Let’s face it; the majority of us are broke. We’re eating Ramen Noodles three meals a day, slightly overfilling the washing machine because we don’t have enough quarters for more than one load, and letting our Friday night date buy their own dinner and movie ticket because “ain’t nobody got time for that.”

Between school and basic needs, our wallets are drained. Any money we can save is another dollar we can put toward our “Spring Break” fund. One of the most costly expenses for students is purchasing textbooks.

At the university bookstore, used books sell out within The first day of classes and new books can cost up to $300 each. Or more. Nationally, students spend an average of $1,200 a year on textbooks. When the amount we’re spending on books is about the same as the cost of a semester of tuition, there’s a problem.

Like many of you, I hold off on buying books until after the first day of class to decide if I need to buy certain books at all. For example, I deem art appreciation books unnecessary. Plus it’s infuriating to buy a textbook and the professor not even crack it open all semester.

The worst part? Students go to sell their books back and only get a fraction of what they paid for them.

Though it is preferred that students purchase their books on campus, it isn’t realistic to expect each student to have the funds to spend hundreds, even thousands, of dollars on textbooks. This year, I have refused to be a part of the madness and decided to cut costs by purchasing my books online.

Using websites like Half.com and Bigwords.com, I bought all of my textbooks for under $300. Buying books online saves money but is troublesome because shipping takes at least a week, I am currently struggling to keep up with homework and assignments until my materials arrive.

Since online textbook purchasing is becoming more popular, I’m sure I am not the only student with this problem. The easiest way to solve this situation would be to order books before school starts, but that requires a little help from our teachers.

Professors should be forthright about what materials we will and will not need so students’ struggles, stressing, and spending will be minimized.

It would also help for all syllabi to be posted a week before classes start, so students can begin purchasing required texts and materials in advance.

College itself is an investment, and spending money is necessary. But buying books doesn’t need to be so stressful.

Maybe my solutions are not as simple as they seem, but I’m tired of Ramen Noodles and my laundry is piling up.