Being a student is tough on the brain and on the wallet. Here’s some tips to help you save some money, so you can concentrate on studying!

• Check your campus for recreational activities – see if your campus has gym or fitness facilities, join a varsity team, or cultural club. Some campuses even screen free movies!
• Check everywhere to see if you qualify for a student discount – movie theatres, public transportation, museums and art galleries typically give discounts if you show your student card
• Banks usually have special banking plans for students
• Live with your parents and commute to school
• Take food and snacks with you to avoid buying vending machine fare
• Make your own coffee at home and bring it in a reusable container
• Take public transportation or bike to school
• Check your local dollarstore and/or budget retailer for your school supplies
• Buy secondhand – clothes and binders, and anything else you can find
• Buy used textbooks – check local used textbook stores, Craigslist, and postings around your school (only buy used at your campus bookstore if you can’t get it elsewhere, they still charge more than other places)
• Instead of spending money on long distance calls, try Skype, MSN messenger, or emails
• Apply for every scholarship, bursary, and grant you can – never turn down an opportunity at free money!

The new school year is almost here! Does buying back to school supplies leave you feeling broke? It doesn’t have to. Here are simple ways to save money on all those back to school essentials.

School’s out! So, what to do with the kids that’s fun (for both you and them) and not going to break the bank?

Crafts!

Get started now working on homemade birthday and Christmas cards and gifts.  Check out your local dollar store to find crafting supplies for a lot less than the speciality scrapbooking or craft stores.

Check out the internet for lots of craft ideas for all ages. If the kids are old enough, maybe teaching them to knit, sew, or crochet will give them even more ways to be creative!

Check out your local recreational center or YMCA to see if they have any children/youth groups and/or activities. Get your child involved in a new hobby or sport. They’ll make new friends and have more fun than if they sat in front of the TV all summer.

Any more ideas for Family fun on the cheap? Write a comment to this blog or send me at Tweet on Twitter @moneymomma!

Women in the Green is also on Facebook! Become a fan today!

Wanna pay down debt or your mortgage faster AND save lots of $$$?

Extra payments that you make usually go 100% to the principal of the loan, not the interest, potentially saving you thousands of $$$ in interest costs. Talk to your financial institution and see how pre-payments can work for you.

Check the internet for places and events in your area that are free and fun for the whole family. Often museums or art galleries will have free activities for kids to learn about history or art.

Many towns have events and fairs that are free; find out what’s available in your home town.

Other ideas:
- go to the park
- go on a picnic
- go to the beach
- go on a bike ride
- have a “camp out” in the backyard
- take a walking tour around town
- play board games
- read together
- help the kids put on a play
- borrow books or DVDs from the library or friends instead of buying them
- libraries often have fun activities and reading programs for kids
- make a kite and fly it
- feed ducks in the park
- start a garden
- play frisbee, baseball, catch, etc

Did I miss any fun and free activities you like to do with your family? Add your suggestion to the Comments Section or send me a Tweet @moneymomma on Twitter!

For example, pollys13 from Twitter told me that “from 5 to 8 p.m. on the first Friday of each month for FREE admission to the Kirby Science Discovery Center in Sioux Falls, SD”  Thanks Molly!

Now its your turn!

Keep your credit card balance (if you carry one) to less than 30% of the available limit. This will help your credit score. The more of your available credit you use, the more it hurts your score.

Have a restaurant or store that you absolutely love? Go to their website and see if they have a mailing list. Join it and they may send you notifications of sales and even coupons!

Photographers equipment and workflow costs alone are huge. Then there are batteries, flash cards, an assistant, wear and tear on their vehicle, insurance coverage, and the hours of work on and after the wedding that they factor into their pricing. On top of that you then pay for the creative talent of the photographer. You can save money on enlargements and albums but don’t penny pinch when it comes to the photographer. After your wedding day, the only things you have left are your pictures and your video. These are the only 2 services that last a lifetime and can be passed down to the next generation.

• Biggest tip – hire a photographer that gives you your digital high resolution files, that way you can make as many copies of pictures from your wedding day as you want without having to order them from your photographer.
• If you choose a photographer that does not give you your files, always find out how long they keep your files for, and ask if you can obtain them when they are ready to discard them. Most photographers in general don’t keep digital negatives past 3 years. Be prepared that some photographers still may charge a fee for providing your with the files. If its 3 years after your wedding, you can prepare for that fee and remember again that its the only memories of your wedding day.
• $1000.00 for a photographer is a great price but if they charge $40.00 for an 8 X 10, where’s the savings. Don’t just look at the photo packages or wedding day shoot costs, ask how much their enlargements and albums are.
• If a package includes a couple’s album and 2 parent albums, ask how much that same package would cost without any albums. Sometimes it’s worth the savings to buy your own albums elsewhere and sometimes it’s better to take the albums offered by your photographer.
• Unless you’re doing a formal shoot at the bride or groom’s house, you don’t need a photographer there. Your wedding party and family will have their cameras out anyway.
• A great idea is to not have the photographer stay for the reception. Saves a lot of coverage time. If you want to do this, simply do your first dance and cake cutting when you are introduced. The photographer can stay to capture that and leave at the point that you sit down for dinner.
• You don’t need your photographer to stay until 1am. Once the bouquet and garter tosses have taken place, there are no more major events to shoot. Your 1st & last dances look the same on film.

Thanks to A Cheap Chick for some additional wedding resources!

Check out: http://acheapchicksray.blogspot.com/2009/05/free-wedding-resources.html

Any more tips or resources you’d like to share? Please comment!

Any wedding planners out there? Connect with other women www.shesconnected.com