More Bang for Your Buck: Textbooks Savings

WSVN--Every year college students eat roughly 60 million slices of pizza. Drink 4 billion cups of coffee. And spend over 8 billion dollars on textbooks.

It's one price tag, student Brian Entin would like to cut in half. He spends at least five hundred dollars on books each semester.

College Student Brian Entin: "When I look at the books it's kind of frustrating to me. It's a lot of money right here."

Well Brian, say goodbye to your overpriced, underused books. Now you can get to the head of class without paying top dollar.

Brian Entin: "I would like to save. I'm always open to new ways.

One way to save is to look for used books. It's especially important to keep an eye out for older editions. Publishers frequently bring out new editions, but the material is basically the same.

Brian Entin: "Once in a while you might find a good deal and it might work out."

Also take the time to see if your school offers scholarships for textbooks. Many times, the grants go unused because students don't know they exist.

If you like to shop online, the sites best-book-buys-dot-com and half-dot-com let you compare new and used books from around 20 stores.

Nova Southeastern University Student Katie Blanco: "It can make things easier for a student but it can make things difficult. You have to be willing to take the risk."

Or you can take a risk by downloading material. If you do your homework, you'll find certain websites like project Gutenberg offer select students' free access to classic literature.

Katie Blanco: "Email itself and the internet and websites have been a significant change."

Technology is also changing the way students sell their books. At the University of Miami, publications are posted on the cane-exchange, the school's new online classified service.

The program is free but it's only open to the UM family.

University Of Miami Student Gabriel Trujillo: "It's amazing what students will be able to achieve on this website."

Brian saves by swapping books with other student's in his major. Every new deal he finds helps him give back to his parents.

Brian Entin: "I'd rather just save them the money. They've given me enough money with school."

Here's another tip, if you've invested in a college savings plan, many plans allow you to include the cost of textbooks.

Contact:lgarrigan@wsvn.com

www.bestbookbuys.com
www.half.com
www.gutenberg.org
www.caneexchange.miami.edu