About 15 years ago, I shipped 12 boxes containing my entire book collection from home to law school. I’ve always liked reading books, looking at books on shelves and buying books. But, recently I gave that up – most of the books have been donated or sold. Now, purchasing books is a rare occurrence. Show
But I didn’t give up books. Instead, I now employee an army of over 3,000 to manage my entire book collection. These employees rearrange the books to suit my needs, fetch them from far away places and drop them off in one of 90 special locations for me to pick up at my convenience. I have access to the world’s collection of books – over 44,000,000. Often I don’t even read the physical copies, but instead have them send digital copies of the books for reading on my Kindle. And of course, I do this for free because I use the New York City Public Library. Replace Your Amazon Habit With an NYPL HabitBefore, when I wanted to read a book, I’d go to Amazon, type in the title and send the free preview to my Kindle. If I liked the book, I bought it. I had (and still have) no problem spending $10 on something as valuable as a book. But quickly I learned I could do the same thing for free at the NYPL. Now, when I want to read a book, I go to NYPL, type in the title and checkout the book. The library sends the book to my Kindle at no cost to me. If I like the book, I keep reading it. If I don’t like the book, I do nothing and in time the book is automatically returned to the library. The automatic return for digital items is one of the best features of the library: no late fees. I receive an email the day before the book’s due date. If I want to keep it, I renew it. If I don’t want to keep it, I do nothing. The key point for me is that absolutely nothing has changed with respect to my reading habits. It’s a classic example of making a spending cut but feeling no pain. I’m saving $500 or more each year buy not buying as many books or renting as many movies. Oh, what’s that? You didn’t realize the library had over 8,000,000 DVDs, films, videos and CDs, including the latest movies and TV shows? When I hear about a movie I might want to watch, I look it up on the library website and reserve it. When it’s my turn to watch the movie, the library system ships it to the location closest to me, where someone with white gloves lovingly unpacks it, wraps it with a label and then sets it on a specific shelf for me to pick up. It’s pretty fabulous. Getting a Library Card Getting a library card is not difficult. You fill out an application and submit your details. Next, you need to go to the physical library to activate your account, receive your card and activate your PIN. You will need proof that you live in NYC. After that, they give you a shiny red card. If you intend to only use it for reading books on your Kindle, you may never step foot in the library again. Checking Out Library Books on an iPad via KindleIf you read books on an iPad like I do, you’ll need the Overdrive app. From the app, you log onto the NYPL website, browse the catalog and select the books you want to read. The books almost always come in the Kindle format, although sometimes they are only available in non-Kindle formats. For a Kindle book, the app takes you straight to Amazon where you download the book as if you were buying it. Once in the Kindle system, the book shows up automatically on all of your Kindle devices. I still get a thrill downloading a book this way. It feels like I found a secret key that allows me to skip the actual part of the book buying experience where Amazon charges you for the book. As mentioned earlier, there’s nothing for you to do when it comes to returning a digital book. The book expires automatically in your Kindle library when the book is due, so you will never have a late fee. What about you? Have you taken the time to set up a library account? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments. An easy way to save money on books is to just not read, but that’s a bad idea. Reading is good for you, everyone knows that. Did you know twitter doesn’t really count? Neither does reading the news, it sucks too. When people talk about how good reading is they mean books. The big lumps of paper that can sit in your lap. There are a lot of reasons for it but to name a few:
Seriously you should read way moreAll the most impressive people in the world read a lot and they credit much of their success to it. If you want to be a super successful person (who doesn’t, right?!?) then you should join the ranks and become a voracious reader. Warren Buffet sums up the benefits best with his amazing quote:
Read 500 pages like this every day [points at a book]. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it. – Warren Buffet He reckons knowledge is like compound interest. As long as you keep consuming it, over time you build up a lot and become a genius. It makes sense and it’s true. He also says he spends his time reading educational books and facts, not opinion pieces or facebook conversations. Those don’t count. Seriously, this is a trend amongst the super-successful types of the world.
Wait how much will becoming a Billionaire cost me?!If you work that out though, that adds up! A book costs $20 and if you read 1 a week it’s about $1000 a year. Sur you could try to save some dollars but toss in a husband that reads and a kid or two and you get a few thousand dollars of extra expenses a year. Saving is important and extra costs certainly don’t help. Some early retirees aim for a $100K+ FatFIRE where they can roll around in caviar all day and those folks won’t care too much about a few books. If you’re like us though spending around $50,000 a year, then spending an extra $2000 adds up. It won’t end the world but it’s at least money we won’t spend in places I would prefer. So I will show you how to save money on books. Don’t buy them! How to save money on books – Remember libraries?Books are noble. Books lead to learning and growth. Books inspire. But for those of us who like to read, books can be an expense that really adds up. And yet somehow we’ve all somehow completely forgotten about that magical place you went as a kid. The library! What comes to mind when you think of the library?Usually we think of it as either a place for old people or for kids. Not for millennials like us. We think of the central library with tomes of references that we had to visit in school and never plan to look at again. We think of a “shhh” place where people go to study – although that’s hardly even true anymore. (Not bitter… at all…high school kids these days have it so easy). Maybe a dingy run-down place full of little kids and old people. Certainly not the modern Barnes and Noble where everything is laid out perfectly just inviting you to pick it up and take a look. These days, bookstores are an experience. Even the dingy used bookstores go with it and put out their own vibe. Know what, the libraries upped their game too! This one is near my house. It’s beautiful. Like an architect’s wet dream. I would live here if they would let me. Libraries are cool now. Maybe not if you are in high school and really jiggy with it but as an adult it’s amaaazing. But I’m a millennial!I don’t want to read books on dieting from the 80s. I want to read modern stuff, like Marie Kondo and Cryptocurrency things. Well, I browse through a couple of books a month, and I’ve only bought 2 in the past 2 years because the library has such great content. Libraries these days don’t just have old gross books like you remember from high school. They have all the awesome stuff you really want to read and are up-to-date with the latest books. You’re not stuck reading about Benjamin Franklin when everyone else is talking about Becoming. They’ll even make special orders for you if you ask, and they offer digital and audio copies too if you are too modern to want to touch a physical book. Check it out! My library even carries up to date Japanese Mangas! I don’t know if that’s hip or not but Leif thinks it’s pretty freaking cool. It’s even better with kidsOne of the worst parts of having kids is all the stuff they come with. It costs money and it clogs up your house like a fat person’s arteries. I love my kids but damn they have a lot of stuff. Know what libraries have? Kids stuff you can borrow for free! Kids books in particular. Kids have an overwhelming number of books. If you have kids, you want to save money on their stuff and books are a big one – there are never enough and I can borrow as many as I want. How to save money on books for kids? Yeah, use the library. They have you covered. Related: How to save money on daycare and why cheap daycare is great for stay at home parents. The best part is they don’t permanently clutter my house. I just give them back. Hello Marie Kondo! Plus, with that wide selection, our toddler has managed to learn to count to ocho in Spanish!
But I like owning my booksWhy? So you can look at your bookshelf like a stack of accomplishments? So you can reference them later? So you can relish in them over many months? So you can show them off? I kind of get how you feel, but honestly, you get over it pretty quickly. One mindset shift that has helped us – is if we want to recall something in the book, we can always get it back from the library. And truly, if I was really so so so in love with a book, I could always buy it. But this way I get to “date it” first. Also, having a deadline forces us to commit to the book and finish it, and not let it meander around for months on end. (Although we have been notorious ‘renew’ procrastinators too.) Seriously, I never even thought of my ‘how to save money on books’ as a money hack until I realized that I’m saving a few thousand dollars a year compared to my smart friends. The ones who look up money hacks like this one! Now who’s smart? How can I not spend so much money on books?How to Magically. Replace Your Amazon Habit With an NYPL Habit. Before, when I wanted to read a book, I'd go to Amazon, type in the title and send the free preview to my Kindle. ... . Getting a Library Card. Getting a library card is not difficult. ... . Checking Out Library Books on an iPad via Kindle.. How can I buy less books?There are plenty of ways to find inexpensive books. Search online for used and discounted books, and browse secondhand bookstores, thrift shops, and yard sales. Reading ebooks is another great way to save, as they're usually much cheaper than their print counterparts.
What is the cheapest way to read?Ebooks are almost always cheaper than physical books—new paperbacks and hardcovers can run you anywhere from $15 to $25 and up, respectively, but the digital copies of the same titles usually start around $10. Take stock of what you already own before starting your hunt for the best e-reader.
How do you deal with too many books?For example, set aside time every week to sort through one bookshelf, or a just a pile of books. If you bought it a while back and haven't read it, maybe it's time to let it go. Fill boxes with the books you no longer love, want, or need. Then, share the joy of reading by donating them to 'More than Words'.
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How can I spend less money on books?
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