Saving on College Textbooks

This post is sponsored by the Barnes & Noble MasterCard, powered by Barclaycard. All opinions are my own.

My son is in 11th grade this year, so our years of homeschooling are winding down. This year he is dual-enrolling at our local community college for a few courses, which is a big change both for him and me.  With community college come a lot of extra expenses, like tuition, fees, gas for commuting, and textbooks.

Textbooks are a huge college expense, and they are one that can take you by surprise! The first time I had to pay over $100 for a textbook for a college class I was shocked, but it is actually normal for textbooks to cost that much. College Board estimates that the average cost for books and supplies last year was $1,225 at public colleges and $1,244 at private colleges! For my son the cost of textbooks for his two classes, History and Macroeconomics, is about $250, and that is for just one semester of part time enrollment.

Luckily there are ways to get discounts, like using the Barnes & Noble MasterCard, which offers 5% back when you use your Barnes & Noble MasterCard to buy school supplies and textbooks at any Barnes & Noble store or at BN.com.  And since Barnes & Noble runs many campus bookstores this can really add up to savings.

In addition to 5% back you also receive a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card after your first purchase with the card, and an additional $25 Barnes & Noble gift card every time you reach 2,500 points.  And there is no annual fee for the card, another big cost savings.

I headed to Barnes & Noble this week to pick up some last minute supplies for our homeschooling this year.  I got some literature books we need, along with a student planner so my son can stay on track with all his assignments. He is going to have to learn how to deal with outside deadlines this year, something that can be an adjustment for a homeschooler.

I also noticed they have a wide variety of books about getting into college, which is going to be on my son’s radar screen soon!  So I got him an ACT Test Prep book, because junior year is the time to start thinking standardized test prep.

For more information about the Barnes & Noble MasterCard, or to apply, visit bncreditcard.com.  It is a great card for college students, parents of school children, homeschoolers or anyone who just loves to read and buy books.  To find your local Barnes & Noble store, or shop online, visit BN.com