Rent, download or buy used to save a lot.
Its back to school time and it seems like you’re blowing your entire budget on single-use books.
Fact: Students are spending up to $600 a year on books at community colleges, $900 a year at the state level, and well into the $1300 dollar range at some private schools, med school, and other upper echelon education facilities.
That’s a lot of money! Even if it is dad’s money…he would appreciate it so much if you could save him up to 60% on expensive college textbooks every single year, year after year.
The are many alternatives to standing in line at the university bookstore and racking up a huge bill for brand new textbooks. Right now we’ll show you five ways you can save big money every semester on books that you buy for school.
1. Don’t go “print,” go “printable.”
Yes, you read it right. Printable textbooks are becoming as mainstream as that dreaded math class. Imagine being able to download a textbook (the entire book) or only the portion you need, like a single chapter, and pay just for the chapter(s) you need.
Buying a single chapter or multiple chapters electronically can save you literally hundreds of dollars a year, and you’re not limited to reading it on your computer. Downloaded textbooks and chapters are printable documents that make them easy to use wherever you may be. And should you ever need to re-access the information, you have a saved, printed version. Now you won’t have to waste time on Facebook or texting friends asking to borrow their books!
[Tip: Visit CengageBrain, CourseSmart, and eBooks.com for a large selection of printable textbooks.]
2. Be a Renter, Not a Buyer.
You’ll never “own” the information in a book, so why “own” the book? Instead keep the information tucked safely away in your brain where it should be and save money on textbooks by renting books by the month, project, semester, or longer.
Similar to downloading ebooks, renting college textbooks saves you money and you get the book you need as a less expensive alternative to new textbooks.
Renting is a lot like buying used textbooks. The books arrive in good condition, are usable, have all their pages and you save money. However with renting college textbooks you’re only paying for the time you need, then you return the book.
If you decide to rent college textbooks you’ll save yourself about 70% over buying the same books in brand new condition. This means you can actually rent more books than you budgeted for such as alternative readings, unexpected lab books, etc.
The other benefit to renting is that you’re not sacrificing a tree to earn an “A” in Micro-Fungal Theory, so your personal “carbon footprint” is reduced, making for a happier planet.
[Tip: Two popular online providers of rental textbooks are Chegg and Campus Book Rentals.]
3. Buying Used – Now a Much Cheaper and Safer Option
Yes, in bygone years there were real life horror stories about buying used books, but those days are [click to continue…]
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