We all know that outside of tuition and rent one of a student’s greatest expenses will be books. A lot of this stuff you probably already know, but hopefully I can help everyone save some money with a trick you haven’t seen before. Last semester I spent a grand total of $30 on books and that was with a full slate of 5 classes! With a little prior planning you too can save lots of money!
1. Stay away from the book store: The book store is outrageous. Have you ever sold your books there? It’s insane. Also the whole place is a madhouse the first week of the semester. Only use the book store as a last resort.
2. Don’t buy books: How many books do you have that are just sitting around? Did you have intentions of using that book on population biology or gifting that book on religion in sports (both of which are real classes at SU) and you never got around to it? There are some great ways to avoid buying books such as…
3a. Use the library: I know what you’re thinking, so 1900s. But did you know that you can search online for any books in the library? Okay, that was probably obvious so I’ll give you the link where you can search for any books in the SU library system (that includes those as ESF’s Moon Library). You don’t even need to get up!
3b. Use interlibrary loans: This is one that most students never touch and it is great, especially for relatively new books that you can’t find used yet. I’ll even give you the link! Just use your SU NetID and Password and click on “book” underneath “new request.” Make sure you give as much information about the book that you can, especially the ISBN numbers so the request goes smoothly. The books take about a week to come in and you can use them for a month and then renew the book for another month! If you have a detailed syllabus then you should never have to worry about being without the book for a paper or other assignments!
If you use both number 3’s you should be able to find ANY book completely free. Obviously, sometimes you’ll want to keep books or you’re willing to pay a nominal fee for the convenience of having the book, writing notes, and any other stuff you can do with a book that is yours. You can pick and choose some of these strategies that work best for you.
4. Don’t buy up-to-date editions: Most of the time the page numbers are exactly the same from one edition to the next or there is an additional introduction chapter. Do your homework and check page counts on Amazon to make certain. Another tip is to buy international editions rather than the English editions. For this semester I saved over $100 on a book by buying the international edition rather than the English. The international version is still written in English and other slight variations, but I double checked with my Prof. and it was completely fine.
5. Buy used: Amazon, eBay, etc. are great if you want to buy the book outright and you can find used books on many different websites. I paid $6 for last semester’s statistics book that was slightly used, that’s counting shipping.
6. Share books: I am not very keen on this one, but I know many people that it has worked well for. Just make sure that everyone can access the book and it can be a very viable textbook solution.
7. Talk to your Professors: A simple e-mail can help you understand what your professor wants to use a book for, or even if you need the book. Many professors put a book on a syllabus, but rarely use said book. The Maxwell Professors are very understanding of the fiscal plight for graduate students so solutions can certainly be found. If you are in doubt, ask if you can buy a previous edition or if they have a copy you can borrow.
Doing a little bit of leg work can save the average student a lot of money. I have personally saved over $200 on books just in these past two semesters alone. If you have any questions or need any help using any of these tips send me an e-mail or leave me a comment.