Reading Well While Living On Less

So many books, so little time, so little money. I live in the smallest house in Bergen County, New Jersey. That is probably not true, but my house has one bedroom, one closet, one bathroom. We love it and are very comfortable Especially when we get the gas bills in the winter or the electricity bills in the summer, but I digress.....

Living in a small house makes you prioritize possessions. I love to read. I hate to throw a book away. That's a recipe for disaster when you have a small house. Every once in a while I read about someone who was stuck in their house for 3 days before the mailman realized no one was picking up the mail. When the police or firemen break into the house they find some poor older person stuck under a pile of news papers or books that had fallen on them, and the house if filled to the ceilings with piles of books, magazines and newspapers. But again, I digress....

At Christmas time I give lots of books for presents, but the rest of the year I get all my reading material from my local library. My tax dollars go to the library, why not use the resource? My library is part of a cooperative library system that includes more than one county. I can order books online and if the book is in the system, it will be delivered to my local library. My library emails me (they would telephone me if that is how I asked to be notified) when a book is in. They email me a few days before books are due. They have movies, books on tape, music. All the music on my iPod originated from the library. I need to get savvier because you can download books right to an MP3 player. I have not done that yet, but I will. The libraries also have classes in computers, clearing clutter, helping your kids become better students. All sorts of things that are free. Best of all, when I am done with the book or the disc I take is back and keep the clutter down. I love my library! The people who work in libraries are usually special. They really want to help you find what you are looking for. Nasty, money-hungry types got jobs on Wall Street figuring out how to package credit default sweeps, derivatives, and how to wreck an economy. People who like to help people got jobs in libraries. I can't even imagine how much money I have saved over the years by patronizing my library. Thousands of dollars. This summer when gas was almost $4.00 a gallon, I decided that if I could get to the library on my way to work or on my way home when I drive past it, I could drive. Otherwise I would walk. It is a perfect 30 minute walk one way. I take a backpack and put the books I'm returning into it and saunter over. My grocery store is a 10 minute walk one way. I can take my car for a big shopping, but for little things I just walk. I generally walk year 'round. I think in Norway, they say there is no bad weather just bad clothing. True. When the weather is truly awful I won't walk. If it is raining very hard, or icy, or actively snowing I won't walk. That sort of weather is the exception, not the norm.