Buying comics on a budget: The college guy's how-to guide

The best way to carry your comics on the go - OUCH!

So you've taken your entrance exams and passed, and you've already became accustomed to your schedule. So the biggest question now is: how do you afford to buy comics and still manage to live on a decent college salary, which by most is allowance or nothing at all. Well, fair not, because I shall aid in the quest for comics!

• Borrow - yes, this should be one of the first things to do on your list. Borrowing not only is inexpensive, but it's a sure way to get up to date with all of your comic needs. It even helps if you get a friend who's a bigger shut-in nerd than you are. This method isn't foolproof, the friend might not want to lend his collection of illustrative literature...or he probably doesn't have it, or he went to prison and burned his entire collection so the perception of being a nerd isn't rubbed off the wrong way in the 4x4 jail cell with 'BUBBA'. In any event of those things occurring fear not. There's always this option-

• Create a pull and drop list - this is a must in the comic book collecting world. A pull list is an amount of books you intend to be reading from your favourite company. It is in your best interest to create one and know which comics you intend to budget for and which ones you'll simply have to pass up on. Also, it's wise to LIMIT how many companies you intend to read from. If you only could afford to read from DC and BATMAN AND SUPERMAN is your favorite books to read, then you should probably only collect ONE batman and ONE superman, since they're the most expensive from DC, and to not read from other companies. That means you should only be buying two the most...possibly three books.

• Make friends with your local comic book seller - this can work in your advantage...until he gets fired. If you can network really good they might discount things cheaper for you...I think.

• Buy digital comics online - digital comics have been growing stronger and stronger and the catalogue of books you can find online is starting to become more handsome. DC is regularly updating their past issues of popular series and adding obscure series to their repertoire. Marvel is doing that as well. Most Image comics can be found and read, Dynamite as well. And the best part of all is comics could be as little as $0.99. There are some really great series out there, but be warned, sometimes you'll be buying comics at full retail - so buy wisely.

• Torrent - I never said the methods had to be legal. I won't tell you how, nor will I endorse this kind of behavior, but if you're in a region where comics are limited and the online digital store is unavailable, then this is your last hope. Not only will you find comics in bulk, but you pay very little...ok, you pay nothing. You will be up to date with all of your comics, but it's illegal and your favorite authors will not be making any money. So decide wisely on what you'll do.

Ok, so that was the guide on how to afford comics on a budget. I might update this when more ideas come to mind. See you!