Ostensibly you're going to school in order to learn the material that's in your textbook, but what about the art of textbooks themselves? You're likely aware that textbooks are a considerable investment, but did you know that the average student spends about nine hundred dollars per academic year on textbooks?
That's why it's such a good idea to think smart when getting the materials you need for your education. Rushing out to your campus bookstore and snapping up the used copy is a good tip to getting better deals on books, but did you know that there are other ways to get the deals you want on textbooks? With this information in mind, you can easily cut that nine hundred dollar textbook bill in half - or eliminate it altogether, in some cases!
Particularly if you are a humanities major, you might actually be able to find many of your textbooks through your college or even local library. Ask them for ebook versions as well - many universities have unlimited rights to certain texts in electronic format. If your college library doesn't have the text you need, check out to see what sorts of agreements they have with other libraries in the area - you might be able to get another library to mail you the textbook for free!
There's no law that says each and every student must have his or her own textbook. If you're taking classes with a friend or roommate, consider going in on textbook purchases together and sharing.
This won't work with all classes, but for reference books this is a great way to get the books you need at a cheaper price.
You can often get great deals by comparison shopping on textbooks sites like Affordabook!