College students have significant expenses throughout the year, but around the holiday season money is even tighter. Tuition aside, students tend to spend their money regularly on things like: coffee, gas, uber and clothes, just to name a few. That alone depletes the wallets of most college students.When the holiday season approaches, students have family, friends and themselves to think of when buying gifts. In order to finance such gifts there are few helpful tricks students can take advantage of.

Track Your Spending

One of the most essential aspects to saving money is to track your spending. A lot of times, students are spending extra money on non-essentials. Instead of calling a car service, picking a designated driver will save the whole group money, just as making your own coffee would. Acknowledging  and then limiting these expenices is one of the most vital ways to save money.

Holiday Spending Account

Another way to save money is to open a holiday spending account or simply put a specific amount of money aside for presents.  Having a limit on what you can spend helps you stay organized, relieves some stress and prevents over spending.

Secret Santa

With the amount of friends you make in college and your friends back home, the list for presents may seem endless. A simple solution is to do a secret santa gift exchange, this way each person is only responsible for getting one person a gift.

Homemade Gifts

When the idea of buying gifts while taking care of yourself on a limited budget may seem overwhelming, making gifts from scratch from ingredients you may already have is a great alternative. Do-it-yourself spa kits can be easily made from common kitchen ingredients, such as body scrubs made from sugar, coffee grains, honey and olive oil. There are also DIY scrapbook collages or homemade picture frames. All which are wholesome and endearing gifts. DIY or simple heartfelt gifts are a great economical alternative.

Shop Thrift Stores

Online stores such as ThredUp or Poshmark sell delicately preowned designer and name brand clothing, accessories, shoes and boots for men and women. There are many physical thrift shops near Pace, such as The Cherry Door Thrift Shop in Tarrytown, NY.

Student Discounts

A final way to save money during the holiday season is to take every advantage of student discounts and reward programs. Unidays is a program that provides students discount for everything from technology to food. Shopping with the Unidays discount helps stretch your holiday budget.