April brings H2O showers that are great for growing flowers, but as the quarter progresses we start stressing because cash flow disappears before the water even clears.
Although we all love attending Bellevue College for its beautiful campus, interesting people, and huge variety of courses. I doubt we are attending because of its cheap factor.
Equation for the full time student:
Average tuition according to cappex.com, $2,868.
Average books and supplies cost according to cappex.com $972.
Total:
$3,840 + the cookies that crumble, the down feather North Faces that keep you warm, and the numerous Starbucks cups you hopefully recycle throughout the quarter.
With all the money you are putting into your college career, and the fact that you will be spending at least two more years in the education black hole of death you might as well attempt to save some money and sanity while you can.
Textbooks:
We can rent cars, rent appliances, and even Louie Vuitton bags. Time to rent your books kiddos. Websites like Chegg, Bookrenter.com, and Booksfree.com help you save hundreds of dollars on books that you would otherwise collect dust under your bed.
Online textbooks:
If flipping books seems like an ancient task to you why not turn the page with a swipe of your finger on your iPad. Apple provides aps like CourseSmart. According to “The Chronicle”, the free app “draws on a library of 7,000 college texts from a dozen publishers, including McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Pearson, and Elsevier.”
The Kindle and Nook also provide digital textbooks through Amazon.com.
School isn’t all about pencils, and erasers. We still have to eat, too.
Munchies:
The cafeteria, cafes, and vending machines prices are outrageous. One, no one should ever buy a tuna sandwich out of a machine. Two, if someone wants to spend $5 on special sauce that costs your stomach ,go ahead.
Remember the days of paper bags, peanut butter sandwiches, and Capri suns? Bring them back. There are three microwaves in the cafeteria for your bidding.
Delight the cafeteria with the smells of lasagna, fettuccine, but please hold the fish.
With all the money you will save by cooking and renting you can finally afford a BC Sweatshirt.