Using the Library to Save Money

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Motherjoy
Posts: 376
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:52 pm

Using the Library to Save Money

Post by Motherjoy » Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:00 am

Do any of you use the library to save money on books? How do you organize and plan so that you always have the books you need?

I've always purchased all of our books, and I was planning on doing it this year. But it seems we aren't going to have the money (without begging from grandparents) to purchase everything we need. So I'd better learn how to make the library work for us.
MJ, mom to 8
2015-2016 plan
*17yo is dual-enrolled after using HOD for 7 years
*11yo, 10yo, 9yo, and 7yo - CTC with modifications
*5yo, 4yo - LHTH
*3yo - playschool

Accomplished: LHTH, LHFHG, BHFHG, Beyond, PHFHG, RTR, Rev to Rev, MTMM, WG, WH

Tansy
Posts: 1029
Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2007 9:11 am
Location: Texas

Post by Tansy » Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:31 am

If I'm really well organized.. I put the books on hold the week before. I have to admit I have a great Library with 2 branches in our town. So many times I just look the books up online and run in too get the ones "on the shelf". If its one I really really want my dd to read I may get it via interlibrary loan.

Now a few words about saving money. Interlibrary loan for me cost 2.50$ per request. Our fines for late books are $.50 a day... Books put into the books drop the day they are due, some times do not get checked in till 3 days later. They have signs on the book drop and they do not remove your fines even if it was in the book drop on time. So that said I do use the library but some times I have found I could have bought the book at half price books for the price I ended up paying in fines. :oops:

I also think Grandparents like to help. Here are some examples as to how you can get them to help with out feeling guilty. I call it creative financing. Start a new rule "Mom Dad The kid just has to many toys and clothes, you can buy them only one toy or outfit." (this means you get good quality toys, not junky dollar store ones). One set of grandparents loves books I have sent them a list of authors and various books I want DD to read now and in the future. The other set is not bookish... so I always ask for art supplies. letting them know what is used in our house, stuff like washable markers and telling grandma DD loves to use my "real" paint's and paint brushes. For example this Easter DD got a basket of art supplies from grandma not candy...

When the grandparents call and ask What does Hunny Bunny want for her birthday I say "_______ lessons". Grandma loves to live vicariously through her granddaughter. When told that dd wants Dance lessons Grand ma looked up local lessons online, picked some bought the required uniform, shoes, and ballet bag. Then sent me a check for the exact amount. Now dd was getting those lessons anyway grandma paying for them made grandma happy and freed up our school budget, for more books and field trips. I also get the added benifit of a cleaner house (fewer junk toys and books) a happier child she gets new not hand-me-down shoes, and has plenty of good books to read not junk ones.

I was sure to send grandma a long tape of show off day and the recital.

If you are going to use the library be sure to keep those books renewed! Some times I can't get the books I really wanted so I always have a back up plan. flexiblity is handy..
Last edited by Tansy on Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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netpea

Post by netpea » Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:32 am

I use the library, I go through the book lists and try to request everything a couple of weeks in advance in case I have to use ILL, I also get about 2-3 weeks worth of books at a time. It usually works out fine. sometimes a particular book isn't available right on time so we read a different one first.

It's more work, but worth it if you need to keep costs down and a library is near you.

paliz

Post by paliz » Tue Apr 01, 2008 10:00 am

I use the library too. I normally only do a hold request a week in advance unless it's an inter-library loan and I allow for a little more time. I have been that in our library you can get a teacher's pass which allows the books to be checked out longer but I have checked it out yet. Mainly if I know that I'm not going to be done with it on time I will renew it online to make things easier.

mom2boys030507
Posts: 208
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2007 2:05 pm
Location: Cottage Grove, MN
Contact:

Post by mom2boys030507 » Tue Apr 01, 2008 10:40 am

I also use the Library. At the beginning of the year I went through the supplement books list to see which ones our library had. It took awhile but now when I get to the week I know which ones to look for. I usually only get a week or two at a time and I almost always do my requesting online at home so I can just stop and pick up the books.
Karen - mom to Bryce 02/03, Micah 03/05, and Matthew 05/07

Melanie
Posts: 777
Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2007 6:37 pm
Location: north Missouri

Post by Melanie » Tue Apr 01, 2008 11:51 am

Yikes Tansy! Interlibrary loan here is free and fines are like .o5 a day. At our old library the librarian didn't believe in fines and here in our new town they are very flexable....I can call in and renew a book anytime.

I use the library when I can. OUrs is small but they do have many of the books. That said... :D ...I love books! I do usually end up buying them just because we read many of our favorites over and over again.

I think it's a great way to save money and plan to use ours as much as possible. I usually just use the search feature on the library computer and take whatever they have on the subject. I'm usually not organized enough to do it in advance.... :?
Using LHFHG with
ds - '00
dd - '00
dd - '02

joyfulheart
Posts: 153
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2008 9:11 am
Location: Frisco, TX

Post by joyfulheart » Tue Apr 01, 2008 11:57 am

I use the library too! Our library isn't that great though. They just spent 20 million building this huge library, but dont have money to put books in it so it's almost empty. Dumb politics involved there. So they have very little of the books listed in bigger. And, we only get to check out the books for 10 days.

So, if it's a book that I KNOW the kids are going to take a long time to read, I try to find it at half price books, or at a book swap. That way, I can get it for about $2 and let the kids take their time.

There is a thrift store (almost like GOodwill) where ALL books are 25 cents. I've found sooo many kids books, new condition, that I try to go there often. And I've sold them to half price books when done!

inHistiming
Posts: 1301
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2007 2:30 pm
Location: Central VA
Contact:

Post by inHistiming » Tue Apr 01, 2008 12:46 pm

We have always used the library extensively...but have paid dearly when books are late! We are allowed 3 weeks for books and one week for movies..which is longer than we had in Florida. You'd think I could get them back there on time! :roll: :oops: I just paid $36.00 in library fines because we had 53 books checked out, and they were about 5 days late. I was on vacation, had forgotten, tried to renew them a day late online, and couldn't because I was delinquent; so had to rack up fines knowingly all week. That hurt... :cry:

The library is great, but pay attention because it can be expensive. I was planning to use the library for the extension pack books next year as well as for DITHOR and our read alouds. However, I am strongly considering just buying them to avoid being late...it just gets away from me, even when I get the email 5 days ahead from the library :!: :shock: :? So, although I love the library and do use it a lot, I would suggest weighing not having to buy your books and possible library fines against buying them once and having them at home and never having to pay fees for being late or losing one, etc., KWIM? And although they can be found cheaper at other locations, you would be helping to support Carrie and Mike in their business by buying them at their site. I know that finances are always a big concern for us, too, though, so you need to do what is best for you. Just my opinion; I hope that helps some.

yayadaisy
Posts: 136
Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2008 7:24 am
Location: MN, Little Falls

Post by yayadaisy » Tue Apr 01, 2008 2:05 pm

I am homeschooling for the first time this year and was using MFW which is a nice program, but requires a lot of trips to the library. I thought that woundn't be to hard, we live pretty close. But have found they don't usually have the books recommended and sometimes we can wait weeks and by then the lesson has been done. I also would get late fee and with five kids going to the library to quick pick up books just never worked for us. So even though it may seem like more money buying the books (we just started BLHFHG) it really saves me money and time. I don't have to worry about late fees, getting there to pick up the book, them not having it. We still use the library a lot but more for fun. That is just me I know a friend we lives at the library and it works for her just not me.

Sheila

susie in ms
Posts: 230
Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2008 2:37 pm

Post by susie in ms » Tue Apr 01, 2008 2:49 pm

The library never worked for us in the past. We have a small library and they never have what I need. To do ILL it takes weeks to get the books and then we are only allowed to keep them one week. The fines aren't terribly high, but they are firm. The price of gas is a consideration for us too.

Although I like to support the author of the curriculum I am using, and I do to a degree, I still have to look for the best deal we can get. Be it another supplier or used. I try to ballance my support by breaking up my orders. I just can't afford large packs of books at one time, but the library is not an option for us.
Susie ~ servant to Christ, wife to Ricky for 25 years, mom to Trisha 22, Kris 21, Joshua 19 and Hannah Grace almost 4.
Loving Little Hands to Heaven!

my3sons
Posts: 10702
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:08 pm
Location: South Dakota

Post by my3sons » Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:03 pm

I had the same problems with the library already mentioned. I think it is worthwhile to buy the books if you can somehow - I really liked Tansy's post. As always, she's got a creative bent on how to do things that would work great!
Julie
Enjoyed LHTH to USII
Currently using USI
Wife to Rich for 28 years
Mother to 3 sons, ages 23, 20, and 16
Sister to Carrie

momof2n2
Posts: 273
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 2:54 pm

Post by momof2n2 » Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:39 pm

I have overwhelmingly borrowed them from our library system.
I just order them about a month before I need them. Then I keep renewing them.

This depends on where you live, of course. The old town I lived in, a whole four miles away, cost a dollar a hold. The new system is free.

I have only had a few fines. Our system allows online renewal, etc., so I can catch the problems pretty quickly.

Fall 2015
DS 17 -gr.12 full time college student
DS 15- gr. 10 favorites from World Geo and World Hx.
DD 13- gr. 8 Rev to Rev
DD 11- gr. 6 CTC
DD 7 - gr. 2 Beyond
DD 4 - pre-K Rod & Staff and Phonics Pathways

Motherjoy
Posts: 376
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:52 pm

Post by Motherjoy » Wed Apr 02, 2008 4:39 pm

Thanks for all the replies. I am concerned about late fees, as I'm notoriously keeping books overdue. There are many books, mostly the religious ones, that I want to own and that the library won't have anyway.

However, I think we'll be forced to save money through library use.
MJ, mom to 8
2015-2016 plan
*17yo is dual-enrolled after using HOD for 7 years
*11yo, 10yo, 9yo, and 7yo - CTC with modifications
*5yo, 4yo - LHTH
*3yo - playschool

Accomplished: LHTH, LHFHG, BHFHG, Beyond, PHFHG, RTR, Rev to Rev, MTMM, WG, WH

my3sons
Posts: 10702
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:08 pm
Location: South Dakota

Post by my3sons » Wed Apr 02, 2008 4:49 pm

Motherjoy wrote:Thanks for all the replies. I am concerned about late fees, as I'm notoriously keeping books overdue. There are many books, mostly the religious ones, that I want to own and that the library won't have anyway.

However, I think we'll be forced to save money through library use.
I think God will honor you for choosing a curriculum that honors Him! However you need to make it work to start, I say do it! We had/have many years of navigating the money spent on homeschooling in our home. It wasn't/isn't easy, but I do believe God provides when you provide time for Him!

In Christ,
Julie
Enjoyed LHTH to USII
Currently using USI
Wife to Rich for 28 years
Mother to 3 sons, ages 23, 20, and 16
Sister to Carrie

susie in ms
Posts: 230
Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2008 2:37 pm

Post by susie in ms » Wed Apr 02, 2008 5:48 pm

Motherjoy, I know where you are at. My dh is disabled for the most part. The money that reaches this house has to be carefully used. We have health issues right now that demand costly suppliments. If it weren't for friends and family giving us money and food when we needed it most, we would have had our lights turned off during the winter :shock: (as it was we kept the thermostate down to 55) and lost our vehicle insurance. The ONLY bill we have other than living expenses is a tiny amount we owe on a cc (not even a trailer note).

Anyway I say that to get to this: Right now I am selling used books on Amazon and will place some used curriculum on the HS FS boards . I do this to earn the money for curriculum (or pay the light bill-whatever). If you have books laying around your house that you no longer read , or someone is going to donate to the library you can sell them on Amazon fairly easily. The fees are high, but you sell. It is the best outlet that I have found. Maybe you can do this to pay for your curriculum?

If you have nice baby/toddler clothes and shoes you can sell them at cloth diaper forums, or for a fee at ebay. Have a yard sell if the clothes are not great name brands. But remember you can get more online for name brand clothes.

We have gotten good at selling things laying around that are not needed. It sure has helped with the clutter. :D My dh was even able to get a few hundred by selling, to a junk yard, a van we had that the transmission died on and hurricane Katrina smashed. If you have copper pipes from a burned up ac the pipes will bring you good money!! Walk around your house and look to see what you no longer need that can be sold.

Hope this helps!!
Susie ~ servant to Christ, wife to Ricky for 25 years, mom to Trisha 22, Kris 21, Joshua 19 and Hannah Grace almost 4.
Loving Little Hands to Heaven!

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