Textbooks Education– Buy New or Used?
A glance at the cost of textbooks education
Whether for college or homeschooling, buying educational textbooks costs a lot more than most people realize. Often the focus is so much on the school or curriculum and what all that entails, that the supplies are viewed as not a very big deal. For those of you who went to college, especially if you self-funded, you KNOW that the price of your books each semester was nothing to sneeze at. And that was just for one semester! Let your mind compute the cumulative effect over the full time of all your formal education. The homeschooling phenomenon and number of people opting for that route of educating their children puts additional light onto the price of books used for education.
Importance of being practical when purchasing textbooks education
There is absolutely nothing wrong with purchasing all of your books NEW provided you can afford to do so. If that's you, great. With these challenging economic times, an increasing number of individuals who were never faced with the need to be somewhat frugal, are finding that they're forced to save money wherever they can. For example, people who homeschool have set up book swaps where they offer books or curriculum that they've finished with for those they need. That's a great way to save!
In larger metropolitan areas it's not unusual to find a used bookstore. Look for one and make sure to check out the resource and educational textbook section. You might just find what you're looking for at significant savings.
Don't overlook the online resources available today. eBay is likely to have the educational textbook or curriculum you're looking for. It's worth the few minutes to check that out, too.
Anytime you're buying used textbooks, you want to take a look at the book. If getting it online, ask for a picture and description of condition. You do not want a book that has missing pages or is so worn that it will be hard to keep it together for the season you're using it. Some people take so many notes in a book that it obscures the writing. Avoid that, too. Interestingly, many books you find that are used will appear to be practically new. You might have some fun with this and promise the seller that you'll never reveal that they looked mostly unused 
.
Click on TEXTBOOKS to read Wikipedia's article on the history of and various other information about the topic.