School is just about out for the summer. For some of us, that means graduation and moving onto whatever comes next in life (hopefully employment, although that's a bit of a challenge with Ontario's economy). For others, that means a return to school in the fall, for a second, third or even a fourth year. Throughout the year in this column I've attempted to provide students with ways they can save money and better knowledge about finances. I'd like to end the year with some small tokens of advice aimed for those returning to school in the fall. I've been to school for many, many years now, so I've learned a few things along the way about saving money over the summer.

First, get that summer job. I know this is much easier said than done, especially when London is flooded with unemployed students from Western and Fanshawe in the early part of May. You need to make yourself marketable, and you probably should have started your job search by now. You also need to be flexible in the kind of earnings and the kind of work you are expecting. Career Services (in room D1063) at Fanshawe can help you with all of this, but in the end, getting a job is up to you. If you've already got one, you're a step ahead.

Second, sock a bit of money away in a tax-free savings account (TFSA). It's not that big a deal right now, but many banks can set up savings programs where a certain amount of your paycheque is deposited into your TFSA. Another thing banks can do is deposit 50 cents or $1 in your savings account each time you use your debit card. Let that money deposit, even if it's a small amount, and you've got a bit of extra cash you wouldn't have had otherwise come September.

Third, get outside and enjoy some (relatively) inexpensive fun. I find it's way more expensive to do stuff in the winter, because you can't enjoy the outdoors, and the outdoors are free. You might still need to pay for gas or food or whatever, but it's still way cheap. Go to the beach or just chill out in the park. Baseball season just started, and throwing a ball around in the park is free and fun. Take up jogging — that's free, too, and good for your heart. There's a ton of inexpensive stuff to do in the summer, so take advantage of it.

Fourth, try to pay down a bit of credit card debt or loans, like car loans, that sort of thing. This might be tough to do depending on what your budget is like — especially if you have to pay rent over the summer — but if you are living with your parents and working fulltime, you're a huge step ahead of everyone else. Of course, in that case you're unlikely to have much debt, but if you do, pay a bunch of it down this summer. It'll make your money a lot less tight next year when you're back in school. And if you have no consumer debt, you're doing great. Keep it up.

Last, when you get your fall schedule in a few months, you'll find out which textbooks you need. Buy them used. Or rent them. I ordered a couple of my books from textbookrental.ca this year, and it worked great. The books were about half-price. The company mailed them to me, and after exams in December, I mailed them back. There are also websites where you can rent digital editions of your books, for use on your tablet or computer, and these are even cheaper. If you have some friends in your program that are a year ahead, you can likely grab textbooks off them pretty cheaply. There are so many options for getting discounts that you rarely need to buy new books at full price. Take a look into these options late in the summer when you start getting prepared to go back to school.

This is the final column of Talking Cash for this year. I graduate in April, and I wish you all great success in the future, both in your finances and your personal lives.