CFA examination is a costly affair. Not only you pay for the actual participation, but you also have to get some materials to study for your exam. Is it possible to avoid this??? Well, yes, I think.

Simple maths teaches us that to just go and buy the assigned readings would set one'd wallet back some 500 - 600 USD. And what is the same one wants a prep course, a testbank, flashcards... The examination then tends to become a financial risk:))) What could you do to deal with this?

1. USE E-Bay and other Internet auctions. You can pick up assigned readings for 1/2 of the AIMR price (only for US-based people, as few of the sellers of assigned readings ship worldwide). Or (as I did), you can get a prep textbook for 1/3 of its original price. I picked up Stalla 2003 for 65 USD.
2. Sift through second-hand book stores on the Web. Amazon.com and its peers do not stock many of the books required. I challenge you to find a Standards of Practice Book in a regular Amazon.com store! With the second-hand book stores you can get almost any CFA text as a bargain. I shall include a downloadable list of the shops I found interesting in this respect soon (in general materials section, most likely).
3. See prep providers' sites and download sample materials - they are really useful. I have provided/will provide them here on this site in their original forms. It's usually just one Session from each provider, but it's better than nothing and it's free.
4. CFACenter. Now, the site is great, and it hurts me to use it the way I do. I would have gladly paid 30 USD for lifetime membership and got all the notes, exams, etc. BUT: There's simply no way to transfer them money from Russia - no money orders or paypal here, I am afraid. You can sometimes access the notes as an unpaid member. Just try and visit as many pages as possible then. You will not be able to save them, but that's not essential. After you close your connection, open your browser and go to 'Tools' and then to 'Internet Options'. View your 'Temporary Internet Files'. Along with many other pages, there will be the pages from CFACenter that can not be saved otherwise. (Instructions here are for InternetExplorer).

More tips on materials to be added:))