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Years ago, I used to spend over $50 a month on books.  These were books for the kids and me that we would get at in-store and online bookstores.  After awhile, it got to be a bit expensive.  For a single mother, being o a budget is very important so I started stressing out how much I was spending a month.

Additionally, all the books we had no longer fit on the bookcases that we have in our basement.  During a deep cleaning session, I donated a bunch of books to my county libraries, neighborhood little library, family, and friends. At this moment, I really thought about how the kids and I could still read without paying so much money for books.  Here are some of the ways that I have saved money while still being able to read books I love.

Libraries

read books from the library

We started going to the library and taking books out.  This was a great way to get the kids in the library while saving money.  Eventually, our county library also started offering ebooks and audiobooks.  Therefore, we have multiple ways that we can read books without spending tons of money. The only drawback with the library is that sometimes you are on a waitlist for awhile instead of getting the book right away if you paid for the book.  To save money, I don’t mind waiting because there are plenty of other books I can read or listen to.

Prime Library and Kindle Unlimited

prime reading and kindle unlimited

Amazon has started offering Prime Library and Kindle Unlimited.  Prime Library are free books that you can borrow if you are a Prime member.  Kindle Unlimited is $9.99/month but that is definitely better than spending over $50/month. 

Audible.com

audible audiobook

For $14.95, you can listen to a free audiobook a month.  I used to subscribe to Audible, and I really liked it.  I stopped subscribing when my library started offering audiobooks.  However, what I love about it is that I still keep my audiobooks so I can listen to the ones I had gotten when I was subscribed any time.

Anime Cruzers

free manga book

If you love reading manga, then Anime Cruzers is a great site to go to.  It has popular mangas like “Attack on Titan,” “Tokyo Ghoul,” “One Piece,” etc. The best part about is that it’s free! You can enjoy the manga before watching the anime.

Barnes and Noble

barnes and noble nook free

Barnes and Noble also has free ebooks that you can also get.  Both Nook and Kindle have a cloud version of their apps so you don’t need their tablet to read these books.

I hope this is helpful.  One thing I also use is Goodreads.  It’s great to connect with other avid readers, authors of your favorite books, and read reviews of books you are interested in reading.  If you are on there, please add me as a friend.

If you use Chrome, you will love the Library Extension.  It works with Goodreads, so you can see if the book you want to read is carried by your library. 

library extension

My goal is to read 35 books this year.  I am reading tons in my MBA program so I thought this was a good number of books.  Let me know what your reading goal is. 

Happy Reading everyone!

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