Many law school educations now cost upwards of $150,000. No matter who you are, that’s a lot of money. Fortunately, all the money and hard work that goes into a law school degree typically pays off down the road once you land a job at an awesome law firm. But if you’re currently in law school, you know how hard it can be.
Since law school is so expensive, it’s important to be frugal about spending while in law school. While it may be hard to actually save money while in law school, it’s not hard to be creative on how to spend less. Check out these tips on how to save precious dollars while paying your way through law school.
Have Roommates
Having roommates can seriously cut down your living expenses, not only because you’ll be sharing rent, but because you’ll be sharing bills too. You may think that since you’re in law school you need to live alone because you need a quiet place to study, but if you find a roommate that wants the same you’ll be fine. Search message boards for your school to try and find a roommate that’s also in law school, preferably your same year.
Even if having one roommate is too much for you to be able to study at home, embrace the law library on campus. You shouldn’t be spending extra money on a solo apartment when you have all these other resources available to you.
Do Freelance Work
Law school might require too much time for you to hold down a part time job, but you’ll still have time to make some money on the side doing different odd jobs and freelance work. Use your law skills to write for a law marketing blog, and try and get paid by the article. Better yet, start your own blog, and ad it into different ad networks so you can earn some extra cash.
It doesn’t just have to be writing gigs to earn some extra cash. If you’ve got a different skill, figure out how you can monetize it to earn some extra money on the weekends without actually getting a part time job.
Trim Your Expenses
While an undergrad, it might’ve been acceptable to go out on the town three nights a week and rack up a tab at the bar. Now that you’re paying for law school, consider what you’re spending money on and try and figure out how you can change things. Small changes can mean big results, so keep that in mind. Stop buying Starbucks on your way to class each morning, and instead brew your own coffee and bring it in a thermos.
Since you’re in law school, do you really need to be paying for an expensive cable or satellite TV subscription, when Netflix or Hulu will do? Consider cutting unnecessary luxuries out of your life, and you could save a few hundred dollars each month(at least)!
