As many of you get ready to venture back into the land of Academia, you will probably find yourself having to buy several textbooks for your college courses.  If you haven’t had the privilege of this experience before, let me just warn you…

Textbooks are ridiculously expensive.  Most of the time, you won’t read or reference them that much throughout the semester.  After your class is over, you’ll sell back your textbooks for a fraction of what you paid for them.

Great system.

So allow BrokePiggy to provide you with a few money-saving tips when it comes to getting textbooks for your semester…

• Buy Online – You’re part of the digital generation, so hopefully you’ve already figured out that with most purchases you make, you can generally find them cheaper online than in a store.  Textbooks are no different.  Shop around and do your homework before just buying the book at the campus bookstore.  Here are some sites that may help you out…ValoreBooks.com, Half.com, Amazon, or BigWords.com.  Another great option is to rent your books.  The best site for textbook rental is Chegg.com.  Occasionally, you can also find some deals on textbooks through eBay or Craigslist.
• Share With Friends – If you’ve got a friend or roommate who is in the same class as you, you can save a lot of money just by sharing a textbook.  You usually won’t reference textbooks during the class itself, so you shouldn’t have a problem there.  Make sure whoever you’re sharing the textbook with is responsible and manages their time well, so you have access to the book when you need it.

• Buy Used – Some professors will make a big deal about you having the latest edition of a particular textbook.  Truth be told, most of the time, it doesn’t matter.  The cost of a new textbook versus a used one doesn’t even compare.  You’ll always save money buying used.

• Delay Your Purchase – I remember a few classes where the syllabus would require that we have a particular book, but then we never even used it during the semester!  If you wait a few classes into the semester, you can probably get a feel for if the textbook(s) that is “required” is really that necessary to have.

• Use The Library – Oddly enough, there are some textbooks that your school library will have.  Why on earth would anyone buy a textbook that is available for free viewing across campus at the library?

YOUR 2 CENTS – What other tips do you have for buying/saving money on textbooks?

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