When you are planning for your first year of college, you will probably do things like set weekly budgets for your spending to try to keep track of your finances and avoid going broke. If you are doing this and doing your research, you will be well aware of the crazy costs that you can run up when the time comes to buy all of your class textbooks! For something that is necessary for your education, it can sometimes feel like textbooks are priced unfairly highly; they know we have to have them and they charge accordingly! However, there are some things that you can do. Here are some tips for saving money on textbooks.
Snapshot Survey
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Please subscribe for your personalized newsletter:
Buy Used
You don’t need your textbooks to be brand spanking new. Go online and search for preowned versions of the titles that you need. You never know, you might find that the copy you end up with already has some helpful notes in it from the previous owner!
/filters:quality(70)/thumbs/70/tld2fwd8meae8ynfma6onj_1080x1350.jpg)
Rent
Rather than buying to keep, you can actually rent lots of textbooks. Did you know that? There are plenty of websites that allow you to rent your chosen titles for a fraction of the price, just sending them back whenever your class is finished.
/filters:quality(70)/thumbs/77/ol4am4gwpyiqhxsd2rwar7_1080x1349.jpg)
EBooks
There are lots of places online now where you can purchase an e-version of a textbook for a much lower price than a physical copy. It’s more environmentally friendly and doesn’t require nearly as much manufacturing to produce.
/filters:quality(70)/thumbs/58/5tr022swh0mp2kzceuuvp_1080x1350.jpg)
Free Online
Depending on how old or niche your textbook is, you might be able to find it online for free. There are lots of different digital versions available in academic circles online, so make sure to do your homework before you spend big money!
/filters:quality(70)/thumbs/o8/oa/f4hta9n45fbc79243ce8b755892543_1080x1080.jpg)
Campus Library
It is always worth having a quick check in your campus library before spending on textbooks. If you are lucky, you might find a copy in there that you can take out and then continue to re-reserve for as long as you need it!
/filters:quality(70)/thumbs/22/gmv55jbgjzd7gjmeysy2t3_1080x1350.jpg)
Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.
Review for Unnecessary Books
You will often find that some of the books on your class list are classed as ‘optional’ rather than essential. You can save lots of money by only getting the essential ones to start off with. It’s much better than buying a bunch of books that you never end up even opening.
/filters:quality(70)/thumbs/38/unm3k6thteu033n88g9t_1080x1080.jpg)
Network
Put the call out on your social media platforms. You never know who might be looking! You might have a cousin or a friend of a friend who has the books that you are looking for, they might sell them to you at a discounted rate, or even give you them for free!
/filters:quality(70)/thumbs/79/fqdmltt10etdsikj0v4e9_1080x1350.jpg)
Sell Them Afterwards
You can always recoup some of the money that you have to spend on your textbooks by selling them on at the end of the class. There will be a whole line of younger students who will be in the same position you were in, looking to find the books at a slightly cheaper price!
