Posted in Tightwad Tuesdays
Today is Tightwad Tuesday with Canadagirl once again! If you have a money-saving tip to share with all of us, please do go visit my dear friend Mary to learn how to join in on the fun.
Today's tip is a deviation from my normal food-related tips, but if you have come to enjoy my food-related tips, don't worry - they'll be back. *Ü* I'm just taking a break from them as I prepare a different sort of TWT theme for myself. It's a work in progress, and I'll share it as soon as it's ready.
Today's tip comes to us from our local libraries. How many times have you walked by, seemingly blindly, the used book store in your neighborhood library? We seem to have focus issues at times, don't we? We go to the library for free books, the book store for books for purchase, etc. Well, we're missing out.
Piper dragged me into the used book store in our library awhile ago (literally dragged me) to point out a portion of a collection that had been released for sale. These were books that were required for our home education, but that I hadn't purchased yet. The odd one that I needed I borrowed from the library, or was on a wait list elsewhere. Take a look for yourself:
These are hardcover tomes with a copyright date of 1952 on them. If this book were published now and sold in today's market, I presume to assign a value of no less than $15 per hard cover volume. Having looked this specific book up, I can tell you that the Tolstoy edition alone is selling for $5.99 + s&h on Abebooks.com. I purchased the entire set of books, all 21 volumes, for $10. That is less than 50¢ a book. I was flabbergasted. These are some of the greatest minds of all time, at a low bargain price of less than a can of soda. Archimedes, Tolstoy, Plutarch, Virgil, the list goes on. It's staggering to realize that these books have been turned over due to no circulation. And we wonder why each generation seems to be growing dimmer. Sorry, soap box issue.
Anyway, assume that each volume would go for roughly $6 on the open market, and you get a grand total of $126, which means a savings of $116 for me, because I would have had to purchase them sooner or later.
So, the next time you go to your local library, make sure you have a couple of extra dollars in your purse, for you never know what will reach out and grab you. Just be sure you grab back!
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