The summer will shortly be coming to an end which means back-to-school season will be in full force. While clipping coupons and looking for deals in circulars can help you cut costs on “typical” school supplies such as paper, notebooks, glue, and pens and pencils, they certainly will not help you save on the overwhelming cost of textbooks for your college-aged children—and know that some textbooks can costs as much as $200 a piece. Fortunately there are some simple ways your child can reduce some of the costs of textbooks so that they can use that extra money for food or other school-related activities. To learn how, continue reading below.

Buy Used Textbooks

Typically the easiest way to get the textbook your child needs is to go directly to the university bookstore—professors will send in syllabi and the employees will make sure that an adequate number of textbooks are stocked and shelved for easy pick up. While it’s convenient, it’s also the most expensive option. If your child is not motivated enough to search for a bargain, at least advise them to buy a used textbook. Only a limited amount of used textbooks are available so make sure that your child goes shopping long before school starts—the used ones are the first to go. Also, this will give your child ample time to look through all of the used textbooks and inspect them. Some have tons of highlighting in them and ripped pages while some used textbooks look completely new. It’s important that your child knows that new and used textbooks can be sold back to the university bookstore once the semester is over. To receive the most money back, it’s typically best to sell textbooks to the bookstore during finals week.

If your child starts his or her hunt early enough, he or she may even be able to find the textbook they need at a used book store such as Half-Price Books for an even cheaper price than at the university store. Tell your child not to be discouraged if they can’t find the book they need at the first store he or she looks at either. Call different locations and look for the specific book using popular sites like Amazon—a used book store in a different state may have it as well ( of course you’ll need to pay a shipping and handling fee). Be extra cautious with the return policy however. Your child may accidently purchase the wrong textbook edition and need to return it.

Rent a Textbook

Instead of purchasing textbooks, your child also has the option of renting them. Various companies like Chegg.com will offer rentals for a fraction of the original textbook cost. The only downside is that your child will not be able to highlight or write notes in their rentals if that’s what they like to do. You child is also responsible for mailing the rentals back at the end of the semester or they will be charged full price.

Purchase E-books

For a cheaper and environmentally approach, your child may also have the option of purchasing an e-textbook. These e-textbooks can be easily downloaded on a laptop, desktop, iPad, or even a smart phone. And since your child won’t have to tug around a backpack full of books to campus each day it will relieve some extra strain on the body. Not all textbooks are available in electronic editions however.

Read a Library Copy

Lastly, if your child is really strapped for cash he or she might just be able to use a textbook entirely for free. This is because libraries typically hold a copy of specific textbooks on “reserve.” What this means is that your child can’t “check-out” the textbook but they can read/use it while in the library. The best way to go about this is to tell your child to take weekly photos copies of the pages he or she needs to study/ do assignments from so they can study not only in the library but in their dorms, etc.

Author Bio:

Stella Walker is a freelance writer of free credit score where she writes about topics including credit, debt, investment, bankruptcy.