Are There Free Textbooks?

I have a huge 130 lb Great Dane named Casper, brindle with a white nose and toes. He is pretty, friendly, and a great conversation starter since he is the closest thing to a tiger most people get to see. Well, I was putting up some flyers today with him and I lured in a guy asking me if there was any such thing as a free textbook. He was curious to know as I told him of my past struggles with paying for books, and I mentioned the one year I didn't buy any books at all. He asked how that was possible so I decided to post all the possible ways you can get around it on here. So, here is to no bs and not spending a dime! For this to work, however, it takes a lot of work. You have to give more time to your education and networking with students in your classes. Those two things will get you very far.

So, let's look at the resources at hand to get around buying a textbook.

The Library

Not many people are aware of this but your school library, free for attending your rather expensive education, is the most valuable resource at your disposal. It has virtually any subject you need information on as well as your class textbook on shelf to use! Yep, there is a free textbook at your library. It depends on each of your campus libraries as far as the stipulations for borrowing. Mine would only allow a two hour check-out for most books and they couldn't leave the building. The late fees for these books were much higher than the standard rate which tends to deter thievery. So far, it works. 

Network

The most underrated resource though is going to be your fellow classmates. By this, I do not mean steal their books when they aren't being attentive. Also, do not borrow a friends for a few days and keep it indefinitely. Those are prime ways for you to destroy your network and therefore valuable assets you can use along the way for help. No, we cannot have that.

Instead, I would encourage you to form study groups that meet once a week to help each other out. What I mean by this is to offer to help them out with a particular subject that people are finding difficult to understand. Whether that means tutoring or accompanying them to the tutor center* to help you both understand, do it! People want to connect and it is up to you to make it. Start relying on your outgoing nature and willingness to help. And if you don't have those qualities, develop them. They are easy to acquire and will make not only college but work after college so much more lucrative and fulfilling.

So once your connections are made, then ever so kindly ask to borrow their book while you guys are studying or copy some homework questions. Be smart and be professional about it. You want to keep these relationships as you do not know when they will come in handy.

World Wide Web

One of the greatest ways to study for your classes is to use the internet! In fact, I learned some html** to help make this blog and I am now picking up some Java for some additional nifty website making. There are plenty of free learning websites so if you do come across one that tries to charge you, run the other way. RUN! Khan academy is a highly recommended website that is free to use and has everything useful to brain surgeon students and lawyer associates plus some normal stuff in between. Take advantage of the largest collection of information stored online, for free, and get away with just paying close attention to lecture and supplementing it with stuff online. You would be surprised on how easy it would be to maintain a 4.0 on that. In fact, making anything less might start to seem silly after a little while.

So next time you want to take control of your money and education, you can also think about trying this route. It is very much possible, granted a little more work, but your grades, scholarships, and parents will thank you. You might even thank you!

Thank you for reading and feel free to share with friends, family and anyone you think wants to save a few thousand dollars!

*There was a friend who felt very uncomfortable at the tutor center. So, I went along to give some confidence even though I didn't even have the class he needed help with.
**codecademy.com

Campus Edition Textbooks - Do you really need them?

You are determined not to buy from the bookstore. That's it, you've had it paying them their super inflated prices and you start jotting down all of your textbook ISBN's to look up online later. The last textbook catches your eye because on the tag, it says something about being a Custom Edition. Hoping for the better, you copy it down anyway but make sure to grab a picture of the front binding. You leave and get back to your dorm room, but when you search for that last ISBN, you run into some trouble. No one is selling it and all you see are student message boards how to get around this problem. You do not want to go back to pay for a specially overpriced book but you don't know what to do next.

This has definitely happened to me more than one occasion and the fix may actually be a quick one. First, I would look at the front of the textbook to check out who the publisher is and find their latest edition about the subject on their website. They will have up-to-date pictures of both current and past textbooks so do not worry about that. Now, if you took a picture of the front cover or can remember what it looks like, great. All you have to do is match up the front covers. If they are different, this is where I would just go ahead and look over the chapters to see if the subject material is over the same stuff. The most important thing is if the normal edition has what the custom edition has. More often than not, it will have everything plus a few more bonus chapters.

Why? Let me explain. When a school decides, for one reason or another, to have a custom edition made, it means that they will pick and choose the chapters they want from the original edition. They can also decide in what order they're in so that the semester will flow better with their lesson plans. That is it. In other words, it is the custom edition that wouldn't measure up to the original edition. It is the customer's order of what is on the cafe menu. A mere shopping list to an entire grocery store. What's in the custom edition will always be in the original, but not the other way around.

For a many reasons, it would be a good thing to buy the normal edition than the custom and here's why. The original edition may have sections that are not covered in class but may in fact aid in your understanding of the material being gone over. This is especially true of mathematics and science related courses. Those subjects are better understood with the whole picture in mind, which is actually how the majority of courses are taught in college. Also, you may have another course in the following semester that compliments your current course and will use a complimenting custom edition or in fact the original edition. I have noticed that this is common with a heavy english course that offers both a difficult combined or easier split course. They required the same texts at my school however.

While there are many benefits. there are a few drawbacks as well. You should pay attention to sections being covered over in the textbook because they may not match up precisely to the instruction you are being given. Simply put, the table of contents will become your best friend. You should be comfortable in searching through reference material by now so get used to it if you aren't. Next... actually that really is the only drawback. Some people may have issues finding material in the custom text and they may think it's not there. It's there. I have had the pleasure of helping out many fellow students who did what I did and there hasn't been a thing that wasn't found. With that being said, it is advisable to make a few friends in each of your classes for study work and to have a custom edition for comparison. You may find that you like the original a lot better. I sure did.

I hope I cleared up any issues or questions people may have had. If there was something I did not address, please post it below in the comments section and I can answer that for you.

Better yet, post an article idea and I will give a special shout out for the suggestion.

Thank you for reading and feel free to share with friends, family and anyone you think wants to save a few thousand dollars!

Saving on Textbooks - Rent textbooks

As you decide your book options for the semester, you think about the hassle of buying and then selling  your textbook. You've heard how some students get offered $5 for a book they paid $250 for only 4 months earlier, and you'd rather not be one of those examples. Then, you see that the bookstore offers textbook renting for a better deal. The only thing holding you back is the price tag at the bookstore. However, the idea of buying a book for a high price and not being able to sell it is pushing you back to renting from the bookstore.

Well, I am here to say that we can eliminate the bookstore entirely by going online*. There are benefits and drawbacks to this though, which I shall explain. From friends to acquaintances to shocking stories, there have been those to rent a textbook that was in such horrible condition, it was missing entire chapters, sections, assignments, ect. This is only a slight risk in reality and only if you rent used textbooks. Also, most online companies offer a 30-day money back guarantee if you aren't satisfied with the copy you received or are otherwise not satisfied. That is what is so great about private online stores: their customer base must be more than satisfied for their company to do well. Campus stores have a steady flow of customers so they don't feel the repercussion of a few bad reviews. There is always a student around the corner to buy a book at 200% of it's actual value.

I have already highlighted one benefit, one being higher customer service. They want you to come back for the next 7+ semesters to do business. The want you to turn into a repeat customer. That's a good thing. Another bonus from going online and finding your books is that you will save so much money! Just try it if you haven't; the prices are unbelievable.  Some companies will not charge shipping at all, for return as well. One company in particular, Campus Book Rentals, has added a wonderful option to add a textbook that you own into their database and rent it out to make more money on it during school. You will have to visit the site to get the fine details but the reviews from that company are great, if not stellar.

And, none of these stores charge you for highlighting in your textbook! You are actually allowed to deface their property for your learning. At first, this seemed like an odd idea but in the long run, it makes sense. Highlighted sections that students noted advice future book borrowers to take note of those special sections. And, if you are the one breaking in the pages, be sure to do the same because it's not an allowance, its almost a rite of passage. There wasn't a single book I didn't come across that didn't have some section highlighted. It's as nostalgic as finding old carved initials in a study in the far back of the library.

So, save yourself some money and rent a textbook. You might find that you will be in a few thousand dollars less debt when you get out.


If you have any questions about the process, just comment below and I will get back to you immediately.

Thank you for reading and feel free to share with friends, family and anyone you think wants to save a few thousand dollars!



*abebooks.com, bigwords.com, alibri.com, textbookrentals.com, campusbookrentals.com