I’ve recently taken an interest in personal finance. And by “recently”, I mean “about a year ago now”, but the interest is still going strong. I may as well try to clean up my finances as well as my house, right? On the plus side, decluttering my finances is going to be easy comparatively – there’s hardly anything there! Haha! 
I’ve been reading all the personal finance books and blogs I can get my hands on. Blogs are free, and can provide wonderful information, but I have always loved books, and when I’m learning I love to get as many different viewpoints as possible.
I’m proud to say I haven’t bought any books. I’ve borrowed from family, friends and the library.
Photo by Alex Watson
Ok, I lied a little bit, I bought a notebook from the dollar store to jot down notes while I read the finance books I’ve borrowed. Must be a holdover from school; I’ve always liked taking notes. I’m such a geek, but that’s awesome.
I love buying books, so this has actually been fairly difficult for me. I love the library, but I also love owning books. I love seeing them stacked neatly on my shelves, and (oops!) not so neatly once the shelves are filled up.
Every time I move I give away a huge box of books, but I always have more, more more.
When I daydream, my house always has one of those big libraries, with curving shelves that stretch from floor to ceiling and one of those nifty rolling ladders to reach the topmost tomes. *Swoon*
Since I don’t live in a place with a dedicated library, however, I’ve decided that I shouldn’t keep buying books as if I did. Since then, the public library has become my new best friend again. They have almost any book imaginable, and if they don’t have it it, odds are good that they can order it from another branch for you! Sometimes you do have to wait a few weeks if another patron has checked a book out, or if the library needs to order it for you, but it can be worth it for both the money you save and the fact that you’re not cluttering up your home with books you’ll likely only read once.
I’m still a fan of purchasing books when you know you’ll read them multiple times – reference material, old favourites, etc. For one-time reads, however, especially on subjects that I’m learning and taking notes on, I now (again) prefer to get them from the library.
If you regularly go to your local public library, you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t visited your local library in a while, go check it out this week! I bet you can find at least one book that you want to read, and you’ll be able to do so without adding to the clutter in your home! If you go, I’d love to hear what books you checked out from the library!
PS – Oh, and check this out. Minimalist blogger Everett Bogue is offering his new ebook The Art of Being Minimalist free to download for only 24 hours*! I got a free copy, and I’m really looking forward to reading this one and will write a review of it once I’m done. You may want to give it a try too. 
* = the free download period is over, but you can still buy The Art of Being Minimalist for only $9.95 for the first 1000 people.
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I haven’t been the the library in a long time even though I pass it a lot. Maybe I’ll go there today after work.
I use Swaptree.com, which has allowed me to trade books I’m not going to read again for books I really want to read. And I can trade CDs, movies, and video games the same way.
Thanks for the site suggestion! I hadn’t heard of SwapTree before, but it sounds pretty good!
Does anyone know if Canadians can join? I know many of those book swapping sites are USA-only.
It’s US only right now, unfortunately.
Aw, that’s too bad for me, but it can still help any of my American readers!
I really should look into the lib option more as it seems the last year I have spent a lot on books and related media. Maybe by using the lib more my office can stay cleaner.