Poor College Students Hacks: How to Make Money off of What You're Studying

Poor College Students Hacks: How to Make Money off of What You're Studying


Written By: Chris Nguyen | Read full profile


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Alright, that will be $12,000.00 for tuition, $5,000.00 for in-housing, $900.00 for a parking pass, $300.00 for textbooks, $200.00 for university services, $90.00 for gym membership, and $9.00 for breakfast, lunch, and dinner… Wait… $9.00 for food… I’M GOING TO DIE FROM STARVATION BEFORE I FINISH SCHOOL!!!!!!!! 

[Annoyed upperclassman shaking his head]: stop….just calm down...You’re NOT going to die...I have a solution for your starving problem.

If you read my Big Bro’s blog From "Yuppie" to "Yappie" to "Yuffie": Career and Life Goals for 2020, he mentioned how “the business is yourself”. Well. . . TLDR; what he means is that YOU can sell your skills, knowledge, competency, and qualifications FOR MONEY!!!!!

It’s time for you to start hustlin. Let me tell you some ways to sell yourself for money - and NO I’m not talking about selling your body at some strip club; I’m talking about selling your knowledge and expertise (you know the skill(s) you’re supposed to be getting from paying all that tuition money?) 

  1. Tutoring

    I know a lot of you have a couple of classes that you’re really good at and made stellar grades in. So...why not sell that knowledge of yours as a tutor to the poor students struggling in those classes? You could always be a freelance tutor and advertise yourself around campus to get some pocket cash for your next meal. But, if you want to have a meal everyday throughout your college career, try working at your school’s tutoring center. You will constantly get students to tutor and get paid around $8-12 dollars per hour* pending your area’s minimum wage. So I recommend doing that if you can balance it out with your academic and social lives. I mean hey, this makes it easier when you’re about to take the O.A.T. too! The material is still fresh, so why not kill 2 birds with one stone? 

  2. Notetaker for Classes

    If you don’t like tutoring incompetent students, need to focus on your own classes, and still want to make money for grub time, this is another easy way to go. A notetaker is basically someone who gets paid about $450 per course for writing helpful notes for classes he/she is currently in. *Note only people with good handwriting may apply...I think* Think about it, you’re literally getting paid to go to the class that you should’ve been going to in the first place. The hard part is actually writing notes that are useful for a broad audience, which is why doing this and tutoring go hand in hand! Boom - efficiency!

  3. Selling Old Material and Notes

    You guys probably have stacks of paper notes and test prep books that you don’t need in your apartment or dorm right? Well if you don’t need them,why keep them? You don’t want to end up on the next episode of Hoarders: College Edition. They’re just going to collect dust or worse - home vermin and cockroaches you don’t want in your home. So, if I were you, just sell them to the next student who needs them. This is the one time where Facebook is not a waste of time. Join your school’s Free and For sale or Textbook Exchange pages to post your resources for sale. You’d be surprised how many students want to buy them if they desperately need to pass a class. I remember one time when I had a lot of organic chemistry notes and textbooks that I didn’t need so I popped them on University of Houston’s Free and For Sale page and bam! $110.00 went towards ice cream sundays...uhh I mean date night. Don’t let your notes become homes for cockroaches or get soiled by mouse droppings. Just go post them on Facebook. Who knows, that might be your next box of Pizza Hut.  

There you have it! The secret to being a less-poor starving college student! Now go forth, make money, and feed that belly of yours!

Disclaimer: Don’t sell old exams unless the professor publishes them anyways. You’re asking to get called out for academic misconduct...so just...don’t. Notes and textbooks? Awesome, but exams? That’s on you buddy. Nguyening Lifestyles is not a registered educational service provider and does not give educational advice. All information in these posts are for entertainment purposes only. Nguyening Lifestyles is not liable for any actions or outcomes that transpired after your reading of the following post.


Poor College Student Hacks: How to Save Money on Textbook and other School Supplies

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