Save Money on Books, Music, Movies & Video Games

by Sylvia


Are you constantly buying books, music, movies and/or video games? If so, take a moment to analyze your spending habits. Try to figure out exactly how much money you are spending on these items. Do you even have the time to use everything you buy? Entertainment can be a major expense for most American households, and it's one that can be drastically reduced with a little planning.

If you're like most people, you probably have a good amount of books, CDs, DVDs and/or video games that you have never used or barely use in your home. Just thinking about the amount of money you spent on these items can be mind-boggling (hopefully the cost of these items is not accruing interest on a credit card).

Get an early start on spring cleaning and try to get some money back by listing some of these items on a site like half.com. The process for selling books on the site is very simple, your item is listed until it sells and the money goes straight into your bank account. You can find more information about becoming a seller on their website. Keep in mind they do take a small percentage out of the selling price.

Once you have purged your bookshelves and gotten rid of the things you don't need, be very picky about what books, video games, DVDs and CDs you do buy moving forward. Below are some money saving tips that will hopefully help you hold onto more of your income!

Use Your Library
Libraries have come a long way since I was a kid. Most libraries have an online system you can access from home to easily request and renew books. Usually your library will be a member of a big network of libraries which will allow you to also request books from neighboring libraries for free (they will transport them to your local library for you.) My library's system even sends me an email when the books I requested are ready to be picked up and a reminder two days before they are due. Did you know that you can also request and borrow DVDs and CDs from the library for free? Just keep in mind that there may be a waiting list for hot new releases.

Borrow Whenever Possible
Borrowing and exchanging books, movies and video games with friends and family can save everyone a lot of money. This is especially a good idea if you have kids since they get bored easily and grow out of stages quickly. I've started exchanging some of my daughter's "Dora the Explorer" videos for "Blue's Clues" videos with a friend and it's worked out very nicely for both of us.

Rent
If you're the type that never touches a book or DVD after you have used it once, rent instead of buying. You can save yourself a lot of money and potential clutter with programs such as Netflix and BookSwim which let you order your selections online and have them sent directly to your home. You can start renting DVDs from Netflix for as little as $4.99 per month and we even have a special offer on CoolSavings for a free Netflix trial.

Go Online
I've noticed that the way my family stays entertained has changed a lot in the last year (and thankfully we have saved money in the process.) My husband doesn't bother watching his favorite shows at their scheduled times anymore, in fact we've canceled our cable because he watches full episodes of his favorite shows online. If you don't know already, sites like abc.com offer episodes of most of their shows online a few hours after they appear on air. Even my daughter has gotten tech-savvy and watches episodes of her favorite shows on NickJr.com. I love their site too because it offers a ton of free educational games and activities that keep her occupied while helping her learn. You can even listen to all you favorite music online for free by going to sites like NotMyVideo.com

Buy It Cheap
If you're going to buy music, books or movies...buy them on the cheap! See if you can buy these items used on half.com or a variety of other online stores. There are also various retailers where you can buy and trade in these items used. For example, you can not only buy used video games at GameStop, but you can also trade in your used video games for cash or store credit. You will save yourself a lot of money just by adopting the mindset that you are only going to buy the items you are actually going to use. After all, if you only like one song from an entire CD, doesn't it make sense to only buy that one song from iTunes for 99 cents instead of buying the whole CD?

Do you have your own ideas on how to save money on books, music, movies and videogames? Share them with us!