Thrifty Thursday: It's Chic to Be Cheap

This month's Dishing It! party (open for more links until tonight at 10 pm--come on over!) is all about {Your Summer Reading List}. Since we've all added to our "to-read" lists after the party, I thought it might be fun to chat about inexpensive ways you can acquire books. Several readers mentioned thrifty book venues in their posts yesterday that are worth discussing.

There's something to be said for walking through the hallowed doors of one of my favorite retreats, Borders.

Seeing the neatly organized racks of books just sends my heart racing. I feel positively gleeful once I hit the magazine aisles.

But spending $17 on a new paperback isn't always within one's budgets, so today we'll talk about some more cost effective ways to save on books.

1. Library-
Um, this one's kind of a no brainer, people. Ben Franklin totally knew what he was doing when he started America's first subscription library. In addition to borrowing as many books, tapes, and DVDs as you like, many libraries also offer great community events. I mentioned in my kids' summertime activity post that our library hosts an excellent storytime for kids each week. The key to using the library is to return your books on time so you don't incur fees every month. Don't ask me how I know about that. 

2. Used Bookstore-
Dropping by a used bookstore is a great way to get rid of those books that totally sucked you know you won't read again and to find bargains on new-to-you books. I've noticed that used books typically run about half off of the publisher's price. The shop closest to me allows customers to use full store credit on purchases, so I can often bring home a book or two for free after leaving a stack for the store to sell.

3. Hit the web-
I've purchased through Amazon and Half.com. I found a book once for something like 3 cents (really!), so shipping ended up being more than the book...but still substantially less than patronizing Barnes and Noble. If I'm buying through a seller, I am very careful to read that person's feedback, the same as if I were purchasing something through eBay. Nadir and my sister also mentioned something called Paperback Swap that sounds like it may be worth checking out.

4. Yard Sale It or Thrift It, Baby!-
On more than one occasion have I blogged about the joy of finding a neat book for practically nothing. One example that comes to mind was the Vintage McCall's Sewing Book I scored at an estate sale for $1.

This actually came in handy during a recent sewing project! If you buy the book for 10 cents and hate it, you won't feel guilty for passing it on to Salvation Army. I find the best Little Golden Books for my girls at the Salvation Army...some old, vintage favorites that I am dismayed people would pass on. But I don't stay dismayed for long because those treasured books become ours for just 50 cents!

5. Swap-
Kendra wrote about swaps and something my MOPS group is planning on doing this Fall is starting a Book Swap Club. I like this idea even better than a regular old Book Club because there is no pressure to read a book you may or may not like, or to pretend like you've read it and then sit and nod your head knowingly as important passages are discussed. I did enough of that in college Philosophy class.

A Book Swap could be as formal or casual as you like. You could assign points for the number of books members bring, ask people to give a quick plug for their favorite book they brought, or just throw the books on a table and let everyone go to town like a pack of wolverines.

6. Find Some Friends with Similar Literary Tastes-
My friend L has the uncanny ability to make things sound like lots of fun until you want to do them, which is how I got stuck doing Strive at the gym and also how she convinced me that I would love Twilight, which I did. Another friend talked up Gabaldon's Outlander series until I was convinced that I was missing out on something huge, which I was. Good friends lend books!

7. If you really want the Borders-Barnes and Noble-Books a Millon experience, sign up for a frequent reader card or something.
Borders sends me at least one coupon a week. I once coupled a 40% off coupon with a gift card and some clearance items and came home with a bag of goodies for next to nothing!

If you have any more thrifty ideas for book buying, please feel free to leave a link to your post in the comments!

Now...anyone want to join me at Borders with a mocha?

PS. Holly is having an IKEA party today--go link up if you have an IKEA post to share!