Can You Live An Entire Semester Renting Absolutely Everything?

SAN MATEO, Calif., Sept. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- BookRenter^TM, a service of Rafter, Inc. and the web's premier college textbook rental service, announced today the launch of The Rented Life^TM promotion, a social media campaign challenging one student to survive the upcoming fall semester by attempting to rent everything they need to live.

The Rented Life student will receive a semester allowance for living expenses based on the national average for college spending. The student's goal is to see how much of that money they can save through renting, borrowing, bartering and deal-finding on everything they need, including housing, food, textbooks, travel and entertainment. The BookRenter team will also toss in a few curveballs by giving the student rental and savings challenges throughout the semester that they'll need to complete and share based on a budget, such as 'Decor for the Poor' – A challenge in which the student must redecorate a room in their apartment for under $35. Aside from receiving an allowance for the semester's living expenses, perhaps the bigger incentive is if the student spends less than the national average, they will keep whatever amount of money left over at the end of the semester.

The lucky student, David Levitz, from Cleveland, Ohio, was chosen after submitting a quirky, minute-long video explaining why he would make the best The Rented Life student. David is currently a sophomore at the University of Minnesota double majoring in Journalism and Acting. "As a broke college student, finding new ways to save or stretch my money is something I'm already doing and is really important," said Levitz. "I'm excited to embrace the challenge of renting everything, it's going to be an adventure. My focus will be to share my findings with fellow students and pick up new tricks along the way in order to make the college experience more affordable for students on a nationwide level."

The BookRenter team conceived the campaign in order to highlight the rising costs of a college education in the U.S., and to showcase the many creative ways students can save on their expenses. Another objective of The Rented Life promotion is to highlight the importance of the "shared economy" in today's society, especially amongst college students and millennials.

"The Shared Economy is about living a full life in an affordable way without actually having to own anything," says BookRenter founder, Colin Barceloux. "As the BookRenter philosophy promotes the idea of a shared economy in the education space, The Rented Life campaign is our way of expanding students' knowledge about the many other innovations and services they can utilize to save even more for their post graduation future."

The Rented Life campaign will also provide insight to important life skills, such as time and money management, and establishing a positive work/life balance.

Students and parents will be able check in on David by visiting The Rented Life website. There, they will be able to follow David as he performs challenges and shares his experiences through video as well as offers advice and tips on The Rented Life pages on Twitter (@The_Rented_Life) and Instagram (TheRentedLife). Fans may also access information about all companies and services David uses along the way and will be encouraged to share their own money-saving tricks and tips.

About BookRenter, a service of Rafter, Inc.
The BookRenter service, a destination site for students to rent textbooks at up to 80 percent off the retail price, is owned and operated by Rafter, Inc. Rafter, Inc. is a venture-backed, privately held company headquartered in San Mateo, California. To learn more, visit www.BookRenter.com and www.Rafter.com.

Related Links:
The Rented Life
BookRenter

Video with caption: "The Rented Life - A Social Experiment Presented by BookRenter". Video available at: http://youtu.be/HR2FM-TuSR0

Image with caption: "The Rented Life". Image available at: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130905/MM74920-a

Image with caption: "BookRenter". Image available at: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130905/MM74920-b

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SOURCE BookRenter

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