For most people who went to public school they never had to think about textbooks until they reached college. Now textbooks are unescapable, they piled up on your desks and their prices make any wallet cry. Although textbooks are redeemed as necessary in and out of the classroom, most people believe that the readings are unhelpful and a waste of money.

According to a survey done by USA Today, 65 percent of student said that they had decided against buying a textbook because it was too expensive. In the same survey, another 48 percent of college students said that the cost of books had an impact on how many or which classes they took.

You aren’t crazy or imagining things. Textbook prices are nearly tripled the rate of inflation since 2002 through 2013, the price of college textbooks rose 82 percent according to a recent study by the Government Accountability Office. The College Board estimates that the average student in the United States spends around $1,200 a year on books and supplies. Especially when a single book can cost as much as $200, prices begin to add up quite quickly.

But not only has these insane amounts have affected students’ savings but along with their GPA. According to the USA Today survey, 94 percent of the students who had skipped buying a required book said they were concerned that doing this would hurt their grade in that course.

Some tricks to avoid bankruptcy are to look online rather than going through the school’s bookstore. Each professor is required to supply students with the ISBN Numbers of any required readings which makes searching through other sources simple. Renting books rather than buying them helps save shelf space and money. If you are enrolled in a class that isn’t going toward your major or you are only taking for an elective credit so you will never use it again renting is a better option.

By shopping online you can use promo codes and coupons to get free shipping or other deals, there are even renting options as well. Some websites like Chegg.com send you free products like Red Bulls and Tide Pods so you get some free samples along with your books; it’s kind of like a care package that it isn’t from your parents. Chegg will even throw in free shipping on an order that is over $100, which is easy to do on a full load of classes.

Getting books used rather than new helps with getting it for less along with it usually comes with helpful notes and underlining that contributes to the class. Amazon is much cheaper than Barnes & Noble, although shipping costs do come into the final billing. The convenience of getting your textbooks right from the store at that some moment that you sign your life away on that receipt does makeup for the fact that you will have to repeat this process each semester.