The Frugal Student Is Going Back To School

As of August of this year I will be a master's student in neuroscience. This means less income and more expenses but it also means that I am one more step closer to my goal. It looks like the first semester cost will be $5615.75 plus books. Because graduate students are no longer able to take out subsidized loans as of this year, last year we took out $8500 worth of subsidized loans under my husband's name. Those loans will pay this semester, and most of next semester but will be due sooner than if I was still able to take out my own subsidized loans. So you might ask, what are we doing to keep costs down?
First, the school accepts discover, not just cash or check to pay for tuition without any fees so tuition will be paid by discover, earn me a $56 credit on my discover credit card. We will be turn $45 of that into a cvs gift card to pay for the grocery game. Secondly, for any books I need, I will be buying used and if the best price is on amazon I will be using my swagbuck earned gift cards. Third, since I will be going back to school, my undergraduate loans are going to be deferred again. That will save me $30 per month. Fourth, all money normally being save will be going to our new expenses, that includes: emergency savings, future car savings, replacement savings for computers and other electronics and of course all money coming from our rental, which means no more retirement savings. That will bring in about $540 per month, any month we have a tenant. We really are going to have to buckle down to keep expense low and not to get much more debt. Fifth, we will be taking advantage of the federal taxes laws and taking the credit for the student fees/tuition. We have already run the numbers and will be increasing our exceptions on my husband's W-4 to get more money per paycheck, instead of waiting till April of 2013. I am not sure how much this will save us, I will report back after we update the W-4. Any other ideas for frugal savings? Post in the comments.