Paying for books

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

Hey everyone,

I have a question. Has anyone here ever paid for your books with a credit card? Long story short, my federal stafford loan is BARELY covering my tuition, and I need to somehow pay for my books (prob. around $1,000 for fall and spring semester) I don't want to touch my savings, because I will be only working weekends during school and that money will be going towards my bills and car payment. I have never had a credit card before (I only have a debit card) so I'm a little scared about applying for one. Should I do this to pay for my books? Will the interest rate be really high if I do this? I really didn't want to have to use a credit card for this, but I may have to. :rolleyes:

Thanks for any input guys.

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I know my bank offers a student loan program that helps cover cost above and beyond Fed Loans. I have done this in years past since the interest rate is often less than credit cards and they are also deffered until you are done with school, unlike a credit card which you will have to pay back every month. IMHO, I have credit cards and while I use them, we also pay off the balance at the end of each month and that is the way to do it.

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I agree with mommy, look into a student loan, the interest rates are much lower and you usually don't have to start paying it back until you graduate.

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Buy online. I once bought a textbook for $4!! I buy here as much as possibly and usually pay half for books that are in new condition.

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I agree - look into other options for buying books before going into debt. You can generally find books an edition or two back for under $10 each, and the content has generally not changed enough to make them unusable.

You might also be able to find some of the books at the school or public library.

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First of all, kudos to you for staying away from credit cards as much as possible!! Secondly, I agree with the others about trying to find cheaper options for getting books. In addition to all these great suggestions, and it may sound weird, but you can even RENT your books online for cheaper than any textbook selling used. I've done this a couple times, and it really has saved me a lot of money.

You get your books the same way you would buy online, but there's a certain due date. When the class is done, you print out the label online, stick on the box and drop it off at the nearest UPS store/drop-off....free.

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I agree with the look online suggestions. The amazon market place has some really good deals. Sometimes you can get brand new books like less than half the retail price.

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Specializes in SNU/SNF/MedSurg, SPCU Ortho/Neuro/Spine.

anymore i dont buy books i rent them...

check out chegg.com

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Hi,

Excellent suggestions esp. to purchase books online. Also, the rent a book option is good - you are going to pay a lower amount than if you bought the same book online whether used or new, but the drawback here is you can't sell the book to anyone else and then get your $$ back and sometimes you can get even more $$ back than what you originally paid. So the best option really is buying online. Below I will give you the best sites to compare prices. The key to buying books online is - research, research, research. It will take some quality time to compare books at each site, but you can save enormous amts of $$ w/the extra time you spend to do the research. Here are the websites:

www.campusbooks.com - This is a spectacular site which will compare many different websites to buy books, and the best websites listed under this one main site are: a1books.com, phatcampus.com, biggerbooks.com, textbooksnow.com, and bookbyte.com

www.cheapesttextbooks.com - This is also a really great site that too will compare different booksellers online such as: half.com, amazon.com, and textbooks.com

Also, look for the online specials each bookseller has such as - Amazon gives free shipping if you buy the book (new) directly from their warehouse (understand that there are many private sellers on amazon which will charge shipping so that is the difference from buying direct from amazon, but there are plenty of excellent priced new books direct from amazon which I've bought recently). Another site, Textbooks.com gives free shipping for all books new or used over $25 (this is excellent and there is no limit of how many separate books you are alloowed to purchase w/free shipping , even if you buy 10+ !! Bookbyte.com will give you $5 off any $20 purchase - just put the code they have listed (this is great too). Biggerbooks.com has a special to get $5 off when spending $50 (here too you'll need to put a code in when you go to pay for the book)

All in all, you can save hundreds of $$$ if you do research and buy from one of the trusted sites I've listed. Please, whatever you do - don't buy any books from your college bookstore unless it is a custom book that you must purchase. Best of luck to you and your schooling in the Fall :D

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Wow! I am so grateful to this site because folks like you help educate and give us GREAT advise. I looked up the above sites to try them out. I wasn't able to find my books on any of them and its because of the coorifices I am taking, but I did add them to my favorites for future references. Thank you for advise, it really helps. :yeah:

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Hey don't forget ebay. My chemistry book retails 185.00, I found it at amazon for 140. But there is a seller on ebay that has a buy it now price of 85.00 and another that has an auction, I am bidding on that now, the current bid is 36.01 if I loose that, I'll get the 85.00 one. Either way it's a win win, Wish me luck.

I love Ebay. :heartbeat

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Ms. Dennah, Thank you for advising ebay..It slips my mind about that place. Good luck on your bid. :typing

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