Tuesday, January 19, 2010

TEXTBOOKS :(

ahhh its that time of the year again, spring semester just started. school is definitely a love hate relationship for me. when i take a semester off i long to go to school, then when a semester begins i dread it. lol i wouldnt mind it as much if it were free, like high school was such a breeze. they provided you with all of your text books, the only fees you ever paid were for classes and things you'd actually use. like.. why do i pay a universal transportation fee so i can ride public transit for free.... when, i dont use the public transit system!!! paying for school irritates me. i also refuse to pay for books at the book store, i swear they're out to rip me off! i spend endless hours before a semester starts searching for the best price for my books, free shipping only. lol i refuse to ever pay for shipping.

this semester in particular i lucked out and only needed to buy one book, considering i am only taking two classes (part-time) i was on a mission to be extra frugal with my budget for textbooks. i found a site, bookrenter.com which actually had a really good price. i have never rented a textbook before so this will definitely be a new experience for me, but $56 for the entire semester for a textbook and the cd-rom required for the class.. i couldnt say no. especially considering purchasing one would cost me well near $150.00. i know you can always sell it back at the end of the semester.. but i still feel like i am getting ripped off. especially since the prices can fluctuate so dramatically. i never really care what condition the books are in, from experience i have always bought used books from the web (particularly amazon) and they have always been in great condition. im not the type of person to highlight or write in my books, & im totally annoyed with people that do (no offense), thats why they invented notebooks people!! the rules of high school have definitely stuck with me, lol.

Textbook rental sites like Bookrenter.com or Chegg.com may be a good option for anyone who is on a limited budget, or doesnt need a $200 textbook for half of a semester (i love that you can rent on a semester/quarter/monthly terms). they also offer free returns, great shipping rates (free standard!). so maybe give it a try next semester? i will do an updated review after the semester ends to let yall know how my first textbook renting experience goes... wish me luck :)

also, good luck to all of the lovely ladies gettin their education on this semester!

7 comments:

Dana Yoshimizu said...

Ugh, I don't even want to think about buying books for my spring semester yet! >__< This past fall I spent more than $400 on my books! Crazy huh?

Mel said...

I rented too! I figured it out, I'm definitely saving $$ by renting. If I bought the books and sold them back at the end of the semester I would still have spent about $230 more then I did by renting them from chegg. Great post! More people should rent!

M. said...

thanks for the resources. my hubby is taking a math class but the book is freakin expensive and we can't find good deals anywhere. i'll have him check it out. thanks!

xoxo,
M.

Jasmin said...

Oh, I know what you mean.. HAHA. I have to buy my textbooks soon too.. I tried Chegg last semester, and it really easy.. I thought it would have been complicated, and would have to deal with other issues, but I didn't have any problems with it. Look in to it if you have the time; it might be for you. Have a great week!

xoladiihoneyxo said...

ahhh! Now you tell me =[ I spent so much money, erghh. I need the book now so I guess I'll stick with the ones I have and deal with it until next semester. Hopefully I remember those two renting sites. haha. I didn't even know you can rent books, especially since it's coming from online. How do you like your classes so far and how is your little prince? =] Behaving in your tummy?

Shawn said...

Hiya Ketmany!

Saw you're trying out renting your textbooks. It's a really great option. Thought you might want to check out this new site that we're working on.

TextbookRenter.com compares all of the big rental sites so you know you're getting the best price. BookRenter and Chegg are both on there. Just type in your book and you'll see all of the prices from the different sites. Hope you check us out! Great post again! :)

-Shawn

Dana Yoshimizu said...

Oh I know! I actually bought a few of my books on Amazon because they were so damn expensive at my school's bookstore. & One of them was onlly $1.50 because they didn't use the edition anymore :) My professor said that the different editions didn't even matter, they are all pretty much the same shit.

Stupid book companies just keep coming out with new ones so people spend more mone >=O