Maximize Your Reading Budget: 5 Tips for Free Reading

I have been a reader for many years, but only in the past few years have I been more mindful of my bookish spending. If you are new to reading or an established reader, it is always great to know how to read for free!

1. Join your local library!

By far the easiest, quickest, and cheapest way to read is to join your local library. I spent a whole year exploring if it was possible to only read from a library, and yes, it is possible and is amazing! There are a few drawbacks, such as you may not be able to read a book immediately, but there is ALWAYS something to read. Since reading from my local libraries, I have cut my bookish spending almost in half.

2. Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg is a collection of over 70,000 free ebooks. On Project Gutenberg you will find older works of literature that the U.S copyright has expired. So you won’t find the newest titles, like you will at the library, but there are many classic titles to pick from. They offer ebooks and audiobooks.

Check out Project Gutenberg here.

3. Librivox

Similar to Project Gutenberg, Librivox is a collection of classic literature anyone can read for free. Librivox offers free audiobooks! I have enjoyed some great dramatic readings of classics on Librivox.

Check out their website here.

4. International Children’s Digital Library

This is a collection of children’s books that allow children to learn and appreciate children’s literature from around the world. While this website does focus on children’s books, I thought it was cool to include. Maybe you have a younger reader in your life or simply enjoy children’s literature.

Check out their website here.

5. Book Trades Locally

As readers, we have been doing this for years. You find a local group of readers or a readers, and trade books. This does not allow you to select the books you want to read, but will give you a simple way to expand your reading taste and keep your reading low budget.

The easiest way to do this is to look on social media platforms, such as Facebook, to find book exchange groups. Sometimes you will find one in your area, other times you have to ship your books.

This will work great if you have a reading buddy at work you can trade books with.

Will you try to cut the cost of reading?

Books are expensive there is no way around that. By using these tips, you may be able to save yourself a little money here and there. I hope you found this useful, happy reading!