Being a book nerd can get expensive. While it is wonderful to buy new books and support your favorite authors when you can afford it, most of us don’t have an unlimited budget to buy all the books our hearts desire.
I once dreamed of having a massive personal library in my home but priorities have a way of changing. Over time I also found myself getting stressed out by the amount of unread books I owned. Even the ones on my kindle that didn’t take up physical space weighed on my mind.
My book buying habits have changed in recent years. Between sticking to a budget that puts our homesteading dreams first and adapting to tiny living, we have minimized many of our belongings.
Still, having books around and continuing a regular reading habit has remained important to me. Books are a source of continued learning, knowledge, entertainment, and even escapism. I’ve discovered ways to be a book nerd on a budget and embrace letting books go when I’m finished with them.
How to be a Book Nerd on a Budget:
1. Use Your Library
The library is an amazing resource for physical books, ebooks, audiobook, and even DVDs and music! The majority of the books I’ve read so far this year have come from the library. During the pandemic, my library has remained open for picking up holds so you can browse the catalog at home and place a request for your preferred materials.
They’ve also expanded their online resources. Through apps like Overdrive or Libby, you can check out ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines at any time of day to enjoy on your own devices.
One of the best things about library books and living in a tiny space is that you have them for three weeks and then they go back for the next person to enjoy. By borrowing books rather than buying, you aren’t adding to your belongings. I have a section of my bookshelf that is just for temporarily visiting library books.
If you’re more into owning books, some libraries even have free books available to take from time to time. Many libraries also have a Friends of the Library group who organize book sales. There you can find books for as cheap as 50 cents and the proceeds help support the library.
The only downside I can see to using the library is when it comes to recently published books. If you’re looking for something that was just released you may have to get in line on the holds list and wait several weeks for your turn to come up. This brings me to my next tip…
2. Be a Backlist Reader
I get just as excited as most book nerds when I discover a favorite author has a new book coming out. However focusing your reading choices more on backlist books can offer lots of benefits.
Not only can it be expensive trying to keep up with new book releases, it can be exhausting! It’s just impossible to scratch the surface of reading everything new that is coming out. Depending on your personality, trying to keep up with all the news and hype can put a real damper on your reading life turning it into more of a competition or bringing you down with fears of missing out.
Backlist books are more likely to be available right away through the library. Even those that came out just over 6 months ago are often ready to borrow. If you’re always focused on the latest releases, you wind up missing a ton of amazing older reads.
One of my favorite strategies for lining up summer reading picks is to look at past best of lists and make my selections from there. These fantastic reads still hit the spot often without a wait.
Backlist books also more easily found as used books or more likely to be on sale.
3. Buy Used Books
Buying used books is a great way to save money as a book nerd. Embrace it if you’re lucky enough to live near a town with an actual used bookstore!
We have a nonprofit bookstore nearby that benefits the Humane Society. People donate books that are then sold for $1. You never know what you may find browsing there.
In addition to checking out library sales, most thrift stores have a book section. Some of these are also nonprofits supporting causes like The Cancer Society or hospice care. Some might just be Goodwill, but most have a section for used books. Yard sales or estate sales may also be worth checking out.
For people looking to have books flow through their home rather than stay on their shelves, buying used books may help. Sometimes spending less makes it easier to let a book go or donate it again after you’ve read it.
If the gamble of browsing isn’t something you enjoy, there are also online used bookstores like Thriftbooks where you can see exactly what inventory they have and check for a specific book.
4. Join Kindle Unlimited or similar services
I recently finished up a 6 month subscription with Kindle Unlimited. After seeing how many of my read books came from the library, I decided not to continue with KU for now.
As of this writing the full price for this subscription service is $9.99 a month. With that you get access to a massive catalog of books and can check out up to 10 at a time. There’s no limit on how many you can read so long as you return one of the ten before you check out another.
If you enjoy trying out new authors often and read more than 3 books a month through Kindle Unlimited then this service is probably worth it.
I used it a lot in the beginning months especially while reading all that Helena Hunting had available on there. Then it became more of a nuisance to try to find something to read in the catalog and make sure I was “getting my money’s worth” using the subscription.
Other services I haven’t tried but that are similar to Kindle Unlimited include Bookmate and Scribd.
5. Little Free Libraries
I adore little free libraries and more and more are popping up all the time! Even in our very rural area, there are two of these with many more in surrounding towns.
A few years ago, I enlisted my husband’s help to build one as a birthday gift for my best friend. She’s now the curator of her little free library for her neighborhood.
If you have one in yours be sure to support it by using it! There’s always something new appearing in the libraries. You can borrow a book or leave one of your own favorites.
6. Shop Book Deals
I used to have a morning routine of checking out all the book deals for the day. This is how the pile of unread books on my kindle got out of control!
If you aren’t on a book buying ban yourself, I recommend checking out Modern Mrs Darcy’s great E-book Deals. Book Riot also posts an article each day with their top book deal finds. These surprisingly current reads are usually ebooks but there’s the occasional great print deal or even audiobook.
Do you have a book budget? How do you make being a book nerd work for you?
