5 Ways to Save on Back to College Gear

A little forethought can help save some dollars as the kids head back to campus this fall.

1.Check the PC Prices in the College Bookstore: College bookstores don't carry a huge selection (as a matter of fact, some have standardized on a single PC offering) but they often offer great prices. College bookstores receive educational discounts from manufacturers that are passed along to the student. You can save anywhere from 10 to 30 percent by shopping on the colleges' bookstore. The only time you'll usually beat the campus store is when there's a special in-store or on the web promotion for a specific model computer.

2. Buy Used Books
Students spend anywhere from $600 to $1,000 a year on books. No kidding! When three students from New Jersey Institute of Technology wanted a better, cheaper way to buy books so they began the website, urShelf.com. At urShelf students can buy and sell text books from each other, in auction fashion. You can save about 40 percent, and you can sell your books for more money than you'd make selling them back to the college bookstore. Amazon, Half.com (owned by eBay) and others also sell used books, but urShelf is a college community. Buying used books means getting hold of the reading list early enough to scout around, so don't delay!

3. Buy a Refurbished PC: Refurbished PCs range from slightly used to beaten to near death, so you need to be cautious. I've had great luck buying refurbished PCs direct from the manufactures like Dell and HP. My theory is that lots of people quickly realize they made a mistake purchasing a particular system so they return it to the manufacturer. At the manufacturer's they're checked out again and then resold. I'm more dubious of used computers on eBay and other 2nd hand shops because there's less likelihood the system will have been used for only a short time and doubtful they'll run system diagnostics to insure that you'll have a good experience..

4. Upgrade Your Own: If you've got an old PC (desktops are more upgradeable than laptops) that's getting long in the tooth and all it needs is a bit of memory or a bigger hard disk. Check out my post about GoldenRam where you can test your system components and order upgrades if you think it's worth it.

5. Call a roommate about splitting a printer: Lots of parents ask about whether their kids need a printer of their own or whether the college's printing facilities are adequate. It's a big plus for kids to have their own printer. It ups the likelihood that they'll actually print a draft copy of that paper before turning it. Reading a paper on your screen makes it tougher to really give it a good critical eye. That said, if roommates email each other and one brings a printer while the other brings the fridge or TV, you've saved some money and some precious dorm room real estate.