College sticker shock when you first see the bill for tuition, room and board (and all those nebulous activity fees) is bad enough. With the excitement and stress that accompany the move to college, it's easy to let down your guard and pull out the plastic for a whole lot of ... stuff. Sure, you want what's best for your child, but a lot has changed since you trundled off to college. And, as ever, you don't have to say yes to everything your kid wants.

New Hardcopy Textbooks

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More and more universities are switching to textbooks accessed digitally. Students need to purchase a subscription code to complete homework assignments and take quizzes. Those codes can't be shared or exchanged between students, so there's no sneaky savings to be gained by, say, pairing up with a classmate as might have been done in the days of print.

If your student is more hands-on and prefers having ten pounds of textbook by his or her side, rental programs help students avoid paying unfathomable new-book prices.

, and help you comparison-shop for new and used books, e-books and rentals. Alternatively, look for students selling used