Library

One of the ways I save money is by using our library - alot.  I use it for books, books on cd, and dvd's.  A couple of years ago we used Blockbuster.com to have movies delivered.  That was $16.33 a month, nearly $200 a year.  When I realized I could get all the movies through the library and Redbox I dropped that expense.  I occasionally use Redbox where a one night rental is $1.09 (w/tax), but most of the times I have used Redbox I have a coupon code for a free movie. 

I absolutely love to read, but don't like buying books for 2 reasons. One the cost, and the other reason is I would end up with tons of books and even more clutter. For my hour drive (if I am lucky it's only an hour) to and from work 3 days a week I listen to books on CD.  This is so much fun and makes the hour go by so fast as I get hooked on the stories I am listening to.  My daughter gets quite a few books at the library, too.

Luckily our nice library is only a couple of miles away so it's very convenient.  I can get online and browse for titles and put what I'd like to borrow on reserve. They either transfer it from a library that has it in, or I wait until a copy becomes available.  Quite often I have to wait awhile, but I try to keep quite a list on reserve, so that way, I usually have something to read, listen to, or watch.  I get an email when something is ready to pick up and emails reminding me when a due date is coming (though I still sometimes forget and have a late fine - ah well!) When the kids were preschool age I used to take them one night a week for story time and they always enjoyed that.