If you were ever to meet a rich college student, you’d probably assume that they’re a trust fund baby because “rich” and “college student” are two terms that are not synonymous with one another. Much of the time college students are struggling to make ends meet. Paying tuition, paying room and board, paying for food, a car, clothing, and all of life’s other necessities seems nearly impossible. Many people just accept the fact that they’re going to accumulate debt over their college career, and they live day to day ignoring the massive sum building on their credit card.

Just because you’re a student, that doesn’t have to mean that you’re broke. Making ends meet can be simple. Here are 3 simple things to make ends meet as a student:

Get A Parent Sponsored Credit Card

If you’re a student, you might be just turning 18 and you may not have had a chance to build any kind of credit. This doesn’t have to be a problem for you. Did you know that you can get a parent sponsored credit card to help with expenses? Some companies will allow you to apply for a card using your parents’ already established line of credit. This means you get to start building credit and you don’t have to worry about how you’re going to eat because the credit card will always be there in case of an emergency.

Live At Home

This is a path that is being taken by a lot more students nowadays because cost of tuition is rising so rapidly every year. Sometimes it makes more sense to stay home and get your generals at a local college where the cost is way cheaper. Once you’ve acquired an associates, you can then transfer to another university to complete your degree. This is a very simple way to make ends meet as a student because you’ll be able to save on rent and food and all of your money will go to saving up for the big transfer over to a new school at the right time. What is important is making sure that your internet connection at home is one you can rely on so you are able to do your coursework without having to go somewhere else to get your work done. Speak to your parents, show them some earthlink internet plans, or something like it, so you can make working from home easier on yourself and those around you.

Work At Your School

If university is too expensive for you to take on full time by yourself, you might consider applying for a job within your school. Not only do you get paid for the hours you work, you can also often get discounts on credits. You can choose to go to school full time or part time, but whatever you do, working at the school instead of elsewhere will save you money on transportation as well school itself. If you work in the book shop, maybe you could even get by on not buying books at all considering you’ll be in a store with the books all the time, anyways. Your studying could be done right there.