Saving money on college textbooks

New textbooks are a scam in the digital age. I am in the process of buying the textbooks for next semester. So far I have been able to buy them at greatly reduced prices as long as you follow a few rules. First, start looking early. As the semester approaches, the supply of books gets constrained and the prices go up. Next, I have a few great sources for books, one is amazon.com, only the used book sellers however have good prices. That's alright, buy used, if your like most people you're rarely going to open the spine again after your done with it anyway. Also, the purchases you make are covered by amazon's return policy if you are not happy with your items. eBay is another source of nice international editions that are the same in content as the US versions but usually are of reduced quality such as no color, no CD, or soft-cover. Also, don't be afraid to buy from an international supplier as they often have more choices at better prices. I bought my accounting text from India last semester. Sometimes if I can't find what I want at the acceptable price, I will look for a previous edition of the text. Check first with the professor to make sure it will work for their purposes and/or you can work with your fellow classmates to get a copy of the required homework from the new version. There are many other sellers out there that claim to offer cheap textbooks, but I have had excellent experiences with the two mentioned above and I will continue to recommend and use them. Another note, I never buy anymore from the college bookstore unless a custom edition is required, as the prices are simply unacceptable.

Here's what I found so far:


The Effective Executive (Paperback)byPeter F. Drucker (Author) ISBN 9780060833459

A used copy at amazon.com for $0.01 plus $3.99 shipping!

Financial Management: Theory and Practice [IMPORT] (Paperback) 11th Ed. ISBN 9780324422696

A used copy at amazon.com for $22.00 plus $3.99 shipping!

Marketing Management, 13th ed. International Ed. ISBN 9780136009986

A new copy at eBay for $24.99 plus $4.00 shipping from Mumbai.

Retail price on these books from amazon is $285.49, the above total is $58.98 for a savings of $226.51!

Vending machines, et al.

People are talking up multiple income streams for individuals that have traditionally relied on one or two sources of income, mainly their full-time job. However, this has exposed them to the risk of putting all their eggs in one basket syndrome. If someone loses their job all the income goes with it. Now the trend of the entrepreneurial age is to earn your living from many different sources such as a second job, vending machines, rental property, online sales, blogging, freelance writing or photography and many others. Businesses have been doing this for decades and I think this is a great way to incrementally move into owning your own business after you get the feel for the fundamentals. I currently have two vending machines that pull in about $600 net each year. That's not much money I know, but I also have involved my kids in filling them so they get the entrepreneurial experience. In my particular case the machines are provided all I have to do is fill them as needed so there is only the product cost and my time that I need to manage. My wife has done a lot of eBay sales over the last few years and she has netted about $3000 and cleaned up the house in the process. She is currently pursuing freelance writing and I think she will do very well. Just find your niche, be patient and get started. You are your own boss!

Free software

Another good way to save money is to use free software. Now I'm not talking about ripped off versions of Office, but legitimate choices like Open Office. I have been on strike with Microsoft products since they put that crummy little .x at the end of everything produced with Office 2007. Now Open Office isn't quite as fully functional as MS Office, but it is pretty darn close, and here's the good part...IT'S FREE. They just came out with the version for Apple Mac's, so there are options for Mac users. Another good one, but kind of buggy is Docs from Google. The best feature with Docs is that you can work from any computer and you don't need anything but a web browser. Sometimes you just have to have MS Office so when that happens I just mooch off someone else. It seems like almost everyone has some version hanging around. Look around the web there are tons of great free goodies that are excellent products, and I'll share more in future posts.

Need a new car?

Here is one of my money saving tips to think about when buying a used car. First, don’t wait until your vehicle is almost dead before you start looking. That way you won’t be in a desperate situation, and salespeople love distressed and frantic customers to take advantage of. Most people make inferior decisions because of time pressure. Also, a car/van/truck is at best temporary. All vehicles will break down at some point and you need to accept this and plan for it, which means save some money for new tires, repairs, and general maintenance. When you a ready to buy a new used vehicle, you will save thousands of dollars if you avoid brands that have great resell. This means forgoing the Toyotas and Hondas, which carry much higher resell value, and looking at somewhat generic, but functional brands like Chevrolet, Mitsubishi and Dodge. I recently bought a 2004 Chevy Venture that seats eight and was in great condition for about half the price of a comparably equipped Honda Odyssey. The resell on the Chevy dropped like rock and it was over half off of its original retail. Now I liked the way the Honda drove and its styling better than the Chevy, but I like to save money more. I know that Consumer Reports regularly skewers most of the domestic automakers, but how much more are you willing to pay for a better trim package and marginally better quality standards? Do the research into your next potential purchase (you don’t want a lemon) by using Edmunds.com, CarFax, and others and be disciplined about how much you are willing to spend. Look at all the options between brands and compare carefully. If you don’t like the deal on the car you really like never be afraid to walk away. Finally, don’t forget to test drive some of the fun stuff while your at it! You can save tons of money by using this strategy and in the process, get more car then if you paid full price.

Opportunities

Well, the economy is very volatile right now and conditions don't look very good for the next few quarters. However, I'm going to spend the next year looking at some ways to diversify your income stream, reduce your cost of living, and prepare yourself for future growth and opportunities. Stay tuned and hopeful! I suggest you start with a good book like, Influence: The Psychology Of Persuasion by Robert Caildini. Easy to read and scientifically sound this book is full of power. God Bless.