I can't afford my textbooks?

Question

what should I do? like I have NO money after paying for tuition.

Answer 1

Go to the guidance counselor and explain your situation. There is help for such things.

Answer 2

I'm sure you have asked friends who are older than you if you could you there old books, but if they don't have any, you can always check on line like ebay for people selling old books at a much cheaper cost. I hope this helps!

Answer 3

ebay it and the library and see if anyone you have class with is without a book and see if you can purchase one together or something. Check around also for old editions of the same book, a lot of times they cheaper and there are very few changes not unless the book is like 10 years old ( like you need the 9th edition and it is a 3rd edition) because for the most part, editions do not change much. I done that last year for one of my classes, the new edition was 80.00 used and I bought one off ebay, prior edition, for 15.00. How about a student loan to cover books and only books? Do not do the credit card thing.

Answer 4

Library - xerox machine - borrow - share.

Answer 5

Unfortunately I disagree. The students that I knew at university who stated they could not afford their textbooks were typically the ones who spent their money on partying, shopping, or had other problems like gambling. Even single mothers that I knew who had children and had fathers that did not pay child support were still able to buy textbooks.

I am going to assume that you could not buy your textbooks due to some other reason, such as loss of a job, than what I have stated so far. Financial aid does assume you will put aside some money to cover expenses related to your education such as money for books and general living expenses. This requires any money you get to prioritize how it is spent so that you are able to meet your educational expenses such as books and it may mean that you need to remove some other expenses in order to afford school.

Some posters have recommended that you copy pages and unfortunately the cost of copying can be more expensive than if you had bought the book yourself.  Others have suggested the library. However there is no guarantee that the book will be in the library or that someone else is not using it.

Other options such as borrowing the books from friends may seem like an idea but unfortunately it does put a strain on your friendship with them. Many friends will get tired of loaning your their books somewhere between mid-semester and finals, if not sooner. A further option is to look at other financing options such as a loan on top of your student loan, maybe there is some more aid you can get or if your school gives out an emergency loan for such a situation. If you are looking at more aid then the best advice I can give is to  speak with your financial aid office as they will be able to best advise you.

My other suggestion is to look for used textbooks a lot of times you can get them for about 1/3 to 1/2 the price of new. This statement is dependent to a certain extent that you are not in a field that changes rapidly like nursing, medicine, law, biology, chemistry, or a similar field. Furthermore I disagree with posters who recommend e-bay due to the fact there is no way to guarantee the quality of the book, how quickly the seller will ship it, and the book may be out of date. Also the price you paid for it on e-bay used you might have been able to buy it cheaper elsewhere. Final recommendation would be to get a part-time job and buy the books after you get paid.

Answer 6

Most schools have the text books in the library.

I haven't bought a single one yet!

Answer 7

Try used textbooks on Amazon.com

Answer 8

Ebay, Amazon or A used bookstore should have really great prices!