I used to love buying books and DVDs and getting them as gifts during the Holidays. For the past couple years, though, I have almost completely stopped buying books and DVDs, and have saved tons of money because of it. The reason: you can get them for free at the library.
I’m not the kind of person to re-watch movies or re-read books, so there really is not much value in me purchasing them. Instead, I borrow them from the library. It makes so much sense, but there are still many people who do not utilize the library. I can understanding purchasing books from your favorite author, or the DVDs from your favorite tv show (I know I own the Lost DVDs
There’s no question you can save money by renting books, especially when you’re still in college, where textbooks tend to be really expensive.
Things you can get for free from the library:
- Movies
- TV Shows
- Books
- Magazines
- CDs
- Books on CD
As you can see from the list above, there are a ton of things you can get from the library besides books. I don’t know about your library, but here in Minnesota they seem to have taken their DVD purchasing into overdrive – if a DVD exists, there’s a very good chance you can find it. I’m a big fan of TV shows on DVD (I hate having to wait a week to see the next episode, I want to be able to see the next episode asap!) and pretty much any popular TV show is available for rental.
If you want to listen to new music and spend hundreds of dollars purchasing it, consider checking out CDs from the library instead. I subscribe to Spotify, so I don’t have much reason to check out music from the library, but if you purchase your music instead, renting the music can save you tons of money over time. I don’t subscribe to magazines, either, since there are a ton available for checkout. I usually can grab a bunch each time I visit and if I don’t get around to reading them, I don’t feel guilty like I would if I was a paying subscriber.
Tips for getting the best value out of the library:
- Request in Advance – While it can be fun to look at what’s available, you can save tons of time by requesting your books, DVDs, etc. beforehand. You will get email or phone notifications when they are at the library ready for you to pick up. Then all you have to do is stop in once or twice a week and grab all your items at once.
- Book or DVD not available? Request from anywhere in the country – There are a lot of books about programming out there, but I often find a specific title that I would like to request. Sometimes, none of the libraries in my county have the specific book I’m looking for. Thankfully, all you have to do is email a librarian and they will search the entire state for the specific item. If that fails, they will search the entire country. Because you can ultimately request from any library in the entire country, you can literally get just about any book, DVD, or CD that you can possibly think of!
- Bonus: Free entertainment – If you are really trying to cut down on expenses, you can literally get all your entertainment for free each month from the library. Between DVDs, magazines, CDs, etc. there is a ton of media readily available for your consumption. No need to go to the movie theater, purchase video games, etc. While I understand it does not completely replace entertainment, like going to a concert or going skiing, if you need to save money you can do so without getting bored.
While there are a few books that I still purchase (mainly programming and other reference books that I am going to use over a long period of time), I really don’t spend money on books, DVDs, magazines, or CDs. Since my wife and I both utilize the library instead of purchasing, we will literally save thousands of dollars over the next few years.
____________
Photo by Christopher John SSF
Check out some of our favorite personal finance resources:
Are you getting the best credit card rewards? Check out the top cash back credit card offers (updated daily)
Make extra money: 15 ways to make money from your computer
Get the First Chapter Free!
Join our online community and get the first chapter of the book Student Loan Solution absolutely FREE!
I love the library! Luckily, we have a really good one here in town. I never realized just how much awesome stuff that I could find there – and the best part is it is totally free!
@GregatClubThrifty It’s really great if you are trying to tackle debt/save money. If you can avoid spending money on books/magazines/dvds/etc. you can potentially save a lot.
Another thing I love about our library system here is that they also offer free ebooks now, so if you have a Kindle or other e-reader you can download a ton of newer releases, for no extra cost. Since I bought my Kindle a year or two ago I don’t think I’ve been back to the library, I get all my books from their online catalog now.
@moneymatters I forgot about that! Probably because I don’t have a kindle. That is a nice addition. Now if only they let you stream DVDs… : P
I haven’t been to the library in forever, but we need to go! My sister always goes and gets workout dvds.
@SenseofCents Haha I’m sure they have a ton of those
Love the library! I would go once a week if ours wasn’t being renovated right now. Since we have to go farther than a mile to get to the next closer one I go about once a month. I’ll Reserve everything I want and get it when its all in. Then I just renew things online
@Em23 We do the same thing, but we consume so many DVDs and books that we end up going about once a week, sometimes more if stuff is due and we can’t renew.
We have not used the library in quite some time. However, with our kids getting to the age where they’re going to be reading, we plan on going more. I always seem to forget that it can be a good place to get movies, I’ll have to check in to that again.
@FrugalRules Yeah it really can be a great place to get movies, even popular ones (just get on the wait list and it will eventually be your turn). When I have kids I plan on bringing them there all the time, hopefully will get them to read more.
We use the library quite often as you won’t catch us paying for a book, no way. I can wait to read anything that is new. We also take out movies and watch them at home. Hey, I’m not paying $5-7 to watch a movie. The library is and will always be a welcome place to spend quiet time and get free stuff that you can take home and use. We also picked up a Kil-o-Watt meter to test all our appliances to see how energy efficient they are for free instead of paying $50 to buy one. Great post! Cheers Mr.CBB
@CanadianBudgetB Tons of pros!
Yes! I’ve been a huge library fan for as long as I can remember. In fact, browsing the local library aisles was what initially sparked my interested in personal finance!
@MilkandHoneyMoney Nice! I remember reading some really random personal finance books when I was in middle school (totally geared towards young adults and middle-aged people haha). They definitely have a lot of business/finance books there, which is nice since they seem to get outdated quick.
The library is so awesome. I always forget that it’s FREE. Such an awesome price, that. Our library also offers kobo books and audible books, so you don’t even have to go in to the library. My spouse once wanted a management textbook originally printed in the 20s and they were able to bring in a copy, we were pretty impressed.
@Ugifter That’s impressive that they found a book so old! And yes, it’s absolutely free (okay in reality it is paid through taxes, but the ppl who don’t use the library are subsidizing the ones who do!).
Also – Do you have a website? I couldn’t seem to find it just by googling, and you don’t have your livefyre linked to any website. Just making sure as I like to check out ppl’s sites who comment on here.
@DC @ Young Adult Money Oh! Thanks for the heads up. This is the only place I’ve commented that uses Livefyre, so I guess I didn’t have the account fully set up. How did you change your name? I wasn’t able to select a username that had spaces or symbols, so this is my twitter username. Googling the full “unique gifter” should bring up my site, but I doubt that ugifter will unfortunately.
I always forget that you can borrow DVDs from the library – A much cheaper option that Blockbuster. Like Ugifter, I also forget it’s free!
@SavvyScot1 Especially if you request the DVDs, no searching through shelves of them. At least that’s the best way to get popular ones.
I loved reading ever since I was a little kid so I loved going to the library and still do! But at the same time, my parents spoiled me and bought me a LOT of books too. I enjoyed that new book smell, the shiny cover and the crisp pages. Now, I almost never buy books. I find they are overpriced and I almost never re-read them. I often borrow books from friends or go to the library. I’ve also purchased a book from a thrift store. It was like $1.50.
@MakintheBacon I don’t buy them anymore unless they are ones I am going to use for a long time or books I reread, but I share your love of new book smell.
I use the library occasionally. They aren’t in the most convenient location but when I want a book or two I definitely stop by after checking the online catalog to make sure it is in stock.
@Money Life and More You should just request them and then they will be waiting for you. It’s so much easier. But we get quite a bit and go just about every week since we get all our books/magazines/DVDs from there.
We use the library for many reasons. If you have kids, it’s great entertainment between story time, crafts, and the kids area. Our library also does intralibrary loan with CSU. Not that it applies to most people, but I have to do referenced case reports for a fellowship I am pursuing. I need usually about 20 per report. If you order online, they are about $12 each, but I can get any article I need free from the public library. Lotta love for the library!
@Eyesonthedollar I did a little bit of work at the reference desk back at college, so I know what you are talking about! You almost make me miss writing research papers :0
I rarely ever purchase books anymore. I love that most libraries now offer digital books that I can read on my iPad
@OneSmartDollar Yeah it’s crazy they offer free ebooks. I don’t have a tablet or e-reader but if I did I would totally just download books.
A little late to the game here, but I have to throw in my support for the Library. This week I borrowed the following: Looper, Cosmopolis, Hunger, The Dictator, New Year’s Eve, and The Whistleblower. I like to point this out because most of these are big-time, popular Hollywood movies. I think there’s a misconception out there that the library won’t have the movies that you really want to watch. They do! But as you say, you may have to put a reserve on them and wait a week or two if they are really popular. And if the movie was terrible, you don’t feel like you’ve wasted your money because you haven’t!
Every summer I pick up a new TV series that I never originally got into and binge watch it. Last year was Breaking Bad. This year is The Sopranos. I’m fifth on the reserve list of two copies for season one, disc one; but after that first disc, the rest are usually pretty easy and quick to reserve and pick up.
I made a library post as my Frugal Picture of the Week last week at teachingdowndebt.wordpress.com. Feel free to check out if you’ve wandered back in time to read this post :)