Whatever Takes Us Away

I start yet another semester at Liberty University online next week. After this spring semester I will have completed my associates degree in religion, the first of quite possibly a few. One thing I have noticed with my schooling, as well as with my wife's, is that text books cost so much more than the paper they are printed on. Not to mention the fact that last semester I had over a dozen books for 6 classes. Now, some I was able to find through a used online bookseller and save much coinage! However, the majority of the books were new and the average cost was over $80 (a few were well above the $100 mark).

I find it funny, amusing and frustrating all at the same time that in order to obtain a better paying job you have to pay out the nose, not merely for the schooling, but for the books that are used during the schooling. For this coming semester I have already spent over $425 and still have two more books to buy within the next week. The two I am still waiting on, if I buy them new, will cost $190 - so needless to say I am trying to find used or a place that rents these two required books.

All of this to say, that although I find schooling worth the costs, it feels like I'm being drained of any extra resources I thought I had. I really don't like money, but it seems a necessity in our world.