"We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us."
-Unknown

Friday, 16 August 2013

Raisie Speaks: 5 Tips to Scoring Affordable Reads And Saving Money Along The Way

You work hard for your money. Can you recall how many hours you put your effort into just to get the latest payslip? So even if you love books, you can still save money with these tips and still be a happy bibliophile who knows how to have good old fashioned entertainment at home or in any quiet corner-reading.

To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
The Book Depository
1 Buy Used Books or Swap!

Brand new books cost anywhere from Php 300-500 for Paperback and Php 400-800 for Hardbound copies, and you can always hear me complaining about new releases and their respective prices. If you could control yourself and look around your home for other books you have not read, you can wait for a month after and check out eBay or some friends who have finished reading the title you have been pining after and offer to buy the book for a lesser cost. Some bazaars will have secondhand books on sale that are also in great condition so you should set aside a budget for the next one in town. 

Swapping is also a good choice, all you have to do is ask a friend whom you know has the genre that you like or a specific title or author that you have not read yet, then you can arrange for a swap to take place without having to worry about your monthly budget for books. 

Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho

2 Borrow From A Friend Or The Library

All it takes is a phone call, text, Facebook message, Tweet or even your library card and a list of titles you have not read. Take the first step and you can have a couple of new books that you can start reading. Hey, if you "borrowed" that from ADZU library, return it at the end of the semester! Other students would want to read it too, okay?

The Darwin Myth by Dr Benjamin Wiker
God's Gold by Sean Kingsley

3 Invest In An Ebook Reader

Most e-book readers these days range anywhere from Php 6,000 -12,000. Even if it is tight for you right now, you can save a chunk of your bonus and stow away a little every month until you have saved enough. This way, you can easily download e-books and save them in your reader's storage. Most of the time, e-books are free. Be sure to select one that won't strain your eyes. 


Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin

 4 Collect Only Authors That You Really Like

What's the use of having a huge collection of books and only read and just appreciate a few authors? You just might as well be throwing away your money. Yes, you can't avoid those times when you bought a book and thought that the author was promising only to realize that the writing style was childish and the story plot was off-but you can resell it, and learn to look keep away from that book altogether. Keeping only authors that you really like showcases your true bookworm's preferences and the collection can be called truly yours. No matter what genre it is, it's your time and money spent, isn't it?

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
5 Or Join A Giveaway

It still saves you money, doesn't it? Alright, no more questions asked . Head on here

How about you? How do you save money while looking for books? Is there anything that you do uniquely? Let me know in the comments below!

6 comments:

  1. Totally agree with everything mentioned. I recently discovered the joy of buying used books. :) Might I also add that you should sell the books you no longer plan to reread? That's what I do.

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  2. Booksale is every bookworm's best friend :)

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  3. I love borrowing books from the library! Especially since reading new books always makes me worry about creasing or water damage and all those kinds of accidental damage. Lovely post :)

    Debra Bros

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    1. Thank you Debra, you remind me of a really protective book owner hahaha =)

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  4. Im such a cheapskate! So I buy books and magazines at Booksale. Oh yes! Booksale is a piece of heaven here on Earth. :) I can actually live there. LOL! They have good quality books for such low prices. You just have to be patient if you want to find something interesting.

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    1. We used to have booksale here and you are right, it takes time to really browse around and look for the really good titles! Thanks for visiting! =)

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