Saving money for college is tough.
Feeling like you have to sacrifice your favorite pastimes or hobbies to afford college is even tougher. Fortunately, it’s possible to participate in activities you really enjoy — such as music lessons — while saving up for college along the way. A bit of financial planning ahead of time can leave you with enough money for your favorite activities.
If music is a big part of your life but you’re worried about saving enough for college, you’ve probably already wrestled with the thought of sacrificing music lessons.
However, this isn’t always necessary, or even realistic.
Whether you’re attempting to secure a music-related scholarship or you just want to have fun with an activity you really enjoy, a few money-saving tips can help lead you in the right direction. Some useful tips include:
Tracking expenses
Keeping track of your expenses not only lets you know just where you’re spending your money, but also how much you spend at a time. Knowing this important information can help improve your spending habits.
Responsibility
If you’re a college student, or about to become one, it’s vital to be responsible with your credit cards. This means only purchasing what you can really pay off each month. You may even learn that it’s best to swap cash for credit to prevent potential overspending.
Campus activities
As the weekend draws closer, you’re probably keeping an eye on upcoming events and activities outside of campus. However, most schools offer a range of events and programs each week — many of which are free.
Opt for used
There are some items, such as clothing, that you’d rather purchased new. However, choosing used over new items can help save money. Books (especially pricey college textbooks) are a great example. As an added bonus, you can typically sell back your books at the end of the semester for a bit of extra cash.
Money-saving tips are a great start.
However, you can do even more to save for college without sacrificing music lessons. It’s no secret that the cost of music lessons can quickly add up over time, which can make it nearly impossible to set and stick to a concrete schedule. Whether you’re new to the instrument or have years of experience, free guitar lessons from JamPlay offer you thousands of video-based online guitar tutorials.
There are a wide selection of resources to choose from online in general. You can find material focused around beginners, learning a style, skill, or song, artist series, live lessons, and bass lessons.
You don’t have to go broke or sacrifice music lessons on your favorite instrument just because you’re trying to save for college. In fact, there are many useful money-saving tips that can help.
Although it never hurts to save money, you can find high-quality lessons online, whether you’re a beginner or expert.
photo credit: frankieleon via photopin cc
photo credit: Voyagner via photopin cc
