Personal Finance for PhDs

Live a financially balanced life - no Real Job required

Emily

Free Food

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It is often possible for grad students to feed themselves for free for at least a couple meals per week, should they want to defray costs in that area. Grad students who are food insecure also have university- or government-sponsored options to feed themselves for free.

Further reading: 10 Ways to Legally Score Free Food; How to Eat for Free – 12 Ways to Score Free Meals

University and Departmental Events

Universities offer free food frequently at events to incentivize attendance or to show attendees appreciation, such as at seminar series, workshops, and conferences. Opportunities will be most plentiful for first-year students and near the start of the school year. If you plan to attend such an event, the free food can often replace a meal on that day. If there are leftovers, ask if you can take a second box or plate for a meal later in the day. It is also possible to create meals from the leftover food from catered events that you didn’t attend, if it is made available to non-attendees. Being on the right email listserv or having the right personal connection can alert you to these opportunities before the free food is nabbed by other students.

Restaurants

Many restaurants offer free or partially free meals for promotional reasons, such as for your birthday or for signing up for a mailing list.

Further reading: How to Get Free Food at 156 Restaurants without Getting Arrested; 400+ Restaurants that Offer Free Birthday Food

Food Pantries

If you are food insecure, there may be an on-campus food pantry from which you can take food for free. Your city likely has food pantries available to the public as well.

Further reading:

Food Stamps

Some graduate students may be able to apply for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) if they meet the citizenship, work, and income qualifications. This program provides a certain amount of money each month into an account that you access with a specialized debit card. The money can be used toward eligible food in grocery stores and other retailers. Each state runs its own program, so you will have to check directly with your state to determine your eligibility.

Further reading: Can Graduate Students Get Food Stamps?

Dumpster Diving/Freeganism

You can also score free food by dumpster diving, if you are adventurous and it is legal where you live. This form of dumpster diving is when you recover perfectly good food that has been discarded, generally by grocery stores and institutions. About 50% of food in America is wasted. Most people who dumpster dive do so as part of the larger food rescue movement, but a side benefit is that you can feed yourself partially or completely (freeganism) without paying any money. Of course, you have to have a certain constitution to employ this method, and it is advantageous to learn from an experienced mentor.

Further reading: The Food Waste Fiasco: You Have to See It to Believe It

Food

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Food spending is one that students often turn to when they want to free up money for other areas of their budget. While a certain amount and quality of food is a necessity, for most Americans much of their food spending is a ‘want.’ There are several approaches a grad student can take to spend less on food while still meeting needs.

Cooking and Meal Planning

Buying Groceries

Eating Out

Finding Free Food

Further reading: 15 Simple Ways to Spend Less on Food and Still Eat Well; Our Complete Guide to Frugal, Healthy Eating

Emily, Duke University, biomedical engineering — Subsidized basketball tickets

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Basketball is a way of life on Tobacco Road. Even though I wasn’t a sports fan coming in to grad school, getting connected with the basketball culture really opened up my social life. As grad students, we have the easiest/cheapest route into Cameron Indoor Stadium of anyone – and our section is right behind one basket! In September, we camp out in groups for 36 hours and those who make it to enough checks are entered into a lottery for season tickets. A season ticket cost $250 in 2014, which works out to about $14/game. We share the season tickets within a group and watch many of the games together on TV when we aren’t attending. Over the years, my basketball group has become my closest friends in my city. Considering that the undergraduates have to camp out for months and others have to pay tens of thousands of dollars for season tickets, we really get a great deal!

The Ultimate and Ever-Expanding List of Frugal Practices

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When money is tight, as it is for many grad students, frugal practices are necessary just to stay in the black. But everyone should consider being frugal in certain areas of her life just so she can put her money where it matters most and prevent herself from spending where it doesn’t matter as much (based on her individual values). Frugality prevents waste, which means there is more money available for the important or fun things in life.

Further reading: Frugality, What Is It Good For?

This set of pages will be continually updated with frugal tips and stories of how individuals implemented them. If you have a frugal practice to add (and especially if you can share a story), please email contact at gradstudentfinances dot org or leave a comment.

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Further Reading (Meta-Lists):

Transportation

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For most people, transportation is their second largest single expense after housing. Owning a car is incredibly expensive, especially if you are making debt payments on a newer vehicle. Anything you can do to move away from the solo car commuter model is likely to be a frugal choice. Luckily, car-free or car-minimal lifestyles are often easier for students than other workers.

Commuting without Your Own Car

Buying and Maintaining a Car

Further reading: The Most Powerful Tool to Cut Miles Driven, Gas, & Vehicle Costs (and it’s Free)

Buying and Maintaining a Car

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Near some universities, a car is a virtual necessity. However, you can minimize your spending on your vehicle and commute by making judicious choices both in your initial purchase and ongoing usage.

Purchasing a Car

An ideal frugal vehicle would have a low purchase price (with no debt) and be fuel-efficient, reliable, and inexpensive to maintain and repair. Because this is such a financially impactful purchase, you should devote significant time and energy to researching the vehicle you want to buy and where to buy it from.

Private sales are generally less expensive than dealer sales, though they may not include a warrantee or previous inspections. You should have a mechanic check over a private sale vehicle before you purchase it.

New cars lose an enormous fraction of their value in the first year of ownership. A better value is to buy a car that is at least a few years old, but has been well maintained. The common wisdom is that driving a car “into the ground” (until it is no long usable) after purchase maximizes the value you can get out of the car.

Further reading: Used Cars Are Not Money Pits. New Cars Are., Why Buy a Used Car? , Ditching the Car Loan – My $10,000 Liability

Financing a car not only causes you to pay interest over the life of the loan but, like any other kind of debt, can also enable you to overbuy. If possible, buy a car with cash. If that’s not possible, think about the total price you will pay to own the car, not just the monthly payment amount.

Fuel

To reduce your fuel spending, expend less fuel or buy your fuel at lower prices. If you are not willing to buy a car with better gas mileage, you can practice hypermiling to increase your gas mileage in any vehicle, or simply reduce the amount you drive by substituting lower-cost transit methods. Keeping your car well maintained should also minimize your fuel usage; tire pressure, for example, has a large impact on fuel efficiency. There are now many apps available such as Gas Buddy to help you find the best gas prices nearby.

Further reading: How to Maximize Your Vehicle’s Fuel Economy; Reducing My Commute Will Fund My Retirement: 10 Ways You Can Save at the Pump!; Hypermiling: Expert Driving to Save 25% on Gas

Insurance

To reduce your spending on car insurance, buy only as much insurance coverage as you need. For example, you can raise your deductible if you have savings on hand to meet it. You may not be required to maintain comprehensive coverage if you own your car outright. However, carefully consider the possible consequences of reducing your insurance coverage and make sure that you have the savings to cover the potential downside.

Compare prices across multiple insurance providers to find the best price, including bundling services. Be sure to ask about all available discounts offered by your insurance company, such as those for being a good student or having a clean driving record. To lower your insurance cost, you can own a less expensive and/or safer vehicle, drive fewer miles per year, install a driving monitoring device, and pay for multiple months of coverage at once.

Further reading: 15 Tactics to Lower Your Car Insurance by Thinking Like an Insurance Agent; Lower Your Auto Insurance Premium