Tuesday, 15 September 2009

• Best ways to save money on textbooks

  
  

  
  For about half of my college career, buying textbooks on the first day of classes has stripped me a good $500 of mine and my parents' money. If you have guilty conscious like me, I hate wasting on my parent's money especially when it comes down to school stuff. And sometimes even buying used textbooks at the bookstore isn't worth it.
  
  Start the semester smart by using these methods:
  
  1. Search for textbooks early
  
  
  If your school has a website, they should have a bookstore site which allows you to buy you textbooks online. Search for your classes and find out books you need. The bookstore will tell you how much it is new and used. It saves you time without e-mailing your professor and to get a response. Use that to your advantage and search for bargains online before classes start.
  
  Then use textbook comparison websites such as ecampus.com, allbookstores.com, alibris.com. It tells you what e-stores have the cheapest to most expensive price for the textbook. 
  
  
  2. Buy old editions
  Every year the publishers are trying to rip more money off us poor college students by making a new edition when the content of the book is the same, except it comes in an new cover. Do compare the latest edition to the old edition and see if the book has dramatically changed.
  
  
  3. Buy international editions of the book
  The quality of the paper and the cover aren't as pretty but they are definitely cheaper than the normal version.
  
  
  4. Rent your textbooks
  This is becoming a new trend. Chegg.com allows you to rent textbooks for a semester or longer and return the textbook for free to the company. You do save a lot by renting, however, the closer the semester approaches, the price of the textbook rental is increases. More of a good reason to start early.
  
  
  5. Photocopy/Scan/take pictures chapters you need
  I've been doing this for two semesters now, and it has been such a saver. However, it does take a lot of time to do.
  
  What most people do is photocopy what they need and return it to the bookstore the day of purchase. The other option is borrowing the book in the library. Most of the time the textbook you need is under reference.
  
  -Photocopying

  Before you photocopy, do your math first. If the cost of photocopying the chapters are more expensive than the textbook itself then don't do it.
  

  
  -Scanning

  If your school or library has a resource of scanners, use it. If the school does offer such a thing, most of the time they will be high quality scanners. Bring your flash drive or an external hard drive (4 gigs and up is a good choice) with you to keep your scans. Scan at least 300 DPI for a good quality. Scanning in gray scale is the best for text since file will be smaller. Scanning in straight up black and white will make it hard to read.
  

  
  

  This can be really tiring, and can hurt your wrists if you have heavy textbook to copy. The good thing is, you'll be saving paper.
  

  
  -Take pictures

  I was lucky my parents bought me a digital camera for my high school graduation and I use it on my textbooks. It saved me buying a $300 textbook. For good quality, you would need at least a 5 megapixel camera. When you take shots at a distance and load it off your computer, when you zoom in, it the text will be readable. Just be careful of the the flash, the lighting, and keeping your hands stable, otherwise it will blur the image. Sometimes if the flash is on you won't see that one bright spot on the text. Before taking pictures of the rest of the pages, look back and see the quality and readability of the picture is by previewing it on your camera.
  

  
  
  6. Borrow them from the library or friends
  Most of the time the school library will have your book, but most of the time it will be under reference. Check the catalog if there are old editions of the textbook and take it out of the library. You'll get it for three weeks, and if no one has it on hold, renew it.
  
  Have a study buddy and borrow the textbook from them, just don't be tardy on returning it to them when they need it!
  
  
  7. Find if there is an electronic version online
  Some publishers sell the textbook online for less than the physical copy. Most of the time it comes in .pdf form. If it is still too expensive for your taste, tell some people in that class to chip in for the electronic version of the textbook, burn it on CD and just borrow it around.
  
  Ask the professor if there is a professor and student textbook supplement online. Most of the time they summarize what you need for the chapter when exam time comes along.
  
  
  8. Exchange textbooks with classmates or friends
  Do you friends that are taking the class you are in now or vise versa? Ask them if they still have the textbook, and exchange textbooks with them!
  
  
  9. Buy them off other students
  Usually students sell their textbook by putting flyers around the campus. Some will negotiate prices or even do exchanges. This eliminates the shipping and handling cost if you purchase online.
  
  A great site to sell and buy your textbooks is through Student to Student Link. It's like craigslist, but only for students.
  
  
  10. Don't buy the book at all
  You don't know how much this bothered me! During the first year, I could have gotten away without the textbook, all I really needed was my notes. Ask the professor if his exams are based heavily on the textbook or his notes. Most professors aren't mean about it and will tell you what their tests are based on.
  
  
  There are other ways getting cheap or free textbooks but we'll all just assume you know. ;-D
  
  For this semester I only spent $76 on four textbooks. Personally, I try my best not to exceed $100 for books.
  
  How much are your textbooks costing you this semester?
  

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