Books in college play a crucial role because they help students understand topics in a better way. Yes, students can listen to professors, but many things a professor says can get forgotten. Books also help students strengthen their understanding of subjects. Without them, you can’t achieve excellent grades in college.
But, everyone can’t afford to buy books because the tuition fees in most colleges are already through the roof. Apart from the fess, buying some books can burn a hole in your pocket because they’re not at all cheap. So, what are the options left with students?
You can save money on books in college. Yes, there are practical ways that really work. Once you know about them, you’ll be surprised why you never thought about them before. We’ll tell you 8 ways to save money on them in this blog. After reading this blog, we're sure that you’ll have a good idea about how to save money on books. We’re not going to be talking about any rocket science. We’ll tell you simple ways you can start using from today.
So, without any delay, let’s start.
Library Is Your Best Friend
The first thing that comes to any person’s mind when they think about books is a library. Yes, libraries are synonymous with books because there are plenty of them. From fiction & horror to books for your semester, you can find a wide array of books in a library. Sadly, the library is often the least visited place in a college. When the students aren’t attending classes, they’re either eating in the canteen or chilling with their friends. Going to a library never crosses many students’ minds.
But, believe us when we say that make your college library your best friend. When you visit the library, you’ll discover that most books you were thinking of buying don’t have to be bought because they’re available in your college. You can get those books issued and have them for over a month when you tell the librarian that the books are a part of your curriculum.
Moreover, if you don’t find the books you’re looking for, you can always find alternatives. The thing with alternatives is that they’re not very different from the original books. Most of the content in alternative books is similar to the content in the original you’re looking for. And, you only discover alternative books when you visit the college library often. You can even complete assignments in the college library because you won’t get distracted and will easily be able to complete them.
So, make it a point to visit the library every few days to know what’s up.
Share With Your Friends
An excellent thing that many students don’t know is that they can save money on books by taking help from their friends. It is common for youngsters to share their Netflix & other OTT platforms’ IDs with their friends in today's time. If they can share this information, they can also share the books.
If you’re three to four friends, you can ask one friend to buy one book and others to buy different books. This way, you’ll only be buying one book but still have other books. Moreover, you won’t have to borrow the books from your friends as group study is the best way you can study. Many advantages come with group study.
If you didn’t think of this tip, you need to seriously think about it now because it can save you tons of money.
Buy Used Books
As soon as you get the syllabus, it is time to search for relevant books on websites like eBay and Amazon. We highly recommend you consider buying used books because they’re basically the same. We know buying used books can be odd for you if you haven’t bought any second-hand products in the past.
You can always rely on multiple platforms for buying used books. As books don’t have any moving parts, you can expect little to no damage. The prices are considerably lower for used books, sometimes even less than half the original price.
We strongly advise more college students to start buying used books. If you’ve been buying second-hand books for some time, you can also help your friends by telling them about it and helping them save money because a friend in need is a friend indeed.
Rent Books
If you don’t want to buy second-hand books because of the cost or any other reason, you have the option of renting them. Renting is an amazing option as students require books only for a semester. So, spending lots of money on something you’ll need only for six months is not a good option.
There are many websites you can use for renting books. Renting doesn’t cost a lot and you can return them after your semester gets over. Renting books doesn’t mean that you have to search for websites online that do it. You can contact the people you know because books aren’t useful for someone who has already gotten value from them in their previous semesters. It is such a common method that, surprisingly, many students don’t know about.
In our opinion, renting is a better option than buying new or second-hand books. As you can rent almost anything, you can also rent books.
Study From eBooks
eBooks are becoming increasingly popular and replacing the books we’ve always used. They are replacing the conventional books because they offer the same information without taking up any space in your dorm. They can easily be stored in your smartphone, laptop or cloud. Moreover, platforms like Amazon Kindle are entirely dedicated to eBooks.
For buying eBooks, you don’t have to go to physical shops. With many platforms on the internet, you simply have to search for the best for you. You can do it easily by writing the book’s name and adding “eBook” after it. You’ll definitely get results for buying the eBook. Sometimes, you will not even have to buy them because they’ll be available for free online.
We highly recommend you consider eBooks because you don’t have to worry about forgetting them at your dorm, as no student ever forgets their smartphone. Youngsters can forget everything but their smartphones. Finally an advantage of keeping your smartphone with you at all times.
Ask Your Seniors
Out of the many benefits of having a good relationship with your seniors, we feel asking them for help regarding books is an underrated one. Many students don’t realize that their seniors studied the same subjects as them and had to use the same books.
Oftentimes, nothing bad happens to books and they can easily be borrowed. So, what we want you to do is ask your seniors if they have the books. If they do, they’ll gladly let you borrow them because those books are of no use to them.
If your seniors don’t have the books you need, they can help you by telling you how to access them. As they’ve been in your situation a year or two prior, they’ll be able to tell you ways that actually work.
Make Use Of The Scholarship Money
If you applied for a scholarship and were able to get it, there is no harm in using it for buying college books. The scholarship money has to be used for things related to education. And books are completely related to it.
A good amount is usually covered under a scholarship, meaning you can easily spend money on buying books and still have it. Students often get confused about where they should use their scholarship money. In our opinion, using it for buying books is the best option. But, some students don’t think this way and use the scholarship money for traveling, partying and other things, which in our opinion, is a waste of that money.
So, instead of using the scholarship money elsewhere, use it on something that is actually important.
Conclusion
Many students don’t realize sooner that books can serve them in unimaginable ways. Although this blog was about books specifically for studying, they are also books and have the essence that all books in general have. It is quite common for college students not to buy books throughout their semester and then, at the very last moment, worry about understanding important topics. When they have books with them, they can highlight important topics. Having books also helps students to complete assignments effectively.
If having a lack of resources for arranging books is a problem for you, this blog might have proved beneficial for you because we discussed 7 ways college students can save money on books.
You can appreciate our efforts for this blog by sharing it with your friends.
