Textbooks

One thing I remember from my last time in college is that textbooks, learning kits and lab fees can get pretty crazy. This may be an obvious thing for many of you, but did you know that you aren't required to buy everything from your college's bookstore? And unless one of your proffessors publish their own course textbooks there's a good chance you can find textbooks, even course materials kits, from other outlets, many online.

My girlfriend just got her courselist last week with about $400-500 worth of textbooks and recommended reading. Since she has till the end of August before her classes start she decided to shop around. In 20 minutes she found almost all of the books on her required texts list and paid less than $75. Never underestimate the power of search engines to find people in the furthest corners of the continent with a spare Sub-Saharan Botany text that won't sell in their mother's yard sale.

Now for me, I won't get my courselist until the day before classes start, so I'm out of luck when it comes to ordering books online in time for class. Actually, most school bookstores have a buy-back program, they even have a return policy (just in case you got a book you didn't need or decided to drop a course) that you can get a full or majority cost refund within a certain time-frame. Make sure when you get your books from your school's website or campus store that you ask about their return policy, and as soon as you get that booklist hit the web and look for sellers who can ship quickly.

Discount textbooks is big industry and online stores are all about competition. Amazon.com has a large selection and most of the time they have individual sellers who may have used books in good condition (I've seen books go as low as $.99 with $5 shipping). Also look for other required materials and learning kits online. I once took a course for A+ Computer Repair certification (what a waste of money that class was) that I had to buy a kit for, which included a textbook, technical reference books, an instruction CD and a small computer repair kit. I bought the entire kit from my schools Media center, but I'm sure the package set would have been at least half the cost anywhere else.

And don't worry about breaking any rules by sneaking into class with a book you got off eBay. I've actually never heard of any schools requiring you to only purchase course materials from their own sources. Though, I must say, sometimes it is beneficial to look in your schools catalog for student discounts on software and bibliography materials.