We all know the best part of going back to school is not buying textbooks. Reuniting with friends? Definitely. Kicking off another season of college football? Absolutely. Epic rush parties? Bring it on. Shelling out hundreds of hard-earned dollars for overpriced books? WTF.

Heading to the campus bookstore is your most convenient, but also most expensive option. Turning to online sites like Amazon for books can save you a buck, sure…if you don’t mind waiting half a semester for your books to arrive in the mail from random retailers all over the country.

What was once a losing battle, however, has been revolutionized by Chegg. In addition to offering a number of other academic services, they’ll get you your books — to purchase (new and used) or rent — when you need them, and for a great price.

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School is starting soon and although I am fully stoked to party it up with my long-lost friends (we’re seriously having separation anxiety!), I keep thinking about how much money this semester is going to cost me. Mainly, the dreaded textbooks purchase.

I always try to get through the semester buying the least amount of books possible, but this semester I’ve loaded up on psychology courses. And for any Psych majors or minors out there, you know what that means – 100+ dollars for the latest editions (times 4 in my case!).

While my education is important, I have to believe that I can get my learn on without giving up my new shoe money! So I did some intense Googling combined with some asking around and came across BookRenter.com.

Now I’ve heard about renting books before, but I’ve always been into buying them; you know, just on the off-chance I’d want to keep them. Well in the 3-and-a-half years I’ve been in college the only books I’ve kept are ones that couldn’t be sold back, which means I’ve been throwing away money like it’s my j-o-b and I’ve finally realized the value of renting books.

So now you’re all like, okay, I like the idea of renting books, but what if I do miraculously love my economics book and don’t want to part with it?

Well if you decide you want to buy the book from BookRenter, you just keep it and pay the original purchase price! Or if you need to keep it for longer, like say maybe you had to take an incomplete in your Biology class and need the book to make up some tests, you can just extend the rental period.

And if you’re like me and need to highlight important passages or take little notes in the margins, which is another reason I’ve stayed away from rentals, BookRenter’s OK with that, too. Well, as long as you don’t go crazy with your doodles and mark up every. last. page. Minimal markings are fine (both for your GPA and for BookRenter) and really, there’s no need to go all Picasso with the highlighter in the margins. Read More »

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Renting or buying textbooks – which is better?

"I can't believe I spent $500 on this sh*t."

Two good things come out of buying your college textbooks each year.  They are great for beating your roommate over the head when she doesn’t do her dishes a blanket-weight while studying out in the quad and the short change you get back on ‘book buy-back’ day (for drinking purposes).  The dark side of the spectrum of book buying?

You spend more money on Biostatistical Genetics than you would on your first born child. Not exactly my idea of a good time. (Nor is having a child…)

Fortunately, for all of those students out there planning a farewell party for the limited cash in their bank accounts, there is hope.  Thanks to the Higher Education Act of 2008, new textbook regulations will lower the price of textbooks. Hooray!

One way they will do this is by not requiring students to buy those CDs strapped to the insides of books that cost so much you’d think they contain flecks of gold.  Professors will also be encouraged to provide a list of books early, so all of us money-strapped students can scour the web for the best deals on those 10-pound behemoths we only open when it’s time for finals. These new regulations also promise student discounts on Amazon (for everyone with a .edu address!), and lower price options from publishing companies.

I say this calls for a textbook celebration!  Go ahead, take all of those old textbooks that you couldn’t sell back and turn them into a drinking game (take a drink every time you turn to a page without a picture. Good luck, English majors…).  Treat yourself to the most quality of vodkas (you’ve got extra cash now, right?!).  Flash back to third grade art class and whip up some paper mache.  It’s really your call how you want to party, but party you must.

After all, it’s Friday and it’s time to embrace college life without textbooks that only Lebron James could afford.

[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site. We love a strong woman, so we thought we'd give her a real forum to discuss her thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Every Friday I'll be featuring a hot topic (like the gyno-gender debate!) and leaving it up to you, the readers, to duke it out. So, read it and get your debate on in the comments section below!]

It’s textbook time again - the moment when you look down your syllabus and groan at the hundreds of dollars that could have gone to things like food (or that fantasy fall wardrobe) that you will instead be laying down for an eight-pound anatomy book. Sigh. Well, don’t get your panties in a bunch just yet; suddenly, there may be other options. Between some schools giving out Kindles for free <incoherent jealous muttering> and a few textbook companies making their wares available for download on smart phones, this year we could do away with the piles of heavy, bound books…

But do we want to? Read More »