<p>Alright, I have a few questions!</p>
<p>-Are there any specific tips for finding a job, aside from the typical ace your job interview, have a stellar resume, and etc.?</p>
<p>-How on earth can I spend less on groceries? I am trying to spend $160--please help me, can anyone do this?</p>
<p>-How can I stress out less about not being able to afford anything?</p>
<p>-How do I avoid random "emergency" situations in for spending money? i.e. something breaks, odd high electricity bill, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks, please help in any way you can!</p>
<p>I don’t know about jobs
Try using coupons, looking for sales, maybe there’s a grocery outlet near you, canned food pasta rice things like that are really cheap. If you like sweets, pick one to buy each week so you don’t accidentally spend too much on desert type items. Some stores give discounts if cans are damaged at all so that may be something to see about</p>
<p>Plan a budget for each week or two and maybe that will calm you down about finances</p>
<p>Stuff breaks so just be careful and do regular maintenance on stuff so you don’t have a large issue later but mostly take care of your stuff and hope for the best. Make sure you always turn off lights and unplug things, even if you leave the room for five minutes. Take shorter showers and avoid using hot water if possible just use warm. If you have tv limit yourself to how much you watch a day so you don’t use too much electricity</p>
<p>Hope this helps and good luck on the job search!</p>
<p>Groceries can be easy to cut if you use a lot of recipes that go far. A lot of people these days turn up their noses at “leftovers”, but using recipes that create enough food for a few meals, and then eating those “leftovers” was how one income families got by in the “old days”. Take a good look at what you buy. Try the store brand instead of “name brand”, buy the cheaper chicken legs or thighs and then use a crock pot to use that chicken in stew or “chicken and dumplings” which goes a long way. Go for foods that are nutritious and fill you. Don’t buy junk. Frozen fruits and veggies will be good for you and last because you don’t have to throw out stuff that goes bad before you eat it. Examine your habits and look at how much food you throw out. Look up “cheap recipes” on google and such. $40 a week for 1 sounds good, but if you can cut soda and drink filtered tap water, or cut junk and eat healthier meals, that might help. Use coupons or savings cards at stores that offer them. Try getting a job waiting tables - good money at popular places. I know lots of people who really love bartending, and they aren’t big party types, but the money is too good to turn down, cast a wider net and consider jobs you may not have been willing to look at before if you are having trouble finding the kind you usually look for. Working in a restaurant sometimes gets you free food, too, and the hours typically work pretty well for college students. It also sounds like you have an apartment if you worry about electric bills. Can you get a roommate to help with the rent, bills, etc, or find a cheaper place, or one that includes utilities? Maybe get a room in a home instead of a whole place to yourself? Do yard work, etc, in exchange for rent? Sometimes professors look for help, or have friends looking for the college student nanny, or house cleaner, etc. Let people know you are looking and that usually really helps.</p>
<p>No more processed/prepared foods. Food is cheap; value-added processing is what makes it expensive. Most of these aren’t healthy anyway.</p>
<p>Buy basic ingredients (rice, beans, vegetables, etc.) and learn to cook.</p>
<p>Absolutely zero soda. No exceptions.</p>
<p>If you drink…cut the alcohol. It adds up.</p>
<p>Learn to shop loss leaders, and how to make multiple meals with those loss leaders. Eat leftovers. Learn what foods are cheap to buy and learn to make meals around those foods… rice and pasta can be very cheap, buy whatever meat or veggies are on sale and make a stir fry. Your freezer is your friend… you can buy meats that are on sale and freeze them. Learn not to eat so much outside of meals… one bag of pretzels or similar should be more than enough snack food for a week plus, you don’t need multiple different things. Frozen fruit makes great snacks, too, and is cheap and lasts a long time. We make popcorn in a kettle on the stove, and a cheapo bag of kernals lasts us MONTHS and tastes way better than the microwave kind.</p>
<p>You may find you are not able to eat a lot of variety until you get used to cooking and shopping this way… it can be hard to figure out at first. On months when our budget is particularly tight-- maybe something broke or someone got sick-- we eat a lot of hot dogs, pasta based meals, and rice based meals. I am feeding myself and a bodybuilder with a bottomless stomach on about your budget right now because I took a trip to the emergency room last week, and this is what we’re doing.</p>
<p>Eating cheap is a skill you have to learn. Research online, buy budget cookbooks (or better yet, borrow from the library), and just keep trying. You might not be able to keep a stocked fridge and pantry like your parents likely had on your budget, but you can eat well if you pay attention to what you’re doing and be proactive.</p>
<p>Paradox, I wanted to point out that if you are really struggling, depending on your state, you might be eligible for food stamps. Also, in just about every community, there are Soup Kitchens, Food Pantries, or churches who offer meals. You should be able to locate such an offering of free food/cooked meals in your area. And, I am sure they might appreciate your willingness to volunteer one day or so a month in return for the help. Seeing how food is prepared to go a long way in a soup kitchen could also teach you how to cook nutritiously on little money for yourself.</p>
<p>$160/month?</p>
<p>That’s really low. The majority of your meals will have to have no meat.</p>
<p>My university has a bunch of tutoring centers. If you have several As in classes that are commonly taken try and apply there.</p>
<p>are you good in any sports? My son is a soccer player…he got his referee license years ago. It’s a great way of picking up extra money on his own schedule. He had reffed (sp?) regularly for a league and often for weekend tournaments, where he could work 6 to 8 games in a weekend, at $40-$70 per game. He has also worked at intramural sports on campus, although it is less lucrative.</p>
<p>There are tons of free receptions on campus - make sure you go to all of them and bring ziploc bags…</p>