Frugal Mania

If you love books like I do you’ve probably spent plenty of time browsing titles at your favorite books stores. If you are frugal like I am, you’ve probably only bought books from the clearance shelves of your favorite book stores.

If you don’t already know about online book clubs, check them out. For the partially frugal person good deals can be found through sites like Doubleday, Smart Reader Rewards, Literary Guild and other sites that specialize in one genre of books or another.

With online book clubs you get a certain number of books for free or for around $1 each. Usually it’s 5-6 books. You pay shipping (which is naturally a ridiculous amount at least twice that of what it takes to send media mail, but when the book is $1 it doesn’t cause too much guilt.). There is sometimes an offer to get another book with your first order for only $5 or so. Sometimes this extra book at a low price counts toward your club commitment.

About that club commitment. It’s really not so bad. Usually it’s around 4 books (purchased at the club price (less than the retail price) because books on clearance or sale do not count toward your commitment) in two years. Some clubs offer free shipping if you spend more than $25 so I suggested purchasing your commitment books together to save money.

If you are part of the clubs online you can cancel any automatic shipments before they are sent to you and never have to worry about returning books that you don’t want.

If you want to pay around $10 per book and never pay for shipping check out Zooba.

After you read the books, sell them on Half.com or Amazon. Speaking of, these two sites are an excellent source of used books for the frugal reader. If you don’t want to deal with automatic shipments or club commitments, check them out!

Don’t forget that textbooks can also be found for cheap on Half.com or Amazon. Tell all of the students you know. There is also available the reselling of textbooks.

Don’t forget your local library. Nothing is more frugal when it comes to books. Remember your library, also, when you are finished reading books you own. Donate them so that others may enjoy them for free.