Saving some money

Now that it has been more than a month since my last paycheck, I need to save money and cut expenses. I am pretty good at this. I joke around with my friends saying that I am politically to the right, therefore being fiscally conservative comes only natural to me.

I did two things this past week toward that goal. The first was to buy my accounting text book. The book that is being used by the summer accounting workshop (which I am not taking) will also be used during the school year. UNC Student Stores has it new for $141 and used for $106, plus the 7% sales tax. I went onto Ebay and bought a new copy for $110, including shipping and handling. Hopefully this will also give me some time to start going through the material before classes begin on August 15th.

The second thing I did was to buy my financial calculator. Loyal readers of this blog (and former co-workers) know that I tend to wait until the last minute to get things done. I got screwed back in June because I waited until the last minute to register for pre-MBA workshop and had to shell out $100 to buy my own textbook. This time, I actually saved money by waiting until the last minute. The Class of 2007 Student Handbook that was mailed to all accepted students recommends the HP-17bii ($80-100). But our beloved professor said the HP-10bii ($30) would suffice. So I now feel smarter, which is something I normally don't get to feel, knowing that I did not waste money on buying more calculator than I need. And to add insult to injury, I bought my HP-10bii on Ebay for $10! 

Ebay is truly a graduate student's best friend.