Money saving tips for school

   Here's a money saving tip for all you UAlbany students, new and returning, that haven't caught onto this yet: Beware the campus bookstore; don't pay for printouts at the library. Again, I strongly urge you to not buy books from the campus bookstore until you've exhausted all other options, and don't even waste a single dime of your money on printouts at the school library.

   Both the campus bookstore and the printouts at the library are major financial rip-offs. The first one will drain you right away at the beginning of every new semester, while the latter one will bleed you out like a thousand tiny paper cuts, slowly but surely over a long enough period of time. Follow this simple advice, avoiding both like the devil, and you'll save yourself boatloads of money over the course of your college career at UAlbany.

   You need to go to the bookstore's website in order to find out what books you need for your classes to begin with, so right away you'll know how much the campus bookstore is charging for each book (new and used). After you know how much the campus bookstore wants, here are the four things you should always do (in the following sequential order) before purchasing books from the campus bookstore:

      1. Search for it online (Free) – If you're taking a literature course, and the reading material is a fairly old novel/short story, odds are you can download it online for free. Just Google the name of your book and then add (.pdf) at the end of it (i.e. Robinson Crusoe .pdf). If you find the entire version in .pdf format, you don't need to purchase the book. There are also advantages to .pdf files over standard texts: you can search for specific words/passages, copy and paste specific quotes, and automatically flip to any page.  

   Note: Be warned tough, if the specific book on your list is more than just the story itself (like an abridged volume that contains literary criticisms), than the story alone may not suffice. When in doubt, email your professor.   

   2. Cheapesttextbooks.com –If you absolutely need to buy the book, use Cheapesttextbooks.com as your first resource to find the best prices online. After you find out what books you need on the campus bookstore website, just copy and paste the ISBN number in the search bar to find the best online prices. Results will be from a variety of online book vendors, such as Half.com, Amazon.com, and other leading merchant websites. Choose the best one that works for you. On Half.com, if it's being shipped from New York it should arrive in a couple of days. Amazon may take longer unless you pay for express shipping, and all the other websites should outline how much, and how long shipping should take.

   3. Mary Jane Bookstore – After checking the leading online prices for the book you need, go to Maryjanebooks.com in order to see the prices of the local, small town competitor. Mary Jane's prices are almost always cheaper than the campus bookstore. If you can buy the book in used condition from Mary Jane, do it because the used books they sell have to meet a fairly stringent quality standard. Mary Jane is on the corner of Western Ave. and Quail St. in Albany, so it's fairly easy to get to if you need your books ASAP.  

   4. Then, and only then should you buy from the campus bookstore – in rare cases Mary Jane won't have your book, or their available selection won't beat the bookstore's. This year the campus bookstore started renting books out to students for cheaper than used book prices, but only consider this option if you keep your books in quality shape (ruining a rental book will cost more than buying a used book). Only after all other options have failed should you be willing to purchase from the campus bookstore, because it's the biggest rip off of all. The books they sell are from Barnes and Noble, which is a for-profit business that could really care less about your budget or fair prices.

   5. Get yourself an inkjet printer – Last but not least, don't buy printouts from the library. For less than 100 dollar, you can buy yourself an inkjet printer. Most inkjet cartridges are rated for several thousand pieces of paper, which would be equivalent to hundreds of dollars worth of paper from the library (at 10 cents a copy, 1000 copies is 100 dollars). Do the math and do yourself a favor, don't waste a single dime of your hard earned money on the library's paper scam.