Works for Me Wednesday - How to get books free & cheap

Last week I talked about how my family uses the library pretty regularly to satisfy our book addiction. There are MANY times that I will take a book out of the library though and will just LOVE it so much that I need to own a copy of it. A perfect example of a book that I just had to own was Nourishing Traditions. This amazing book has so much information I renewed it the maximum number of times and had still not been able to read through the whole thing (it is a cook book but in the margins of the book she includes TONS of great information about nutrition).

Like I mentioned before I have a very limited income to spend on books. My first step when I find a book that I want to own is to check out . I have received and mailed out over 100 books during the last year or so that I have been part of paperback swap. I've been able to get lovely titles that make great gifts for just the cost of shipping for the books I've sent our. I have literally saved HUNDREDS of dollars.

If I look on and I don't find the title I am looking for my next stop is Half.com. If I need to pay for a book this is the first place I always check. I've been able to get brand new books for as little as $.75 plus shipping (about $3). As an example the paper back version of Nourishing Traditions was about $25 to buy brand new. I was able to purchase it for about $15 from Half.com.

I also love Amazon.com for their used books. If I can't find something at Half.com my next step it to check at Amazon.com. If I cannot find a book used then I think really hard on whether I really want to have it in my library or not.

Some other tips. Carry around a wish list of books & subjects so that when you stop in at Thrift stores or yard sales you know what you are looking for. I am currently looking for more bible stories to have on hand to read to my kids and I was able to buy two beautiful pop up hard cover bible story books for $.10 each at a yard sale this weekend! Keep in mind if it is not a title you would need to refer to daily wait to see if you can find it elsewhere first.

It's also getting to be the season for book sales at libraries. This is a GREAT way to get titles you are looking for very inexpensively.

, Amazon.com and Half.com all work for me!! Take a look at Rocks in My Dryer for more Works for me Wednesday tips!

Blessings!