16 of the most valuable things you can buy as a college student
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Early adulthood is a stage in life where being able to make smart financial decisions takes on a heightened importance.
The necessity of sticking to a budget means that the ability to determine when it makes sense to spend and when it makes sense to save is a pretty invaluable one.
As a college student myself, I can relate to the sort of lifestyle that supports an industry of instant-noodle foods bought in bulk. And so I’m pretty strict with my spending, except for the times when I really need something that might require more of an investment than Easy Mac, like a good external hard drive or a productivity app that will maximize my current educational investment.
Being an adult with responsibilities without the adult nest egg means that I have the time to find the best deal, and the shoestring budget to really incentivize the search.
The happy news for all of us is that not everything that makes your life simpler as a student or a young adult has to be expensive. Many of the bargain products really do perform the same as their higher-priced peers, and do so without shaking you down for spare quarters.
In the interest of saving you the most on products that will make your life run more smoothly, I put together a list of high-value items, both inexpensive and higher-priced, that are worth their weight.
A note-taking app
If the Flintstones had opted to keep driving their Stone Age car in the 21st century, that would be comparable to taking notes the traditional way instead of using Notability.
It's one of the App Store's editors’ choice apps, and that isn’t very surprising. It was the best-selling paid productivity app in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016, and it’s no small feat to have north of a thousand reviews in the app store and still be rated 4.5 stars.
The app allows you to annotate PDFs, mark-up photos, record lectures, provide audio feedback, and thanks to the cloud, lets you have unrestricted, uniform access to the notes you take in school or during a business meeting.
My personal favorite feature is that your notes automatically link to recordings, so during the playback, you can watch your annotations grow along with the recording.
Notability for iPhone and iPad, $9.99
TrackR Bravo
Life is busy and scattered, and so are you on occasion. It probably doesn't help that so many of your most important things are small enough to misplace easily and harder to find.
TrackR is here to make sure that you never really lose your house keys, wallet, purse, or even your TV remote ever again.
Lost your phone? Press the button on the device and it'll ring, even on silent mode.
TrackR Bravo, $23.95
A screen protector for your phone
Accidents happen and they're supernaturally prone to happen in this stage of life.
Paying $7.99 now instead of around $100 to fix a shattered screen is the kind of margin that can make or break someone's day. So having a dependable and cost-effective plan A is one of the easiest and smartest financial moves you can make.
This specific protector is ultra-thin, ultra-clear, and highly durable. It's the best seller on Amazon and more affordable right now than ever.
amFlim iPhone Screen Protector Glass, $7.99
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