Well, in case your answer to that question is “yes,” here are several tips to get you on your way to adding heaps of extra debt to your already piled-high stack of student loans. (Hey, everyone has to be an overachiever at something, right?)
These tactics are proven. In fact, I once used some of them myself, so trust me: they really do work! By following these five steps, you’ll find textbook-buying to be much more pricey than your penny-pinching peers:
1. Live semester-to-semester
Do not look ahead at classes you’ll be taking next semester or next year. (If you looked ahead, you might find some good deals, especially after the students taking your future classes are done buying.)
2. Procrastinate
Don’t just wait until you’re registered for the semester’s classes to start looking; wait until the classes are starting! That way, you’ll usually have a very good excuse to forgo the bulletin boards, Craigslist ads, and other thrifty spots, because most of the good deals will have already been taken.
3. Keep your old books that you’ll never use again
Get sentimental about them, stack them for use as end tables, or just throw them in the back of your car for extra weight, but, for heaven’s sake, don’t sell your old books! You could use the extra money to help defray the cost of the coming semester’s books, and then you would be saving money.
4. Avoid all chances to network with other students in your major
Otherwise, you might connect with someone whose books you’d be able to buy on the cheap, semester after semester. Without the daunting hunt for each individual book to dissuade you, you might be tempted to save some cash. And, by getting to know younger students, you might be persuaded to let go of some of your old books. Then, what would you do for an end table?
5. Rent out books you know you’ll need for a future class, state boards, or grad school
This is an excellent way to double your payout! Why purchase an expensive book just once, when you can rent it out to someone who probably won’t return it, allowing you the luxury of buying another copy. (You would have missed that stubborn new book binding, anyway, wouldn’t you?)
If you really want to pay as much as possible on your text books each semester, please follow my advice, and I assure you, you will not spend less than anyone. And besides, your campus store will thank you.
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