Students Change Spending Habits

Students at George Mason University are changing their altering their lifestyles in an effort to save money in these hard economic times. Many are opting to change their spending habits by cutting back on unnecessary purchases.

Kathleen Moburg, a senior English major, decided that “there is no more shopping.”

Ryan David, a junior anthropology major, also cut back on spending. He budgets his money for necessities, like food.
If meal plans and money are running low, there are many campus-sponsored events, like Every Freakin’ Friday, which offers free food for students.

Cutting back on driving is another way students are saving money. A few cost-effective means for traveling around Fairfax and Washington are the CUE Bus, Metro and carpooling. Mason students ride the CUE Bus for free with a Mason ID.

For morning commutes and longer trips, Web sites like www.erideshare.com are great ways to find someone to carpool with locally.

Michelle Correa, a junior psychology major, said she has two methods of saving money. She “tries not to eat on campus” when she can cook for herself at home. Correa also mentioned that in order to save money on textbooks, she ordered some of them from Web sites that sell used books.

There is always the option of working part-time. Lisa Buzzelli, a junior communication major, has a part-time job on-campus. She works at Corner Pocket, the pool hall in Shenandoah.

The Patriot Center and the campus bookstore are other options for on-campus employment. Restaurant jobs can also offer fairly flexible hours for students.

An additional way to make extra cash is to participate in economic or psychology experiments on-campus. Economic experiments offer a $7 compensation if you register for an experiment and arrive on time and additional cash for participation.

Most experiments last somewhere between 30 minutes to two hours. Go to http://experiments.gmu.edu to sign up.