Maneuvering through College Expenses

My son Joshua has completed his first year of college and survived to tell about it. As his homeschool mom I was nervous as to how he would do academically, being our first to attend college. He did great, and I'm proud of the diligence he showed in juggling his newfound freedom and responsibilities.

However, we did discover that said son needed to learn on his own how to manage his money better. Being on a campus without a cafeteria was tough so there were basically three options: 1. eat out; 2. cook in the dorm kitchen; or 3. Find something to eat from his food stash in his room. I guess there was always a 4th option: come home and let mama cook for you!

One of the many ways a student can save money is by renting college textbooks. If you haven't had to purchase one lately you would probably be amazed at the costs. When my son took a local community college course in high school one textbook alone cost $125. I was amazed at the cost and dismayed when I wasn't able to sell it back the next semester because the computer disc changed each semester.


There is another way to save money on college textbooks and that is to try text book rental. Campus Book Rental is one source. This online book rental service has the following:

• 40-90% off of bookstore price
• free shipping both ways
• can highlight in the textbooks 
• flexible renting periods
• donation to Operation Smile with each textbook rented
• 30 day risk free guarantee

I still have a few (very few because I'm not a pack rat) of my music textbooks from college but kept none of the ones unrelated to my major. My son is at a seminary and his books are pretty specific to his christian studies major, but any of those other subject textbooks that he wouldn't want to keep are in his best interest to rent. My husband also has one last class to take for his undergraduate degree. Obviously, he took the round about route to finishing, but I'm extremely proud of him for finishing what he started many years ago. Renting textbooks, especially for those first semesters when the courses are more generalized, is an excellent idea. With Campus Book Rentals you can choose to rent for a semester, quarter or for the summer. There is also the flexibility to rent for your own specified amount of time.

One of the books my son is reading is Plato Complete Works edited by John M. Cooper.

As you can tell from the link, it is $54 list price and less than $30 for a semester rental. My son is going to keep this book for his library, but there are many other options for him to use at Campus Book Rentals. Renting textbooks is a great way to teach our college students how to save money.

Campus Book Rental also donates to Operation Smile with each textbook rental. What a great cause to support!

My son goes back to college shortly. ~sigh~ Anyone else have kids in college? How do you cope with their leaving?

This is a sponsored post, but the opinions and text are all mine.