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Books are an expensive part of life; doubly so for a college student. I have compiled this guide from my personal experience as a frequently broke college student, but it can be applied to almost any book purchase. For college book shopping however, you want to start with your course reading list.

Reading lists for classes are often made available online or in print at the college office or bookstore. Having a class syllabus is very helpful at this point as well, but if you don't have one you can still forge ahead.

Look at the list.

Are any of the books optional? If so, is it in a class that is not in your major or field of interest? I buy optional books for classes that are in my major, or that I'm interested in. Outside of that, they are optional for a reason, and so I don't buy them. Typically, the larger or more general the class the less you will need the optional books.

Are any of the books in the public domain? Books in the public domain are frequently available online for free. For these, check Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org). I don't recommend this if you dislike reading books on a monitor, as printing one out is often surprisingly expensive.

Now, if you have a syllabus, look for the following:

How much reading is there from each book? Professors often put course textbooks on reserve in the library. If the reading is short, you can read it there and photocopy any portions you would want to cite later. Likewise, you could also borrow it from a classmate in advance.

Is a specific version listed? Recently I had a professor tell us to buy the third edition of "Art in Renaissance Italy". This was listed at the campus bookstore for $98. I asked if the second edition was fine and she said it was. I found the second edition online for $12 including shipping, in excellent used condition. Going for a prior edition can save you vast amounts of money: just be sure to check with the professor that the two are comparable in terms of the class.

Hopefully you now have a detailed list of the books you actually need for your classes. Figuring out what you need is almost more important than where you buy it, since a purchasing an unneeded book is always a loss.

Buying the books is my favorite part. You get to look around and find good deals, and saving more money rewards you. There are a few tricks to finding the best deals.

The first is to avoid the campus bookstore. At my college, the used books are only 25% off, and are generally in horrible condition. They only time

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