Students have a tough time enough financing their academic studies! In addition to personal and essential purchases, juggling finances with what little money one gets from student loans and part-time jobs becomes a nightmare. Here are some tips to save money and get the most value out of your money!
use cashback apps
There are a plethora of cashback apps out there; however, I will introduce you to those I believe are the most useful.
Rakuten
With every purchase you get a percentage (1-10%) cashback funded into your Rakuten account. All you have to do is enter your favorite online shopping site (SportChek, Nike, Adidas) via the Rakuten website or app and the cashback rewards are activated. I love this app because every 4 months they pay you via a cheque, Paypal transfer, or an Amazon gift card! You are able to physically get the cash, unlike other apps which only offer point exchanges for gift cards. In addition, you get a $30 welcome bonus on your first $30 purchase by using this referral link: https://www.rakuten.ca/referrer?referrerid=J2yivRBlsCU%3D&src=Link
KOHO
This is a prepaid visa card where you can fund via e-transfer from your bank. In addition, you get a cute physical card that they mail to you free of charge. It’s cashback isn’t amazing, but the welcome bonus and ability to directly transfer cashback rewards from your card to your bank account at anytime is why I recommend this card. Use this referral link to get $20 funded on your card once you make any amount purchase: https://web.koho.ca/referral/PVHZCIQS
Drop
This is a phone app that connects to your bank card so that you can get points on your purchases. You can exchange the points for gift cards. This is a useful app; however, my least favorite out of the three as you can only get gift cards and the cash out threshold is at $50 (you need to collect $50 worth of points to get a gift card). This is a great app if you are considering investing in cryptocurrency! Currently they offer 50 000 points ($50) if you open a Coinbase account and make any amount trade (and other crypto platforms, however I will only recommend Coinbase as they are reputable). You will be able to cash out on a gift card instantly!
Note that you are only able to use one cashback app at a time and that these apps will know when two apps are being used simultaneously (trust me I’ve tried). This being said, you can actually use Rakuten and KOHO at the same time as KOHO is technically a prepaid visa card. This means that with the welcome bonuses you can get essentially a $50 discount on your next purchase (enter the site through Rakuten and pay with KOHO at checkout).
Open Student bank accounts
For students, opening chequing and savings accounts are free! Remember to also apply for a credit card now (since you are likely of legal age now) to get additional cashbacks, points, or rewards! I really like the Crypto.com visa card because it is essentially a no-fee card that provides you perks like a free Spotify, Netflix, or Amazon Prime subscription and up to 8% cashback on purchases. I personally have cards with PC Financial, BMO, and TD because of their welcome bonuses and 4% cashback in the first few months when I applied.
learn how to invest
While putting your money in a savings account can be thought of the traditional way to earn free money, the interest rates offered are trivially low. Especially, if you are a student with not a lot of money in the bank to begin with. Personally, I invest in crypto and stake them. Not only do I earn money if my investments go up, I am also gaining passive income from staking (think of it as a high-interest savings account for crypto with interest rates typically ranging from 3-100% depending on the coin). This being the case, never invest in something you don’t understand. Always do your research and make an informed decision. If you are interested in crypto you can follow the links to some of the platforms I use:
NDAX: https://one.ndax.io/bfP8uu
Tailored to the Canadian market. You can easily deposit cash through e-transfer for free so it is easy to fund your account. You also have the ability to put up open limit orders so you don’t always have to purchase at market price.
https://accounts.binance.com/en/register?ref=128707333
One of the largest crypto platforms in the world which allows you to trade many different types of coins. Lots of utility and functions with low trading fees. Harder to fund your account as a Canadian.
always look for coupons
Especially if you are eating out at fast food restaurants or chain restaurants, check online for any promos or welcome bonuses. If you are ordering on delivery apps like Uber eats, only do so when you have those 30% off – 75% off coupons and order with a group to maximize discounts. When doing online shopping, along with cashback apps you can create an alternate email account to signup for newsletters and subscriptions to get those welcome coupons and future promotions without cluttering your main account.