not up to buying stabilo or staedtler? restricted access to resources? this post might help!
credit to studyceptionâ and ray over at fistudy for helping out with this post, because figuring out brands, stores, and prices in america is easier when you have a friend in america to talk to.
** note: iâm an upper class teenager, and iâm not an authority on what is/isnât cheap. i also havenât tried all of the things on here.
walmart has cheap five-star notebooks that are $1-2
at target 1-subject 5-star notebooks are $1.97, 3-subject is $3.87, 5-subject $5/6
also, five-star folders there are ~$2
do not use moleskines, especially if you canât find them cheap, and i canât say moleskines are often cheap. they are not worth their price.
a spiral or composition notebook works fine â compositions have sturdier spines, but spiralsâ pages are easier to turn or tear out if theyâre not perforated, so keep that in mind.
mead composition notebooks at target are $0.50
papermate flair pens can be found at costco, among other places. theyâre $12 for a pack of 14 and are quite pretty. also, theyâre better quality than stabilo â more ink, bleeds less.
dollar tree. you wonât find anything fancy there, but you donât need fancy. use dollar tree.
donât worry about brand names as long as itâs quality. yes, muji is expensive.
donât buy those sets of 20 colored pens. if youâre into color coding, you need, what, 4-7 colors? three different shades of red isnât necessary.
or if you donât want a bunch of colors at all, go with blue and black and maybe a highlighter.
if looking for basic pens with black ink, do not bother with anything fancy just get one of those packs of 10 gel pens that are for like $2 or something (they better have these in the usa)
paperback books are cheaper. just make sure to treat them well.
free sat/ap prep materials here
english class: for finding novels (need that book for english?), tuebl has free epubs, you just need to know how to search it (thereâs no viruses, though!). if you canât read epubs because of the format, then download the epub and convert it to pdf (or another format). if you need a hard copy, book depository can be cheap but isnât free.
if you need a laptop or tablet cheap, like <$100 cheap, pls try reading this post!!
for color coding, walmart and staples sell sets of four colored pens for $2-3 each
like the kipling 100 case? this is similar and $9 to kiplingâs $40
if you have a job or too many activities and get home late, squeeze in studying when you can â breaks between classes, at lunch, whatever youâve got. if youâve got a free period, use it. aâs before baes.
also, sometimes overworking yourself is your only option, especially if youâre short on time. do your best to prevent it â remember to eat something, donât procrastinate, donât get distracted.
want to use the pomodoro technique for studying, but you donât have a computer or phone? use any clock you have and mark down the times on a piece of paper
if you want to minimize the amount of supplies: pens. highlighters. paper + cheap notebooks. i donât recommend much else
to be a studyblr, you do not need a pretty workspace (or even have one, use the floor, dinner table, couch, whatever), but if you want one, hereâs some cheaper ways of keeping your workspace looking nice!
donât clutter â put your paper in stacks, and if you have drawers/cabinets, use them
but if you donât have too many papers put them in folders or binders
if you have boxes small enough to do so but large enough to hold your clutter, put the extra papers + stuff you donât need often but may need later in the boxes and shove them under the desk.
containers help, esp. for pens, but they cost money. try using cups â the tiny, flimsy disposable ones will tip over for sure, but you can put smaller things like tape or erasers in there. bigger, more stable ones for pens.
want decorations? try making paper flowers [x x x x x] or glitter jars [x x x x x]. put up drawings if youâve got the space.
buy washi tape if you can use up money on something pointlessly pretty, michaelâs has so many varieties, and theyâre $1-2 each. target also has some with thicker rolls, but itâs more expensive + less variety. costco has some as well! iâm recommending it for decorating. as far as its function as tape, you can use it as a label, but donât try to actually hold anything together with it.
donât like the look of those pen containers? add a strip of washi tape around the brim. put it on boring notebook covers. loop it through some paper clips and use that as bookmarks. you can try this [x] for inspiration, but itâs buzzfeed and i donât recommend you try to washi tape your car or use it as wallpaper. some other suggestions: [x x x x x x]
(hint: yes, we use filters. photo editing is a thing.)
highlight your notes omg if you want to spend hours rewriting them to look pretty, thatâs awesome, but highlighters will work
sometimes itâs easier to do things online than wasting paper or notebooks on it! means less stuff to carry around with you, too.
however, not everyone owns a macbook (or even has their own computer), so i tried to post sites that can be accessed across all computers and arenât mac-only.
here, some websites â wolframalpha and mathway, and you can google some math things!
sparknotes will probably save you at some point
check your writing for things like cliches, passive voice, adverbs, etc, or just for grammar with:
prowritingaid editminion hemingwayapp autocrit spellcheckplus
search engines: ipl, orionâs arm (for science), ecoasia (save trees!), library of congress (about the usa), sweet search
also, if you donât want to buy a planner/sticky notes/whatever that involves to-do lists, try todoist - available on the web, ios, android, chrome, firefox, windows, and os x / or wunderlist - available on windows, mac, android, iphone, ipad, windows phone, chromebook. iâm fond of both!
create citations with bibme or easybib
need somewhere quiet to study and donât have much of a workspace? find uncrowded places in your area with avoidhumans
microsoft word costs so much money. use libre office. itâs free and basically the same thing. or try openoffice.
if you need to use public computers (there are probably some at your library or something): get a gmail account and use google chrome. when youâre using it, log into the account. bookmark all the things you need. as long as you log into that account when you get on a computer, those bookmarks will be with you, as well as your browser data/settings.
speaking of syncing across computers, evernote is cool for notetaking & google drive is your friend
if you donât have much money and youâre getting your first apartment
sat help [because expensive prep books/classes, ew]
find cheaper or free textbooks/classics online [2] / but maybe read this post first [warning, all bold]
âiâm so poor because i buy too many booksâ
100 recipes for the starving student / similar: [x x x]
feel free to add onto this post x
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