My book collection is not the biggest one on the market but I am proud of every single novel I own. I can pull out any book at any time and enjoy it as much as I enjoyed it the first time I’ve read it. Were you thinking of starting your own library? If you follow up the below steps- you not only will achieve your goal but you will also have a lot of fun while doing it and save a lot…

Seeing all the gorgeous pictures on the Instagram did not help at the beginning of my journey of building my own library. I wanted to have it all straight away, regardless if I had money or not. I went crazy into the buying, researching, selling mode that if my boyfriend didn’t stop me I wouldn’t have had food to put on my plate at the end of them month. Be patient- great things take time.

Make a monthly budget and stick to it. Do not spend money you don’t have, don’t borrow or buy on credit. Slowly you will achieve your goal if you stick to the sane side J. Set up a goal and reach for it but don’t let it over shine your day-to-day life.  10 books a month will give you 120 in a year, 600 in 5 years- doesn’t it sound impressive already? Will you have time to read it all?

Don’t buy books just to have as many as possible. Instead buy the ones you know you are going to read. There is no point in buying the cheap copies just to have them. This book has feelings too. How would you feel if you were never read? Never enjoyed? This way also you create something personal just for yourself and believe me you will love it more if you can take any book out and not fall asleep from boredom while reading it. Ok, unless you already have it… I’m letting you to keep it.

If you’re buying online check at least three websites for the prices before clicking the ‘BUY NOW’ button. Compare as much as you can. Even If you save only one euro on a book, at the end of the month it’s gonna be 10 euro, which equals to one more book on the shelf. If you buy your books in the stationary book shops try to check two or three before buying. I will also recommend to purchase your stock in the bigger cities- they tend to be cheaper than small village book shops. And they have a bigger selection of what you might be interested in.

A lot of people are still ashamed of admitting that something in their wardrobe or home is from the charity shop. Why?! Most of my books on the shelf are from the second-hand shops and I am not afraid to say so. I did the maths- in my local shop they do a deal- 3 books for 5 euro and if it’s a series that you are able to find all the books from, they will treat it as one book. Crazy, isn’t it? Last time I got 8 books and paid only 10 euro… And they were in an excellent condition. And genre I was interested in. No one tells you to get the first book that you see- look through the shelves, you might be surprised in what you could find.

Ok, I am kind of embarrassed here… In the beginning of my journey I would spend hours on amazon just searching and buying and buying and searching, more and more books that after a week I have received an e-mail from amazon that said ‘We noticed you are purchasing large amount. Are you using Amazon for work?’. But it is not their fault that I just love the seasonal deals they sometimes do. Last month I was able to get a box set of Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare for only 12 euro… All 6 books! So I was buying and searching so much that they thought I’m purchasing to re-sell… By the way- did you know that you can get used copies of books for cheaper on amazon? But here’s the deal – shipping might actually drown you (it was my mistake).

If you have your budget set up and you know what you want, I would highly recommend to buy books at the same time (and if you’re using ebay- one seller). You will pay for the shipping once which straight away will let you save money. There is even better option- did you know that book depository will not charge you for shipping at all? They dispatch for free to 100 countries worldwide! So check all the websites possible, calculate and enjoy you shopping time!

My very first book I got, once I decided that I want to have my own collection of books, was part of the series The Chosen Ones by Christina Dodd (paranormal romance) – the Storm of Visions. Then I got the second book and the rest while spending fortune on singles from different shops or sellers. After a week I found a deal for all 5 books in a box set that would cost me 60% less than I have already spent. Since that day, before buying, I check if it’s available in a set for cheaper.

Again- deals, vouchers or discounts. Where better to find them if not on their Facebook page or Instagram account?

If you love writing yourself this would be an opportunity for getting the books for free. Ok, not completely for free -as a PR you would probably have to write a review or promote it on your social media but hey, at least you didn’t have to pay for it, did you? And don’t be discouraged if the company won’t contact you a minute later, keep knocking to their doors and promote you social account as much as you can- more people seeing it makes your chances on becoming the PR higher.

What is the best way ever to get something for free? Ask your family and/ or friends if they have it and want to get rid of. Your bestie got an unwanted book for her birthday? She could either dump it or throw it somewhere in the corner, to forget. Just tell her that you will take care of it as it was your own. Even better if someone in your family is moving houses- this usually make people to go through their stuff and ‘declutter’- again win-win situation. Dumpster or a new home in your room.

Get yourself an Instagram account and start following people. A lot of different instagrammers to celebrate (example 1000 followers) are organizing the giveaways. There are of course terms and conditions applied but it’s usually something small and free to do.

And the worst at the end… Sacrifice my ass… I did give up my beautiful set of acrylic nails, done every 3 weeks at a nail beautician to achieve my goal. I do not earn gold unfortunately and something had to come down to put this one up. Don’t be hard on yourself. Just make a list of all your spending and eliminate the one that you can live without. But no- your electricity bill has to be paid…

Please let me know down in a comment section if you know any more ways of cheap book buying. I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did while writing it :).

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