Shopping expert Trae Bodge shares tips for saving money while back-to-school shopping for college students.

<div class="block">Shopping expert Trae Bodge shares tips for saving money while back-to-school shopping for college students.</div>

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Smart Back-to-School Shopping Tips for College Students

Today. What you need to know before sending your teens off to college. What are the Can't miss essentials and how do you get them on budget? Joining me now is smart shopping expert Trey Bodge Trey. I love talking to you about these things. Welcome back. Thanks so much for having me, Hanna. Let's start with the basics. What are the items that every college student needs to bring? Yeah, a couple of things that you don't want to forget are the 20 extra long sheets because those beds are very specific. Lots of retailers have bundles, you can a comforter and all the things that you need with that you need that shower caddy, you need those flip flops, you need the flip flop, you know, and then like a good place for them to store their items and maybe even a little safe that they can attach to their bed just in case they have medications or jewelry or other precious items they want to keep safe in their room. Any tips for saving money on those very essentials you mentioned, always look for sales and so I cannot stress enough to use coupons as you're shopping one that I like is Coupon Cabin. They have a site, a browser extension and an app for using in store. You can use it all the time or cash back and coupons on everything that you buy. And we know parents want their Children fully prepared when they go to the school. But is there anything they actually don't need to spend their money on? Yes. So I love this question because you think that you want to buy everything and send them fully prepared. But ultimately, even though their materials, the school and maybe they're in contact with their roommate, you don't know what the room is going to really be like. You don't know, maybe if there's a fridge on the floor of their dorm, you don't need another fridge for yourself. So don't spend that money until your child gets there and really figures out what they need and what they can split with their roommate. Let's talk textbooks. We know it's a major expense. How can students avoid spending a fortune? Oh, my gosh. Buy, used for sure. And if the textbook is available and your child is comfortable with that by digital, it'll be cheaper. And then at the end of the semester, encourage them to sell their textbooks back, they can earn some of that money back and then use it for the new cycle. Do you recommend that students get a job to help cover those expenses while they're in college? And in this new experience. Yes, I do. Yes. And colleges are so expensive. I mean, in a private college you're looking at all in $80,000 a year in some cases. So, no matter how well, we've saved Hanna, we're gonna need some help and your kids should have some skin in the game. They'll keep their head focused. Obviously, if they're working and earning their own spending money, for example, they're going to be less, uh, you know, less kind of indulgent with what they buy at, at the, at restaurants and going out to clubs and things like that. I think the kids should always be involved. I worked all four years and I'm so grateful. So I think you're right. You're right. What else your parents know about getting ready for college on a budget? You know, first of all, teach your kids financial lessons, hopefully as you're going along, you're taking your kids shopping with you. They understand how to look for deals, how to buy and sales and things like that. So when they go that they are going to use those lessons that you've taught them, it might be good to set up an Amazon account if you haven't already, they have Amazon team, which you can have them kind of shop and then you can approve those purchases. Just want to be really careful about giving your child sort of any kind of feeling of cart blanche when they're away because they could run up your credit card and then you're stuck paying for that. I have many friends who were in that position. I'm sure you have to. So great advice as always.