by Tori Morrison

Created on: April 19, 2010

College is an important step to achieving your dream job, but it can also be a costly endeavor. When you factor in tuition, housing, fees and books, you’re looking at thousands of dollars in costs. Thankfully, you can easily reduce your textbook costs by following these tips:

Buy Used

Buying used textbooks is the easiest way to save some money. Whether you buy the book at your bookstore or online, you will find the prices are much cheaper than the new version. Amazon.com and Half Price Books have some great deals for textbooks. These books may contain some notes and highlighting, but those are minor concerns in comparison to the amount of money you will save.

Borrow From a Friend

Borrowing from a friend is your cheapest option, because it’s free! Although it may be hard to find textbooks that are related to your major, you can easily find introductory course textbooks from your friends. Since almost every college requires a core curriculum, you should be able to borrow at least a few books for these courses. Since textbooks can range up to $200 per book, you could easily save yourself a few hundred dollars by borrowing instead of buying.

Buy Only Required Textbooks

Professors usually have a list available of what textbooks will be needed for their course. If a book is listed as optional, don’t worry about buying it. Most professors only list those books so that you have extra resources in addition to the required readings. This material is rarely, if ever, covered in classes, so you won’t be missing out on any important information.

Sell Your Books and Save the Money for Future Textbook Purchases

Book buybacks take place at the end of each semester, and this allows students to make some cash off of books they no longer need. If you save up the money, you should be able to purchase a couple books for the next semester with the money you earned off your old books.

If you choose to sell your books online, don’t expect to get more than half of what you paid for originally. EBay, Amazon and Craigslist are some great sites to use for selling your textbooks quickly and easily.

Share With a Friend

If you and a friend are taking the same course, consider splitting the cost of the textbook with them and share the book for the semester. If you choose this option, be sure that you make a schedule in regards to who gets the book on what days. If you study together, sharing the book should be no problem.

These are some of the most popular options for saving on college textbooks. You should be able to save hundreds of dollars with these options. Remember, college does not have to put you in debt! If you find that your financial situation requires assistance, contact your school’s financial aid office; they will work with you to ensure you get the most money possible.

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