Aside from high tuition fees, there are still a lot of things that students need to shell out money for. One of these important requirements for school is textbooks.
Students should start preparing now so that they won't get stressed out come September. USA Today shared six ways that students can save money on textbooks.
1. Check the alternatives.
Students should use their summer to start planning for school. After getting the list of required textbooks, check the things you can do. In order to save, students can usually rent, buy used, get an e-book or buy a previous edition of a textbook.
There are more savings now since the gap between new and used textbook prices have gone up to $82 for a new book and just $59 for a used one. This is a $23 saving, higher than the $15 back in 2011-2012.
2. Sell your old books.
You should sell your old textbooks if you don't need to come back to the same subject later in your studies. You can post them online and earn extra cash for them. You can also go for Amazon's textbook trade-in where you can get a gift card from the retailer for turning in old books that are still in good condition.
3. Sell anything else you don't need.
There's a big chance that you have a lot of stuff lying around that could help you save money for textbooks. Sell the things that you don't need. This way, you'll earn extra money and de-clutter at the same time.
4. Apply for a summer job.
While summer jobs can no longer take up the whole burden of paying for your college education, it can help in managing the cost for other requirements such as textbooks. There are a lot of short-term gigs for the college students especially with the on-demand economy aided by Uber and DoorDash, among others.
5. Sync with your friends.
Know what classes your friends are planning to take. This way, you can split the cost of a single book or you can borrow from a friend who has already taken the class you will be taking up.
6. Look for textbook scholarships.
There are already textbook-specific scholarships that can help college students. Barnes & Noble as well as Chegg are just some of the institutions that offer textbook scholarships.
