One-way Street to Cheapsville: Resources for College Students on a Budget

By: Dara Udobong ‘23

There’s nothing quite like spending money that didn’t need to be spent, is there? Or being so proud of a purchase, only to find out it retails at a cheaper price in another location. When you’re in a new city, town or off to college (omg) things like this are bound to happen.  

Navigating a new place is hard enough without being stressed about money management or how much you don’t have. Thankfully, USC has loads of resources just for college kids to help you spend less—because I mean, who doesn’t like free stuff?

1.  Lyft

USC partnered with Lyft in 2019 to bring about the Supplemental Safe Ride Program. The program was implemented to make campus a safer place for those who work, study and commute at night. The service is available on both University Park and Health Science Campuses. As of November 2020, the Lyft Safe Ride program has been available from 7am to 2am every day of the week within UPC, and from 7am to midnight on business days within HSC. While you can’t order a Lux Lyft or Lyft XL with this service (yes, even free things have their limits), the safe ride program provides all classic rides to USC students* for free! Pick-up and destination points need to be within a two-mile radius of campus to use this Lyft credit.

Just before you think two-miles is too short a distance, the USC campus community truly has everything. Within that radius lies everything from Banks to places to eat, including Wingstop, CoffeeBean and Tea Leaf, car repair workshops, USPS, Ono Hawaiian BBQ, chapels, churches and recreational centers.

2.  Amazon Prime

This is easily one of the most used resources by college students, and not just in USC. Amazon introduced Amazon Prime Student, a membership program for tertiary-level students** all over the country. Through this program, students get a 6-month free trial where you get access to all prime benefits and free shipping! After the trial period ends, the program offers students a 50% discounted membership for continued free shipping and prime benefits.

If you’re anything like me, then your membership in a program only lasts as a long as the free trial. However, unlike other programs, you’re probably going to want to order from Amazon—a lot. Apart from the obvious convenience of online marketplace shopping, Amazon also has a local locker in the USC Village, making order pickups, returns and customer service seamless. Also, prime has so much to offer: streaming benefits such as prime video and Amazon music prime, delivery benefits such as same-day delivery for those last-minute projects, and shopping benefits such as Prime Day. Prime reading also gives you access to a wider array of textbooks and eBooks—perfect for the college student on a budget. That discount also comes in handy: a constant $4 - $10/order shipping fee racks up as a hefty expense eventually. With Prime Student, your discount will bring you to about a $7/month flat shipping fee for express shipping on all Prime orders.

3.  Streaming

Apart from Amazon Prime, USC students can also get free HBO Max and Showtime***, one of the top video streaming services in the market. For HBO, just log in with your USC email or select USC as one of the partnering institutions when prompted. For Showtime, download the app or go to showtimeanytime.com and at the log in page, select all providers and then click on “Apogee”. 

Tired of free-riding off your friend’s (or mom’s) subscription? Say less. Now you can watch The Last of Us without the stress (after you turn in your homework, of course.)

4.  Microsoft Office and Antivirus Software

Skip the $70 fee. USC’s Information & Technology Services offers students access to the newest Microsoft Office suite package—including Word, PowerPoint, One Drive, Excel, Business and Office Online—for free! You can also get free access to Microsoft Office and Sophos antivirus software for your personal computers.

Don’t let the Best Buy clerks sweet-talk you—USC has you covered. The free antivirus software actually came as a huge relief to me because McAfee antirust software has gone to great lengths to remind me that my free trial has ended.

5.  Adobe Creative Cloud

USC students can get access to Adobe Creative Cloud through cloudapps.usc.edu, ITS’s virtual desktop interface.

I’ve been using online free pdf converters for a minute, most of which do not ensure data security and protection. For high-risk documents (yes, even that psych paper) get the free Adobe Creative Cloud so you can edit pdfs on the go.

6.  Loanable Laptops

USC computer centers offer students laptops and other computer accessories (HDMI and BGA adapters, mice, etc) on loan upon formal request. Laptops could use either the Windows OS or iOS depending on availability.

Funny story: the summer before my sophomore year, my laptop battery starting acting funny. It wouldn’t charge up to 100%, but would instead get to 89% and breathe a heavy sigh. This 89 soon turned to 81, and soon I feared it would only go lower. I tried every diagnostic on the internet without success before I gave in and called customer service. One week into Fall semester (don’t ask why I waited all summer) I sent my laptop off to its manufacturers and was left computer-less. In the middle of a pandemic, the IT labs and libraries were all closed down. Thankfully, I was able to get a laptop on loan for the semester while I sorted myself out. It was an easy switch, and saved me hundreds of dollars.

7.  Bus

USC Transportation provides a network of buses and corresponding routes that run throughout the year**** for free for students, faculty, university guests and staff. Buses service both UPC and HSC campuses, going through Union Station, Alhambra, Keck and Marina Del Rey.

The USC Buses are truly a pocket-saver if you time them right. With multiple bus stops across campuses and drop-off/pick-up times ranging throughout the day, students are able to travel between campuses and other parts of the city. Union Station is a central part of LA as it terminals both local and inter-city trains. This makes the bus a great means of transportation when going inner-city, or traveling out of the city for midterm breaks. Students who own bikes can bring their bikes on the bus racks so you can cycle around the city at different drop-off points. You can also RSVP to shuttle to and from LAX at the beginning and end of the semester.

*New students will receive an invitation email from Lyft with a unique code within the first week of school. If an invite was not received, students are invited to send an invitation request to Michelle Garcia, garciaml@usc.edu .

**You need a .edu email address to claim your Prime Student benefit.

***USC students living on campus get a free Showtime account.

****except for specified holidays.

                             ~This article is subject to timely updates.~

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