Free Money :)

Okay, so maybe my title is a little misleading :)  To receive money, you need to spend.  Let me explain, it's not too confusing ... I promise!  Ebates.com is a site that offers you a certain amount cash back.  They don't have every shopping site, but they do have a lot!

You can choose to receive your "Big Fat Check" in the mail or through your PayPal account.  I also have gotten some in the form of Amazon gift cards (usually with an extra dollar or two thrown on there), but I think that might be a special offer.  If you're feeling generous, you can choose to donate your money to a charity or friend ... or your favorite money-strapped college student. ;)

To get the cash back, you have to sign into Ebates, and then click on a link to the store.  I'm always super paranoid so I go into the store, put everything in my cart and then go through Ebates and check out.

They also like to double the cash back on certain stores for a limited time.  Hey look - flowers!  *hint hint* Just in time for Valentine's Day ;)

I would say that the percentages typically range from 2%-5% cash back.  The stores also change percentages frequently.  The percentages may not seem like much, but let me show you my totals from the past year.

I originally opened this account when I bought my laptop, which I splurged on (after using a coupon on, of course!) ... so that was a majority of my first check.  The second check was cash back from my phone and something from Amazon.  And then the most recent one, was comprised of cash back mostly from textbook purchases (except for $2.50).  This semester, I bought more books from the bookstore or from friends this semester, so I only have $7 so far. 

As an added bonus, they also have coupons and promo codes that you can see before 

On top of that money, you also get rewarded for referring people.  Both you and the person that you referred get $5 once they make their first $25 purchase..

This is how I see it: if you are going to make a big purchases online, these small percentages add up.  In the past year, I've received about $68 of the money that I would have already spent buying things for school.  That's enough gas money for a trip home :)

If you would like to sign up, here's my referral link:

 http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=Vyywfocy5ZxdPdziXB4vWg%3D%3D

Happy shopping!

Amanda

*They really like sending you emails to update you about all the cash back changes, but if you're like me and that really annoys you, you can change your account settings so that doesn't happen!

Let's talk textbooks ...

**First some disclaimers for any incoming freshmen... because I'm a music major, I have more classes than an average freshman.  The first semester I had 9, the second semester I had 10.  Therefore, I needed a lot of books - with some classes requiring as many as three.  So, don't freak out.  It's okay, there's a good chance that you (hopefully) will not have as many books as me.  The End.**

Okay, so the first thing upperclassmen tell freshmen is not to purchase your textbooks at the bookstore.  I agree with that ... I ended saving hundreds by shopping carefully.  But, sometimes it just makes sense to buy from the bookstore.

Convenience is a huge benefit.  My bookstore lets you return a book during the first week of classes.  Sometimes if you return a book online, you have to pay $3-4 shipping.  So, if you would have to drop your class or change it for any reason, buying from the bookstore may be a better option.

Also, sometimes the books that you need just aren't available anywhere else or are more expensive than the bookstore.

One of my books this semester was $90 at the book store ... but $887.70 and $1000.00 on Amazon!  Don't believe me?  I took a screenshot for proof!

At my college, you have to go through the bookstore's website to get the ISBNs of the books that you need for classes.  Sneaky, right?  It would be so tempting just to purchase them from the bookstore, but I made a spreadsheet for my textbooks because I wanted to see how much money I could save.*

I have one for each semester ... the big numbers in the last row?  Those are the totals!

Because I'm a nice person, I crunched the numbers for you.  If I would have bought all of my books new I would have spent $1209.  But let's say that I'm trying to be cheap, so I buy all the used books that are available ... that's still $1071.30.  I ended up spending $760.98 ... for a total savings of $448.02 and $310.02.  That's a lot of Ramen, or gas money, or loads of laundry, or peppermint mochas ... you get the picture :)

But how do you find the best deal on textbooks with all of the websites out there?  I use cheapesttextbooks.com.**  This site is super easy to use, and all you need to do is type in the ISBN number or title of your book.  

Here's an example:

I also love that it shows you what you can get if you sell your book  back.

If you scroll down the page, it shows you more details.

Tada!  Isn't it marvelous?  Again, you want to make sure that you really are getting a deal online.  If you really want to be thrifty and save even more money you can quick search the name of the website you're purchasing the book + coupon code (Abebooks + coupon code) to see if you can get the price any cheaper!  These stores are smart, and a lot of the time they run promotions with a % off or free shipping around the time that students are buying books.  Shipping times vary from site to site, as well as return policies ... so it's always a good idea to check into that before you order.

And, if you want to save even more money you can get an Ebates account  or Swagbucks account and receive a % cashback or points towards gift cards ... but that will have to be another post!

This is how I save money, I have a lot of friends that rent their books.  That kind of scares me, because I have a feeling that my clumsy self will spill coffee or drop the book in a puddle.  In which case, I would end up paying full price anyways.  There's also a chance that you could need the book in a later class (this happens a lot in music classes, but we just might be special like that).

I also bought an international version of my psychology book because it was a lot cheaper.  International versions are cheaper because they're printed for countries like India or China.  The only difference is that they are typically printed on cheaper quality paper, have a different cover and ISBN number, and may be printed in black and white.  Mine was in color, and the inside matched up exactly.  You also can not sell back this textbook or find it easily.  This is perfectly legal, and a good option if you are weigh all the factors.

There are also other sites like cheapesttextbooks.com that do the same thing ... so don't take my word for it!  You need to figure out what works for you!

Happy saving!

Amanda

*Shout-out to my spreadsheet-loving father! :)
** Shout-out to Emily for telling me about this site ... and saving me hundreds!

I was not contacted by or given any money by Cheapesttextbooks.com