Want All The Books But Don’t Have All The Money? Here Are 6 Tips That’ll Save You Cash On Book Shopping

One of the biggest and most distressing problems of a bookworm is trying to balance our love of books with our bank accounts. It’s a recurring problem that we doubt will ever truly be fully resolved but we can start somewhere, right? Here are a few tips that will hopefully help you save some dollars when purchasing your lovely literary finds!

 

1. Can We Go Thrift Shopping? Yep!

As Macklemore’s popular song encourages, yes: when in doubt, thrift it out! A large collection of my own books come from the beautiful bargains of thrift stores. Most shops price their books very fairly and you can often get amazing deals such as 3 paperbacks for $1 or 4 hardbacks for $5. You can’t really beat that! Also, be on the lookout for sales at your local thrift stores as well. You can make a killing with those 50% off sales!

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Source: Giphy

2. Look For Coupons

I know you don’t want to be that person in line that has 20093587490469 coupons but hey, can you really blame them? $50 will barely get you enough basic groceries in the house these days so when it comes to treating yourself and spending your hard-earned money on novels galore, then looking for a few coupons wouldn’t hurt! Whether it be thrift stores, chain bookstores such as Barnes and Noble or Books A Million, or online book buying, always ask employees or search online for some legit coupons. A great (legal) coupon site I often use (with much success) is RetailMeNot. They also have a helpful app that lets you pull up coupons right on your phone!

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Source: Giphy

3. Sign Up For A Membership

Most bookstores offer these to customers as a way to save money and potentially earn points (that go toward your next purchases). The applications take about 5 minutes to fill out and if you are a frequent customer at that particular bookseller, I think it’s definitely worth it. Barnes & Noble’s membership (speaking from experience) is a great one to look into because it not only helps you save on books, though also includes other miscellaneous items including coffee if your local B&N has a Starbucks inside!

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Source: Giphy

4. Be As Disciplined As You Can With Your Budget

I have no doubt that a majority of people would love to save as much money as they can. And budgets are a great way of taking the first step into doing just that. While we each have our own ways of organizing how much we spend on what, who, where, and when, life happens and sometimes funds just plain run out. For the book lover this means that that book buying adventure we planned at the end of the month is a dunzo. A tip that’s been instilled in me is, each time payday rolls around, put 5 to 10% of your total check up in a savings account or the good ‘ol piggy bank. I’ve found that this works whether you get paid weekly or biweekly! At the end of the month, you’ll smile proudly at yourself because you were a responsible, money-managing adult.

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5. Stay In Tune With Library Events

A good portion of local libraries often have their own sales where they have a wide selection of books they offer to the public. I personally haven’t been to one, though I’ve heard great stories from fellow book lovers that really racked up on great deals at their libraries!

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Source: Giphy

6. Donate Your Old Books To Get New Ones

The only store that I’m familiar with that buys back books is Half Price Books though I’m sure a handful of other second-hand book retailers do as well. Of course, there’s no need for you to give away books that still have a special place in your heart or that are part of your collection. Only consider this an option for books you just couldn’t get into, are no longer interested in, have multiple copies of, etc. Unless you have relatively new releases or popular editions of classics that you’re selling, you honestly probably won’t get much cash back. But hey, you might be able to pick up a few novels that have been on your TBR list for an eternity.

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Source: Giphy

I hope you found these tips helpful in your book buying journey! Let us know what other tips you have on saving money on books!

YouTube Channel: readbyzoe

 

Featured image via Wikimedia

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