New books! The dopamine hit from the fresh gloss of a new paperback can become addicting, but almost always incredibly costly. I am extremely guilty of this (see book, buy book). I find a new story I feel like I need to devour right then, order it online and wait anxiously for it to arrive on my doorstep… only for it to be disappointing or rot on my shelf for the next three years (don’t worry, I’ll read it soon). 

I’m sure I’m not the only one who falls prey to the appeal of a shiny new story. The day I’m short of books to read is the day I will finally lose my mind, but do not fear, that day will most likely never come (in fact, I think my TBR will outlive me). But it is important to be smart with your money, especially since most of you (including me) will be broke college kids soon.

But, you as a broke college kid will have these handy resources to get free books, so the day you’re empty handed will never arrive.

Utilize Your Library Please

Oh, the shock, I know. But! It is THE best resource out there for free books (physical, ebooks, audio, oh my!). Libraries to the non-readers out there are probably seen as boring and dusty and “let’s go somewhere fun instead.” 

However, the library system truly is amazing. They usually have most of the books you’re looking for, and if they don’t, asking a librarian to put it on order isn’t an unreasonable request. They’re just happy to supply you with reading material.

Here comes my favorite part: the hold system (bless the hold shelf). If the book you want isn’t held in your local library, they’ll transport it from the libraries that do have it to your home library. Amazing. And if you aren’t first in line for that book, you just place it on hold and boom, you’ll get it when it’s ready.

Seriously, use your local library for books. If you are a chronic book-buyer, you will save hundreds of dollars.

Borrow From Your Bookish Friends

Borrowing from a friend isn’t cheating. It saves you money and you basically get an automatic little book club to talk about it with. And it doesn’t have to go one way, you can share your books also, like a book swap. 

Setting up a system with a friend could look like this: split the cost of the book from wherever you are purchasing it from and share it. You both get to read it but at a lower cost. Or you could also have a system of passing along books you enjoy, so there’s a constant rotation of books through both of your hands (it’s even better if you have a large group doing this).

There are many arrangements you can come to with a friend that will save you both money and provide you with some bookish conversation.

Discipline Yourself

I sound like I’m shaking my finger at you but I’m not. I’m disciplining myself right now because I have way too many books on my shelves and I can’t bear not reading them before I leave for college. 

So, here’s how my ideology works. I will loyally borrow from my library, and occasionally my friends, but focus on finishing my shelf. My resolution is to read five of my physical books on my shelf before I can buy another one, Kindle or physical. This way I am sure to read my shelf if I want to own a book.

So far this has been working for me quite well. The only problem I came across is if I find that I don’t want to finish a book. I’ve decided that book does count towards my five because I picked it up and tried it — it’s not my fault I didn’t like it. Now I’ll just put it in a Little Free Library (love those so much).

Wherever your TBR situation is, this could work for anybody. There’s never any harm in working through your TBR diligently while also saving some money and shelf space.

So there you go, my life hacks to fix overspending on books. While these may seem simple solutions, they are effective if you give them a chance. Happy Reading!