<prompt> Human: After completing my 4 year degree, I purchased 4 books in semester one. I realised throughout the semester that Id used the books maybe 3-4 times typical student. The cost of the books, 300, didnt seem feasible. I looked into other avenues and found that the library has most books available for short 3-7 day loan. You can also scan a certain number of pages I think it could be 10 - Im in Australia - check this to ensure you arent doing it illegally and just scan the select few you need at the time. I did this successfully throughout my degree and found it rather easy and no major effort at all!By doing this, I spent approximately 50-100 for my remaining 7 semesters. In comparison, my colleagues spent 2500-3000 for the same educative experience.For those books that you absolutely need, either borrow from a friend, or buy second hand. You can save hundreds, if not thousands this way also!TL;DR - Books expensive. Borrow from library. Paid 300 buying books Sem 1. Spent 50-100 for remaining 7 semesters through borrowingscanning pages I needed see above for legal issues - unsure if countries have different laws. Colleagues spent 2500-3000 over the four years in comparison.  <response>: Aww, memories of college. The best textbook I bought was written by the teacher, copied, and spiral bound at a local copy shop. The teacher told us this is where we could find the textbook and I purchased it there for 5. We used that book every day for class, wrote in it, and added to it. On the last day of class, we gave the teacher a standing ovation. That was the only class I was in that that had ever happened in. I still use that book every once in a while. Too bad it cant be like that all the time. 