College expenses blowing your budget? How does FREE school supplies for college students sound? Here are 7 places to look for free school stuff!
Free School Supplies for College Students – 7 Places to Look
College is stressful. Period. For most students, college means taking on a whole new set of responsibilities without mom and dad’s supervision. Plus, there’s the course load, which for many is simply brutal. Last but not least, there’s the budget blowing price tag on all those school supplies. In fact, according to Wells Fargo, a college student can expect to shell out $1,298 each year for school supplies!
Luckily, there are some options to score free school supplies for college students. Keep reading for 7 places to snag free school supply samples and full size products!
ONLINE
#1 – Amazon
One of the biggest school supply expenses college students face is textbooks. That’s where Amazon can help. To get free school supplies online, all you need is the FREE Amazon Kindle App. You can then download a whole slew of totally free textbooks!
Tip: If Amazon doesn’t have the textbook you need for free, you can usually rent the textbook, which is almost always cheaper than buying it.
Bonus: Students get a big discount on Amazon Prime membership, which includes free 2 day shipping on a ton of products! This can really come in handy as your running through your college shopping list.
#2 – Online Groups
Get free school supplies by mail by joining online communities. Try searching Yahoo Groups, Google+, Facebook, and other social media channels for awesome communities that may be able to help you find free school supplies for college students.
In addition to helping you get free school supplies online, these groups may be able to provide much needed support for your first college days. You’d be surprised at how much just having someone (or thousands of someones!) to vent to can help you deal with the stress of college. 
Tip: Really embrace any online group you join. Don’t just be about getting free school stuff! Contribute to the group, check in regularly, and do your best to help others. For instance, give away school supplies you no longer need to help out other needy students.
#3 Freecycle.com (and Similar Sites)
Freecycle.com is basically a ginormous online swap meet. In addition to getting free school supplies for college students, this site will allow you to offload unwanted items which is great because that dorm room is small! (Especially the closet, trust me. 
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Looking for more ways to get free school supplies online? Here are some alternatives to freecycle.com.
#4 – Craigslist
Craigslist has a section for free stuff that may help you snag free school supply samples and goodies. (The “Free” category is under the “For Sale” section.)
Craigslist also has a section (“Community”) where you can learn about local events, yard sales, etc. which may help you track down cheap or even free school supplies for college students.
Bonus: Want to make some quick cash? Consider selling some of your own stuff on Craigslist. Here’s how to sell on Craigslist in just 10 steps.
#5 – Frugal Living Sites
Another way to get free school supplies online is to hit up your favorite frugal living blogs (like freebiefindingmom.com). These blogs can help you learn about current freebies and when that fails, deep discounts.
For instance, here are some articles on free school supplies for college students (and all students) I’ve published in the past:
Frugal living blogs (and blogs dedicated to college students) can also help you successfully tackle college life. Here are some articles that may be useful:
These are just a few great ways to get free school supplies online. Don’t limit yourself to these options! Do Google searches for things like “free school supplies for college students” and “free school supplies by mail” to find even more great opportunities to save.
