Frugal Friday: Books

Books? Yes, books. How much money does your family spend on books in a year? It’s very easy to spend a lot of money on books because they are, generally, expensive. Here are some money saving tips when it comes to books.

First you need to ask yourself a few questions: 1) how many times am I going to read this book; 2) do I want to keep this book for future use; 3) how picky am I about the condition of the book?

The answers to those questions will determine where you go from here. If, like most people, you are only going to read the book once, then check out the book from the local library or barrow it from a friend. If the library or friend does not have the book, head over to a used book site like Amazon.com to purchase it (more on this in a minute).

If you know that this is a book that you’re going to want to add to your library, by all means go ahead and purchase it. I recommend, once again, heading over to a used book site to see if you can get it less expensively than in a book store. Don’t forget to check out the library books sales as well as they have some great deals on books.

Here’s where the last question comes into play…. If you are very particular about the condition of the book, you will want to buy it new (either online or in a book store). If you aren’t as particular about the condition as long as it’s readable, used is the way to go.

So, you decide that it isn’t a book that you want to keep, but you can’t find it at the library or from a friend. You know that used is ok, but you don’t want a lot of damage. You head over to amazon.com and find the book that you want. (note: don’t forget to take shipping into account) You find a really good deal on a nice book from a private seller. You purchase the book and read it. Now, here’s the good part. When you’re done reading it, you turn around and resell it on amazon.com. You will be able to get some (sometimes all) of your money back from your purchase.

Another great place to find books is at yard sales — especially kids books. It’s a bit too cold (for most of us) right now for yard sales, but before you know it, they’ll be popping up again.

You can also start selling all of those old books that you have sitting around collecting dust because you didn’t know what else to do with them. Or, if you really don’t want to mess with that at this time, donate those books to the library, shelter, or prison. Clear off that shelf space and use it for things that you really treasure.