For those of you heading off to college, a big chunk of your budget usually goes to textbooks. Depending on your classes and major, they can run you in the hundreds of dollars. But not if you know some trade secrets. There are several things you can do to cut the costs. In fact, www.moneytalksnews.com lists eleven of them.

Some of their tips include getting to know your professor. Some hardly use the assigned textbook and will even tell you on the first day that you won't need to buy it. Wait until you meet them or check out reviews of the class online and see if former students say you have to have it.

You likely know all about getting books second hand, but have you heard about renting books from sites like www.bookrenter.com or www.campusbookrentals.com?  Basically, you get the book in the mail, use it for a semester and mail it back. Another plus, shipping is free.

Consumer Reports recommends Neebo.com, which also offers free shipping. Other sites include AddAll.com, Bigwords.com, DealOz, getchabooks, SlugBooks and ValoreBooks.

Or, Consumer Reports says try e-textbooks.  CafeScribe lets you download books and try them for free for a week, then buy and download what you want.

No matter what you do, shop and compare to make sure you're getting the best price.