Money Saving Rediscovery

I took the day off today. I can't even describe how nice it's been having a Monday away from duty. I'll have to do it again sometime.

First thing this morning I did some yard work, then washed my truck and Brittan's car. After that I swept out the garage and I've also watered and fertilized the vegetable garden. I even had time to arrange my hunting gear for a hunting trip this weekend. All in all a productive day.

But the best part was a whimsical idea Brittan came up with after lunch. We had gone out for some Mexican food and on the way back she said, "hey let's go to the library. We haven't been since we moved here and it's right around the corner from the house."

With nothing pressing on my agenda, I agreed. So off we went. Now, it's been at least 6 years since I even had a library card. In this day of the internet and amazon.com, it's way too easy to surf for information and/or buy books from the comfort of your own easy chair. But I rediscovered the wonder of the Public Library. What a great place to save money. Here are just a few ways I saw immediately. 1. For the person or persons struggling to get out of debt, there were at least 10 computers with high speed internet access. One could very easily cancel high speed at home for a while to pay off debts, use a dial up service and go to the library when high speed internet is a must. I would do that in a heartbeat if necessary. 2. Books. That's the obvious one. Books are luxury items at the best of times and the library has thousands of them to borrow for FREE. 3. DVDs and VCR tapes. We don't even have a vcr anymore so that wouldn't help, but there was a decent selection of DVDs to check out. Sure they aren't 'first run' but free is for me. B and I like old movies and this is a whole lot better than paying blockbuster. 4. Music. Mostly we listen to online stations, but I do like cd's as well, but I hate paying the money they cost at the store. The library is a very good option. Do they have everything? No, but I don't need everything. 5. Audio Books. This is a big one for me because I love to listen to audio books during my daily commute. But buying audio books can get expensive fast. Our local library had a great collection.

Thanks to my Bride's epiphany on the way home from lunch, I see some real savings in our future.