Tips To Make Your College Experience Cheaper
List of websites where you can find free ebooks, specified by subject.
Slugbooks.com (to compare textbook prices)
Bigwords.com (price comparison)
Abebooks.com (offers textbook editions, like unbound ones, that are cheaper than retailers)
Bookrenter.com (shipping is free, as well as the shipping back to the warehouse)
gutenberg.org (free e-books)
Allbookstores.com (searching shows the lowest price for a book)
bookscouter.com (find the highest buy back site for a book)
bookdepository.com (Good for English majors, discounted books shipped around the world)
gen.lib.rus.ec (free digital copies of books)
HERE is a huge list of textbook PDFs.
ALWAYS check to see if textbook websites have online coupons. Check outside websites like RetailMeNot.com but also sign up for their email listing. They often send you a coupon for just signing up and will continually send you other coupon deals.
Amazon has good deals on books sometimes and they offer college students temporary free membership. Here’s a link explaining some of the details.
Amazon and other retailers, like Barnes and Noble also offer textbook rental. You get the book for a certain amount of time (30 days, 60 days, 90 days, etc., then mail it back to them.) Much cheaper than buying.
Some professors put textbooks on reserve in the library so you can check them out for an hour or two instead of actually buying them.
If your class textbooks are at the library and you need them for longer than allowed, you can always photocopy them.
Look for Facebook pages/groups with your school name and year, people are always posting online to get rid of their textbooks.
If your books are older/literature type books they are often available as e-books for free or easy to find at used bookstore or thrift stores.
Ask your professor after hours if you can borrow and make copies of the class textbook.
Many colleges use the Link+ library sharing program or something similar. If the textbook you need isn’t offered in the library, another school within the program can deliver the book for free. Ask you school’s librarians about it.
If you have a class that requires a “reader,” which is just a bunch of articles, you can usually find them at the school library or online.
Keep your textbooks in the best condition possible, so they sell for higher when you no longer need them.
If you can access your class list and the emails of your classmates early, ask if anyone would like to share a textbook. Split the price and share it or just ask to copy the chapters needed.
If you get financial aid, set it up to deposit into your own checking account because FAFSA ATMs are frustrating.
Check out the dollar stores for some college supplies. They have pens, notebooks, planners, etc.
Find upperclassmen who are moving out of their dorms/apartments, they often sell/give away items they are no longer going to be using.
Find out if your department offers free printing to undergrads. If yours doesn’t, find a friend whose department does.
Pretty much every school offers a MS Office license to students for free. It may not be well advertised but make sure to find out before paying for the programs on your own.
Bulk supply stores are usually cheaper.
Use your phone’s planner and alerts for assignments.
If you need energy boosts, it’s definitely cheaper to brew your own coffee and tea, then use a travel mug. But if you need to go to places like Starbucks, sign up for the Starbucks card so you can get free refills on certain items and get discounts for members only.
Find out what free courses your school offers and go to them instead of paying for a tutor.
At many universities there are conferences and talks almost daily, which often offer free lunches and dinners.
Some colleges offer free cab services so make sure to look into that.
Most school health care places give out free condoms and they are often given out at events too.
Besides math, older editions of textbooks are usually just fine and much cheaper.
Thrift stores are great if you need items for your dorm or apartment, they have appliances and offer testing areas in a section of the store.
Specific to Seattle: There’s a place called Seattle ReCreative and you can get school supplies for extremely cheap.
Check when stores offer back to school sales and get supplies then for cheaper than usual.
Get your syllabus as soon as possible so you can photocopy all the needed pages in textbooks.
Look for websites that offer similar information in the textbook, sometimes it’s explained better online, gives examples, or just generally better worded.
Buy school supplies during tax-free weekend.
Apply for as many local scholarships as possible and do it every year in college, not just freshman year.
Ask absolutely every place you go if they offer student discounts. Many places don’t advertise this, but will offer some kind of discount if you show your student ID.
Find out if your school has assistance options for lower income students.
HERE is a list of food budget tips, recipes, and websites to help.
Some classes have extra fees for whatever reason, for example they will charge more if certain equipment will be used. If it’s not a course you need, sometimes it’s better to find cheaper elective classes.
Consider community college to save money, and then transfer to a 4 year school. Or attend community college classes during the summer but make sure to always check if the credits transfer.
If you need to use a credit card, try to get on with cash back rewards. Also check which banks offer perks for students, like free checking or a no-free policy for low minimum balances.
Check out your college newspaper and signs around campus. You will often find information about free events or find coupons with discounts on near by businesses.
School supplies that don’t sell at stores like Walmart and Target are extremely discounted during the last week of August.
Always check if stores price check.
