How to “Read All the Books” for Less Money!

I am a total bookworm. Now I won’t admit WHAT I read (basically, I read everything and anything), but I admit I read a lot.

Everyone knows the most cost efficient way to get books is to go through your public library. Don’t get me wrong, the library is a FANTASTIC source for reading material. Apparently everyone else has caught onto this fact as well because I can never get a book I want without waiting on a waiting list for a million years.

Never one to pay full price for…well anything? (okay milk, eggs, stuff like that…) I of course have some great ideas for you! Not all of them are free, but they are all cheaper than going out and buying brand new books.

1. Half Price Books- Love this store! Take half the price off the retail price shown above the barcode, and that is how much you pay (typically). They generally have a pretty good selection and they’ll pay you for your old books.
2. Half.com-Ebay’s little sister site. You can buy or sell here. You can even buy your textbooks here. I’ve sold a few books on there and it was a really good experience.
3. Amazon.com- another site that you can buy or sell on. Look up any book on Amazon and they’ll tell you how much a used of that title will cost you
4. Paperback Swap– this is free (for now, looks like they might start charging a yearly fee in the future). You list 10 books that you would be willing to mail to someone else and they immediately give you 2 free book credits to request 2 books of your own right away. From that point on, you earn one credit for every book that you send someone (so don’t just put throwaway books in your list of 10, that hurts you too). I did this for a bit before I got my kindle. It was a very pleasant experience!
5. Books Free– this is a paid for site. You pay a set amount each month to have a set amount of books at a time. Kind of like netflix or blockbuster. 2 books at a time is $8.99 a month. To be honest though, I did this and the media mail took sooo long it pretty much averaged out to me buying 2 books at half price a month and getting to actually own them. It is an option though.
6. E-Reader like Kindle or Nook (you can get free apps for your phone too)– You can find free ebooks available ALL THE TIME. You can also grab 1 free book a month with your Amazon Prime membership. It might not be something you’d normally read, but since getting my kindle, I have started reading authors and genres I never thought I had an interest in before. Any public domain titles are free as well. I also generally post a free Kindle post every day. You might also consider signing up for Kindle Unlimited. You can have 10 books out at any given time and it’s only $9.99 a month. If you read a LOT (like I do), it is totally worth it!  No dead trees, and honestly you do not feel like you are reading on an electronic device.

So, you have more options than just the library or paying full price. There’s a lot of middle ground in there!

If anyone knows of any other great resources for books, post them in the comments!

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