Frugal Duchess: Cutting text book bills

McClatchy Newspapers

College bills include far more than room and board, tuition and travel expenses. Every semester, for example, the bill for text books can run from $300 to $500 or more. There are, however, strategies for cutting book costs.

Rent your books. It's possible to save 50 percent or more on each book by leasing material through Rent-a-Text.com. The service is available through traditional bookstores at more than 500 college campuses and can also be accessed through the Internet. Renters pay nonrefundable rental and processing fees. The rental agreement includes a due date, which is typically at the end of the semester. We paid, for example, total fees of $57 to rent a text that was about $130. My son, a freshman at a local school, can highlight and mark up the text without facing penalties.

There is an additional fee, however, if we fail to return the book.

School library: If renting a text is too costly, consider using the text at the campus library. Copies of classroom texts are typically on reserve at the school library. "You can't take the book out of the library, but you can use it there," my son said. It's free to borrow the text, with an added bonus of focused study time in a quiet atmosphere.

Used books online: At Amazon.com, we found used copies of one text book for $20. That price was far less than the rates offered at the bookstore or through the rental service. There are several websites that sell, trade or buy college text books.

Digital text books: Some college courses include an online lab, with a CD that includes or offers access to digital copies of the textbook.

It's possible, we discovered, to just purchase a copy of the online lab for a few dollars and use the free digital copy of the affiliated text book.

Friendly sales staff: At the campus bookstore, we made friends with a savvy salesclerk, who was also a student. She provided money-saving tips about used books, rental agreements and free e-books. Her insights included information about several professors and how they used (or didn't use) the books listed for their classes.

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SharonHarveyistheauthorofthe"FrugalDuchess:HowtoLiveWellandSaveMoney"andacontributingwriterinWiseBread's"10,001WaystoLiveLargeonaSmallBudget"