team buying/group buying

团购

With limited pocket money in hand, many Chinese college students are increasingly opting¹ to live life "low cost."

因为兜里的零花钱有限，越来越多中国大学生开始选择“低成本的校园生活。

One way to do that, it seems, is team-buying. Online team-buying offers huge discounts and, not surprisingly, is gaining wide popularity on campus。

团购可能算是其中的一种。而网上团购可以获得极低的折扣，自然广受欢迎学生们的欢迎。

Li Jing, a student at the Beijing-based China Youth University for Political Sciences, for example, says she often buys movie tickets on team-buying websites。

就读于中国青年政治学院的李晶(音译)就是其中的一员。她说自己经常会在网上团购电影票，此外，她还经常上网搜罗各种国际品牌化妆品的团购信息。

But while they offer a good opportunity to save money, Li said she would "think twice before buying them from online stores" because many of them were "a bit chaotic," and had fake goods mixed among them。

虽然团购网站能提供省钱的机会，但李晶也表示自己在网购前会做到“三思而后行”，因为购物网站良莠不齐， “有点混乱”，企图鱼目混珠，以次充好。

So why don't the students just earn more pocket money by taking up part-time jobs? Guo Jingna, a teacher at the Communication University of China, said most Chinese college students were unlikely to choose work-study programs to earn pocket money because of their intensive study schedules。

那么，学生们为何不通过做兼职来赚零用钱呢？来自中国传媒大学的郭金娜(音译)老师表示，在中国，大多数大学生由于课业繁忙，而放弃勤工俭学来赚取零用钱这一途径。

Forever discounts

永享折扣

A kind of coupon² card called "VELO" has become another ideal choice for many money savers. It provides all-round discounts while dining out or shopping in general。

对于“省钱一族”来说，一种名为“维络城”的优惠卡成为另一种理想之选。无论外出就餐还是购物，使用该卡都能享受各式各样的折扣。但目前只有一些大城市拥有这种打折服务。而一些生活在欠发达地区的学生在缩减日常开销方面则是自有妙招。

Cao Zuyang, a student at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, often searches for sales online and buys things together with friends to cut down on delivery costs. Cao once wanted to buy an electro-magnetic oven, which was on sale at a shopping website. He then asked five dormitory roommates to pitch in for the oven. Each student only paid 25 yuan。

来自中国电子科技大学的曹祖洋(音译)表示，他经常上网搜寻折扣信息，然后和朋友团购以节省运费。一次，他想在网上买一款正在促销的电磁炉。随后，他发动其他五个室友一起拼购，平均每人只花了25元。

Low-cost travel

节约型旅行

Again, most students find it difficult to cope with the expense of accommodation while traveling. So frequently, they will choose to travel to cities where they have classmates and friends and live in their (friend's) dorms。

另一方面，大部分学生难以承担旅行时的住宿费用。因此，他们通常会选择去同学或朋友所在的城市旅行，并借住在他们的宿舍里。

For instance, Ge Rui, a student at the Hebei University of Technology, has been to many cities where he has friends。

河北工业大学的学生葛睿(音译)曾到过许多城市，当然那里都有许多自己的朋友。

"Friends can act as free guides, offer me free accommodation and give me valuable tour information, which saves money, time and energy," he said。

葛睿表示：“朋友既能充当义务导游，又能提供免费住宿，还可以为我提供有用的旅游信息，真是省钱、省时、省力。”

Ge said he could "buy fewer beverages³ and clothes" while traveling, and "broaden my mind" at the same time。

葛睿说，如此旅游可以在“少买饮料和衣服” 的同时，又“增长了见识”。

He said he, too, had friends from other cities coming over and living with him when they visited his city。

他还表示，自己也有许多朋友从天南地北来他这里借住，游玩。