Reading material

Many people can save a great deal of money by being smarter when choosing reading material.
By reading material I am referring to books, magazines and newspapers.

Along with buying your lunch, buying magazinesnewspapers each day/week makes a HUGE dent in the household budget. If you don't believe me just stop and add up how much you spend each year on these reading materials.

I'll admit to being just like most other people and love catching up with gossip or just looking at the latest fashions/household ideas etc. My mind (in its weak moments) has even tried to justify their purchase by saying that I save money by getting ideas so I can do things myself to my house! No.

So how to cope without buying these things. Well, there are several options.

• Read other peoples!
• Wait until you get to work and often there are newspapers in the staff room.
• Just wean yourself off them completely.
• Sneakily look at the magazines in the supermarket aisles!
• Join a library

Another thing to beware of is joining a book club. Some require you to buy several books a year and these books are usually quite expensive, especially when adding postage. These book clubs can also be very addictive. It is often cheaper to scout around and find great books on sale at book shops or at second hand shops. Another idea is to find another 'bookworm' with the same taste in books and swap books with each other. However, obviously the best option with books is to join a library or two or three. Free.

Another suggestion to those who just cannot go without their magazines is to form a 'magazine group' and each person buy one magazine and then swap them around, so you get to read quite a few for the purchase of only one.

I have also noticed that my local library has a huge array of magazines (up-to-date ones) and also the daily newspapers. Even McDonald's has the daily newspaper and some magazines.

For an excellent resource I have come across on how to escape debt, live cheaply, saving money etc Click Here!

Happy reading (and not much purchasing)!