Save Money by Borrowing from the Library

Remember when you used to visit the library when you were a kid? Perhaps it's just me, but I loved to comb the shelves whether it be the fiction or non-fiction sections. I'd always stumble across an interesting topic and could just browse the books for hours. In those days, my local library only stocked books, volumes of encyclopedias, newspapers and some cassettes.

Sure, we have the Internet, and you can just about Google everything. But there is something that all the websites on the Internet cannot provide. That is, free access to the latest novels, biographies and reference texts. All this free wealth of quality information available at my local library is the perfect way to keep learning without forking out the cash to buy it.

Furthermore, not only do libraries these days stock your traditional media, they also have music and language CDs, movies and documentaries on DVD or VHS and the latest magazines, all available for borrowing.

On my most recent visits, I have been able to borrow items such as:

● A couple of biographies about one of the world's most successful real estate tycoons, Donald Trump
● A book about Google Adsense
● Numerous music CDs
● Current and back issues of “Money” magazine
● Lonely Planet travel books (anyone for New York? =) )
● A bestselling book about spirituality by the Dalai Lama
● Books from Robert Kiyosaki's 'Rich Dad' series

Sure, the topics of these books may not be your thing, but the point is that the library is such a treasure-trove of media that you can significantly reduce the amount you would otherwise spend on buying those items from a book or music store. From just the list above, I would say they would have cost me over $300 to purchase brand new. Rather, they cost me nothing except the trip to and from the library.

But apart from saving money, other advantages of visiting the library include being able to try before you buy, exploring books about other topics which you normally wouldn't purchase, promoting a sense of community and dare I say it, a relaxing place to chill out.

Sometimes though, wanting to borrow the most popular books from the library can be a test of patience. Often, there's only one copy of the book circulating around the library's network of branches. Books such as the Da Vinci Code would certainly always be loaned out with a long reserve list. If you must get the book right now, perhaps consider other methods of obtaining it without paying retail price such as purchasing secondhand.

One thing's for sure, is that you don't always have to pay for your continual learning and entertainment. Save yourself a great deal of money by returning to the library and rediscover what it has to offer you.