Many college students face financial difficulties and using student discounts from various businesses is a great way to save money while in school.

Most businesses require confirmation of student status before offering discounts. You can do this by showing your student ID, providing a student email address or registering with a student discount service such as UNiDAYS or StudentBeans.

MBA student Putri Insani shared her thoughts on how reward programs and coupons help her plan her expenses. 

“Various reward programs and student discounts help me to manage my budget. Every time I save some money, it adds up, so by the end of the year I can save a pretty good amount of money,” Insani said. 

Several small businesses in Hammond, including restaurants and coffee shops, offer student discounts and reward programs for all customers. 

Businesses such as Luma Coffee, Batter Bakery and PJ’s Coffee have reward programs. Customers earn points with every purchase and when they reach a certain amount of points, they can exchange them for free items. 

Batter employee Emma Darlton said that people come to the store every day to check their points and exchange them for free cookies. 

“We have a lot of students from Southeastern who regularly shop at our bakery, trying to get enough points to get a free sweet treat,” Darlton said. 

Downtown Hammond coffee shop Courtyard Cafe gives customers stamps for each drink order. After collecting a certain number of stamps, customers can get a free coffee of their choice. 

Our Moms, a downtown Hammond restaurant, offers a 25% discount for Southeastern students on Thursdays, and the ice cream shop Eddie’s Famous Frozen Custards provides a 5% student discount seven days a week. 

Some restaurants provide coupons for various discounts. Brochures with coupons can be found all over Hammond, at Southeastern, in coffee shops and in stores. 

“I got the brochure with coupons at Southeastern. Many nice restaurants provide various offers that could be used to treat yourself and save some money,” Insani added. 

Most online services and providers offer student discounts as well. Taking advantage of student discounts as much as possible could help you save a good amount of money.

Here are some of the services providing student discounts:

• Amazon Prime: A six-month free trial for students, followed by 50% off the regular subscription price.
• Apple Music: $4.99 per month for students.
• Hulu: $1.99 per month for students.
• Spotify Premium: $4.99 per month for students.
• YouTube Premium: $6.99 per month for students.
• AMC Theaters: $5 tickets on Tuesdays with student ID.

Managing a budget in college might be challenging, but knowing some tricks and discounts that many places provide could ease the process of planning expenses.