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3 ways to read a book cheaply



Image by Deborah Hudson from Pixabay

I enjoy reading books. But I also don’t enjoy the price tag. Between $25-35 AUD for a new book. Sigh.

I also like to buy about 10 books at a time … so this price point is just not something I can sustain.

Here are 3 ways to read a book cheaply

   1. The library, it’s free

The library is a good place to read books for free. Libraries where I am, actually let you hire eBooks and audio books as well as paperback books. You can even ask for books for free to be ordered at your local library, which I think is super cool.

The problem I find with the library is, I hire 10 books at once. The library places a one month timeframe for all the books you hire. The problem is I am a slow reader. I just can find it hard to get into the book. So I read a few chapters, put it down and then read another book. Unless the book really grabs me or I have nothing else to read, I don’t always finish books.

I know and I am a writer! But I will not judge myself for doing this, as my time is valualble so why waste it, forcing a book on me that isn’t grabbing my attention.

The other frustration of the library, is you have to go to it to hire the books. I find this hard. Mainly because the libraries aren’t really close to me. It’s a bit of a drive. Not much parking and I am already busy with life. So not only do I have to drive to the library, I also have to make time to take the books back.

2.       2. Buy books from a second hand store

I never used to shop at second hand stores, but now I love going to find second hand books. It’s something I really enjoy and can buy 10 books for no more than $20-30. This is way better than buying a brand new book. Plus, you get to keep the book, unlike borrowing from a library.

The downside here is, the books are generally old. Maybe 5 years or older. This is ok, for fiction books. But non-fiction which I love to read, some of the content is outdated.

I remember reading one second hand book, but paying off your mortgage in 5 years. It was a good book, but when it said, find a property for $125,000. It’s like wow, this book is so outdated. It’s hard to find even a small property for under $500,000 AUD right now. Maybe if you moved in a rural area, but even then you are probably looking at $300K.

I’m no financial expert and I don’t claim to be. But yes, this is an example of an outdated non-fiction book.

Could you use the other ideas from the book to pay down your mortgage? Sure. So it’s still worth the $2-5 I paid for it, at the second hand store. You just notice the out dateness much more in older non-fiction books.

Would that deter me from buying them second hand? No. But with current new non-fiction books there is a way to still not pay the full price. Guess how?

3.       3. Buy your books as eBooks

I am a writer of eBooks, so of course I am going to suggest you buy eBooks. But also, I am a reader. The other day I wanted to buy this non-fiction book from Amazon. It came only as a hard cover book for more than $50. No paperback was available. I really wanted the book. It was a finance book, which I really enjoy reading. The author is well known and currently has over 8 million followers on Facebook.

Which means, this author is big, hence the price tag.

Also, he was giving financial advice, so must have some sort of degree or background in finance.

Although there was no paperback for a cheaper price. I did find however, an eBook worth $11.

I did look at my library first to see if they had that book. They didn’t. So I bought the eBook.

Am I glad I bought it? $11 to me is still pricey for a book. But this book could help with my financial future. So it wasn’t a hard decision to purchase. Would I have preferred to have my own paper copy? Yes. Because one day, when my children are old enough they may want to read it.

But could I gift them the book in whatever form when they are of age and interest for the subject? Yes and would I? Yes.

So reading can still be an enjoyable cheapish hobby. Are there downsides to every option? Yes. But, in the end, you still get to read a great book. There are even downsides to buying paperbacks and that is storage space!

So don’t stop reading because it is expensive. Just get creative in how you find your books. That can just be as much fun then reading. Which I find for most of my hobbies – the shopping for the hobby is super fun.

#reading #meltoye 

Also if you are a beginner in crocheting, you may appreciate reading my ‘The journey of crocheting for beginners’ ebook by Melanie Toye. You can purchase here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1808619


To see all of my ebooks available for purchase click here: https://melanietoyeshobbies.blogspot.com/p/buy-my-ebooks.html

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