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The Quad: How students can afford festival season without breaking the bank

Affording festivals like Coachella can be difficult with tickets starting at a couple hundred dollars each. (Miriam Bribiesca/Photo editor)

By Molly Wright

May 3, 2017 4:23 p.m.

UCLA students have the world at their fingertips – if desired, students can attend concerts, festivals, and other pop culture extravaganzas that happen in and around the Los Angeles area or beyond. Events like Coachella and Stagecoach Festival, which take place in Indio, California, are on every freshman’s bucket list. It’s not easy to afford a festival ticket, however, which can range from about $200 to $500, and many first years in particular forego jobs in lieu of focusing on schoolwork and having a fun time. How do presumably broke college students pay for events that easily add up to hundreds of dollars?

One way is by selling food swipes. Joining the UCLA SwipeSwap page on Facebook is a one-way ticket to getting rid of all those unwanted swipes – especially if you have 19P – and selling them for about five to eight dollars a piece. With 19P, I sold around 25 swipes at $7 each, which amount to $175. While that might not be enough to cover the entire fee for the trip or festival of your dreams, it’s definitely an admirable place to start, especially if it is just needed for personal fun money without any expensive goals in mind, such as a pricey concert or trip.

[Related: Gallery: Fashion at Coachella]

If you have an interesting talent or service to offer, that’s also a great way to make some extra cash.

Third-year psychobiology student Justin Park offered to take senior grad photos and LinkedIn portraits for five dollars a person.

“I had a friend who was offering Uber-style rides where he would charge people to drive them to and from campus to raise money.” says Park. “So that got me thinking of what kind of talents I could use to fundraise. I remembered that I always do photoshoots for my friends.”

Even though friend and family contributions can help, there are also other ways to raise money without having a job. Payton Rockwood, a first-year business economics student, says he charged people on Venmo to help fundraise for Dance Marathon and Coachella, in addition to having a lucrative talent.

“I Venmo requested everybody three dollars and raised money from that, and I fixed phone screens on a regular basis to raise money,” Rockwood said.

Taking advantage of app promotions can also be also be a way to earn cash without putting so much effort in.

“For Coachella, there was a promotion from the app Square Cash which gave $10 to both the person who shared the app and the person who sent $50, so I would have people send me $50 on Square Cash, and then I’d just Venmo them $50 back, and I made around $150 from that,” says Rockwood.

[Throwback: Spring Music Festival Preview 2015]

So there you have it – when money gets as tight as it often does in college, there are a simple few solutions to help you make some extra bucks when your bank account starts to look unhappy.

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Molly Wright | Daily Bruin senior staff
Wright is a Daily Bruin senior staffer. Wright was the Quad editor during the 2019-2020 school year and assistant Quad editor during the 2018-2019 school year. She is a fourth-year communication and global studies student trying to cut down on her caffeine addiction.
Wright is a Daily Bruin senior staffer. Wright was the Quad editor during the 2019-2020 school year and assistant Quad editor during the 2018-2019 school year. She is a fourth-year communication and global studies student trying to cut down on her caffeine addiction.
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