When was the last time you visited your public library?
Are you thinking, “Library? Who goes to the library anymore?” Believe it or not, plenty of people visit the library, and for more reasons than you may think. The library is not just for checking out books anymore! Did you know you can “check out” movies, eBooks and magazines? Take advantage of all that your local library has to offer and you may even be able to save your family over $30 a month! Learn how to save money by using your city library!
How to save money by using your city library!
Today we are going to talk about 3 ways that you can use your library to save money:
1. Download books for free
Do you love downloading books to your electronic reader? eBooks can cost you anywhere from $0.99 and up. Let’s say you’re an avid reader and you buy/download 4 books a month from Amazon. Say you average $3 per book – that’s $12 a month. Now, you may spend more with kids’ books and cookbooks, or you may spend less, but for arguments sake, let’s just say $12 a month.
At most local libraries you can download a great number of eBooks for FREE! They carry fiction, nonfiction, children’s books, you name it! You can even choose how long you would like to “check it out”! Our local library offers loans from 7 to 21 days. Even better, this can all be done online – no need to even go into the library!
2. Download movies for free
Are movies a downfall for your family?
We love watching movies. They don’t have to be new releases, just something new for us. We have been known to visit the Redbox a time a two or three a month. 😉
Let’s say you have a Netflix subscription. That will set you back about $8 a month. If you don’t have Netflix and visit the Redbox let’s say 4 times a month that will cost you $4-8 a month, plus tax (depending if you rent DVDs or BluRays). Once you figure in tax, let’s say you spend about $10 a month on videos.
Our local library has a Movie Box where we can “rent movies”. Unlike renting from the Redbox or Netflix, the Movie Boxes at the library are completely FREE plus, you get to keep the movie for 7 days! You can check out 4 movies at a time, too. I love the fact that I can go to my library’s website, see what movies they have available, and even reserve it online. How cool is that? All for FREE!
3. Read Magazines for free.
Are you keeping track of all the tips to save money?
So far, by deciding to use your library for movies and books, we’ve saved about $22 a month. Now, let’s talk magazines! How many subscriptions do you have? None? You’re lucky.
Most families have a few different magazines delivered monthly. Let’s say your household has 4 subscriptions and those run you about $30 each per year (or about $10 per month). Did you know your local library subscribes to a multitude of magazines? At our library, we can get anything from Parents to Newsweek to Life Magazine and so much more. All for FREE!
We hit a total of $32 a month in savings!! Doesn’t seem like much? How does almost $400 a year sound?
The best part is that you can have all of these savings without sacrificing the things you like. Still not sure this is the way to go for you and your family? Visit your local library’s website and browse all of the great things they have to offer. It just might surprise you!
Now it is your turn… do you have any tips on how to save money by using your city library?
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