in general.

• Request a student ID. Most schools offer this.  If you are attending a school online you can request this and use for everyday purchases with available student discounts.  This includes some restaurants, most large movie theater chains, vacations packages, and more. It may not seem like much as first, but discounts over time can mean more money in your wallet. Examples of digital services that provide student discount include: Amazon Prime, Apple Music, and Hulu are just a couple to mention There are lots more!

• Do not accept all student loan disbursements as a refund. When utilizing FASFA government loans for your education you have the opportunity to decline any extra funds received. The subsidized loan received may exceed your schools’ tuition cost resulting in a refund.  Rather than take a cash refund on borrowed money with increasing and accruing interest, consider only accepting what you need.  This can be discussed with your student advisor and finance department upon acceptance of your institutions financial award package.

• Rent your textbooks or find them online for free. Many online rental services like Chegg, Vitalsource Bookshelf, and Amazon are great places to find rental textbooks for cheap. There are also other options including eBooks as a virtual book option that are cheaper than paying full price for a new textbooks. Access is normally for duration of semester and can be extended if needed. Check out PDFdrive for free online versions of the textbook you may need.

• Adjusting large personal payments. When I first started grad school my mortgage and car payment all were due the first of the month.  This left little money to live off of during the first half of the month.  For a small one-time bank fee, I was able to move my large payment due dates around to better accommodate my limited income as I dropped down to part-time while obtaining my FNP.  This may seem trivial, yet made a huge difference in the way my expenses were distributed in the month.

• Apply for scholarships. Scholly is a low-cost scholarship app that you enter the amount of money desired to cover your academic expenses and then reveals specific scholarships to apply for to help with school cost. Also research your local nurse practitioner chapters as they often have scholarship opportunities for student members. Currently my Virginia Counsel of Nurse Practitioners offers a scholarship for DNP students. Every extra penny is helpful

These are just a few ways to better financially prepare and save money while in graduate school. If you know of any extra helpful hints or students resources please share them below.