College student being broke has become a common stereotype in our culture. College life is always related to financially struggling students who suffer throughout college years. Some students even wear this stereotype like a badge of honor. They brag about how they can survive living in a dorm with instant noodles. However, you don’t have to be broke just because you are college student. You can be a college student and financially independence.
How to be a college student far from being broke
Making money while studying at college is common for some students who need more funds to help cover their college expenses. However, many jobs related to college students limited only to working in fast food or cafe. Meanwhile, there are many job opportunities college students can take to remove their ‘broke’ status, such as:
Consider on-campus jobs
There are many types of campus jobs you can apply for such as teaching assistant, research assistant, resident assistant. Being an assistant, your main task is to assist someone you are assigned for. For example, being a teaching assistant of a professor means you help students with assignment outside the class, or teach the class entirely if the professor asks. It is a great way to gain work experience while earning extra money. There are many other opportunities to work on campus include work at custodial services or maintenance, campus tutor, work in campus dining, drive for campus transportation, etc.
Pick off-campus jobs
You may also consider taking off-campus jobs such as drive for Uber, become a task rabbit, deliver things, freelance tutor, bartend, bookkeeping, join summer agricultural work, paint houses, get a summer internships, and many more. You can apply for off-campus jobs that are related to your passion as well. Hence, you can see it as something exciting to do rather than a chore. Or, you can choose based on the potential salary. Whatever works for you then do it to your best ability.
Take one-time gigs
You may consider one-time gigs to make extra money during your college such as partake in paid research opportunities, win scholarships, become a bug bounty hunter, take surveys online, etc. These may not always be available as you wish. Hence, make sure to stay informed and take the opportunities as soon as you see them.
Start investing
College is the best moment for you to start investing. The earlier you start, the more things to learn. Hence, the higher the chance to become successful retail investor. There are many types of investing you may need to learn more before diving into one of them specifically. For example, there are Betterment, Vanguard, Lending Club, Roofstock, Robinhood, etc. The key is start small and go slow. You may be interested to invest in cryptocurrency as well since it is very hyped for the past few years. However, make sure to do your research before buying Bitcoins, Solana, Cardano, Litecoin, Ethereum, or any other forms of crypto since it is still considered an investment with high risk and volatility.