r3fresh

Cut Your College Book Bill in Half

College is expensive, everyone knows that. Even with loans and scholarships, students and parents are looking at finding the cheapest way to get through school. Having $3000 less in loans at the end of your college stay may seem dismal, but to some it’s worth it.

Buying books for the upcoming year at school, I had the option of going through the school’s book store, which is what most of the students do at the beginning of each semester. The other option was something that hit me a couple months ago. Amazon.com. I’ve only bought a few books from Amazon, but I always saved a reasonable amount of money from them, even on new books.

Looking at the total cost for the college books store, the bill totaled about $400. I thought this was extremely expensive for eight books that I wouldn’t touch a year from now. What was even more annoying was the fact that it was $400 for used books.

Next, I went to Amazon.com, entered the ISBN numbers into the search, compared prices from different merchants, and had generated a bill of $175. $175 for eight books that would have cost me $400 at the book store? Yes! Also, four of the eight books I purchased were brand new. One used book was new, but the shipment had gotten “sun damage” and the publisher was selling them at used prices. Even my math book, which I bought for $0.83, was in great condition, only some minor highlighting.

I don’t think college books stores are trying to screw you, but like any business they need to make their money. With Amazon, I found cheaper prices on every book I purchased and next semester when I’m looking at buying books again, I will definitely use Amazon.

Tips for buying books from Amazon:

• Make sure to buy from an established Amazon merchant. “Just Launched” sellers have no reputation, no ratings from buyers.
• When buying used, only buy “Like New” condition books. Anything lower and you may need to purchase the book again.
• Many new books come with an “Interactive CD.” Buying used it is much harder to find a seller that has the CD, but don’t worry, 99% of the time you’ll never use it in your classes.
• If it’s cheap, it doesn’t mean it it’s in bad condition.
• Order the books at least 3 weeks before the date you will need them. Many sellers will send books media mail, which may take up two weeks for delivery depending on your location.

Tags: amazon, books, college, finance, internet, money, new, research, school, tips, tricks, used

$20, The Breakdown

The five applications Apple released in an upgrade for the iPod Touch are not free. They aren’t even reasonably priced. They are however overpriced at $20. I still bought the upgrade, not because I needed it, but because I must have the latest and greatest.

The apps included are maps ($.63), weather ($.15), stocks ($.12), notes ($.68), and the only one I use, mail ($.86). So I spent $20 on a mail application that I really didn’t need? I thought so, until I dug a little deeper and found features that make it worth it better. (Also included a break down of what they really are worth)

New “Hidden” Features:

• Web Clips- Like apps, but are slower and only work when connected to wifi ($.53)
• Custom Screen Layout- You can now put any app, anywhere, there’s even more pages ($.02)
• Location Lookup- Google maps can find your location, but good luck having it work on an iPod Touch ($.31)
• Document viewer- the iPhone can view common files like .doc and spreadsheets, and it’s now on the Touch ($1.oo)
• Minor tweaks- just looking at the interface you’ll notice minor layout changes, animations, and a few new buttons ($.47)

The upgrade should be priced at $4.77.

*The “estimation” is not based on anything and for good reason.

Tags: apple, breakdown, finance, funny, ipod, math, money, tech