As we discussed in the budgeting blog post, to maximize your budget you need to minimize your expenses and maximize you income. Going into college, I knew that I would not be able to afford some of the basic expenses (room and board, meal plan, spring break, and upkeep) without loans, my parent’s help, or a job. Even in looking into jobs, I wanted to ensure that I got the biggest bang for my time, as in college, TIME IS MONEY. Taking this into account, some of the greatest advice was from my 9th grade biology teacher. She stated, “In college, get you a job that allows you to do your homework on the clock.” I took this a bit to the extreme. At one point, I had three jobs while in school full time. While two of my three jobs allowed me to work on the clock, I would caution to work smarter and not harder. Try first, to get paid to simply attend class. Then, try to find a job that pays you to do homework on the clock. And lastly, try jobs that take little work for a larger pay out with little to no experience. Here are a few options I have tried and/or people close to me have tried.

Note: I am just giving ideas. I am no expert. Each of these suggestions require your own research.

1. Assistantships:

Assistantships are programs that pay for your schooling as well as giving you a small stipend in exchange for work through your university or participating corporations. This process will often put a living expense stipend in your pocket.

2. Scholarships:

I am in a unique position for which my tuition is paid twice: once by my program’s assistantship and again by an outside scholarship. This situation returns my tuition in a refund check every semester, which offsets my living costs. Even if to just breakeven, you can use scholarships to offset student loan costs, or even add additional income for books, fees, and recreation.

3. Internships:

There are some companies that offer paid internships (specifically during the summer). These opportunities act as a two for one special: you get experience and money. It often requires a “good” grade point averages and transportation; however, with a supportive cover letter and references, opportunities are open to most.

4. On campus job:

I worked in the tutoring center in college as a calculus and chemistry tutor. It was one of the highest paying positions for students on campus, and offered me both help in my courses and guaranteed time to study. One of the perks to on campus jobs is that they are typically flexible and accepting of complex class schedules. You can also network with a diverse community of peers you wouldn’t typically have access to. Depending on your school and need base, on campus jobs may or may not be a good option for you. Check your local college listings.

5. Virtual Assistantship:

Virtual assistants are the new craze. They make excellent pay for little to no experience, as most of it is clerical work. If you are in college, 9 times out of 10 you have the skills necessary to do the job. The main factor here is to be both diligent and meticulous because the value is in the details.

6. Bonus:

Sell your notes! This is a HUGE commodity at larger universities and can pan out even better than tutoring if you set up a time stamped weblink that prevents people from sharing the notes.

I will be doing a separate college hack video with additional ways to cover tuition and put money in your pocket. Also, many of these positions are adaptable to the climate for which we may not be going back to campus. While many budgets aren’t finalized for the coming semesters, independent (not school based) assistantships and scholarships are still open and available. Depending on your school, many of the “on campus” jobs are moving online, with particular services in customer service and IT/web based help. You can usually find these in your school’s database. Lastly, while it’s not enough to simply make the money and work the budget, tomorrow I will give some solutions on how I deal with lack of discipline in my finances.