How to get through the semester without buying books

If you’re anything like me you dread going to the bookstore and wasting money on books that you will probably never actually read, even though we really should be reading.  The fact is that we’re in college and already have enough bills to worry about with tuition and such. So why are we spending so much on books?   Well there are things you can do so you don’t have to. There are ways around actually buying the book.

The textbook website

Last semester I went two months into the semester before I actually needed one of my required books. I went to the books website and the publisher had chapter notes, quizzes, etc. available allowing me to get the summary of the chapters I needed to read. Victory!

The library

When we were younger the library was the first place we went when we needed information. So why should textbooks be an exception. My university has access to every school library in the area, so if it’s not available in your schools library they can have it sent from another school. Heck it may just be a reference book and your library has tons of copies of these. College library check out is roughly a month and you can keep checking it out until you don’t need it anymore.

Course reserves

These are extra copies of the book and materials needed for some classes. This is important to check out the first week of classes because they are hot and go fast. Most professors don’t mention this because they would rather it be the last resort.  Not every class does this, so make sure you check before deciding this is right for you.

Photocopies

The first day of class you received a couple pieces of paper stapled together, remember those?  You probably tossed it to the side until you realize you have an assignment coming up. Well those syllabi have the semester’s readings on it, so if you can borrow a book you’ll just have to pay for copies.

there you go no big bucks spent on big textbooks this semester and that means more money to party with.

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