With college-sized expenses, Bobcats have to find their own ways to stay on budget throughout the year.
“I would tell freshman that, believe it or not, they are going to be a poor college kid at one point, and it’s always good to save cash,” said Chris McDuffy, an undecided sophomore.
Most stores and restaurants in Athens give out free coupons and discounts, which most students just throw away or turn down. By using these coupons from in-town establishments, McDuffy said he was able to save a lot of money.
“Once, I used the Green Cab coupon in (a coupon book) when me and my buddy were stranded at Wal-Mart, and we only had to pay half of the price of the cab fare, so it saved us a lot of money,” McDuffy said.
Another tip McDuffy had was to embrace the hills and put on those sneakers.
“I’ve saved a lot of money this year by not bringing my gas-guzzling car here and using my bike everyday,” McDuffy said.
Free items can also be found on campus. Organizations like University Programming Council throw free events throughout the year.
Events such as an Aaron Carter concert, petting zoos and free food offered around town can be taken advantage of by students just by looking out for fliers or other advertisements.
Another way to snag some free grub is at tailgates prior to football games and a select few basketball games.
Sponsors of Ohio Athletics, such as Domino’s Pizza, Kiser’s Barbeque and McDonalds donate food for students. In return, restaurants and businesses receive exposure to the student population, said Drake Bolon, director of marketing of Ohio Athletics, in an email.
For many restaurants uptown, social media has been their best friend. Eateries like Brenen’s Coffee Café have incorporated Twitter and Facebook into their businesses.
One way they draw customers is by offering deals and free food through contests on Twitter. People who follow the café’s account can retweet its tweets to be entered to win free sandwiches and sides.
“We like to do (contests like) that because it gives anyone that has a Twitter account the possibility to … do a little bit of advertising for us, but they also get rewarded by a free sandwich,” said Michael Parson, a manager at Brenen’s and junior studying plant biology. “We like to do that to promote business.”
Several other businesses have a strong social media presence, including D.P. Dough, GoodFella’s Pizza, many of the uptown bars and several other Athens establishments.
Parson said that he would recommend that freshman and other students to be proactive and follow their favorite places online.
“(It’s) minimal involvement; all you have to do is check your Twitter account every now and then and just retweet something and you (could) get a whole free sandwich that comes with a side,” Parson said. “It’s a pretty good deal overall.”
rb605712@ohiou.edu
@reb_barnes
