The Library

When I was a kid, my brother and I spent a lot of time at the library. Our home was full of books but any time we had a hankering for something new, we were told to go to the library. If we were lucky, there was a play area as well, with colorful flooring and maybe some tinkertoys. I won't lie and say that I loved spending time there, but it was a fact of life - my parents rarely bought children's books because they figured we'd grow out of them, and the library was always a key part of the small towns we lived in.

All of that changed when we moved to a suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth and all of a sudden, we were too far away to ride bikes to the library and we had other activities taking up our time. Honestly, as I grew into adulthood, I forgot about the library. If I wanted a book, I went and bought it. Fortunately, frugality eventually won out and I'm back on the library bandwagon. If you haven't been to your library lately, you might want to go for a visit. They've come a long way, baby.

Of course, all libraries are different. I'll tell you what mine offers - I really, really encourage you to check yours out, especially if you're a parent looking for free activities to entertain young minds.

• Books on tape/CD - hundreds of titles, great for commutes, road trips, or exercising. Go back and cover the classics, or find a best seller. There are even books that you can download directly to your computer and onto an MP3 player.

• Videos & DVD's - children's, adult, nonfiction. You definitely don't have the same selection as Blockbuster, but you might be surprised.

• Online reservations - this is so handy. You can put your book/CD/DVD on reserve and when it's available, you get an e-mail notification and go pick it up. It's kind of fun - half the time I forget that I had a book on hold, so it's a pleasant surprise to get a note to come and get it.

• Free adult programs - classes, movie screenings, social organizations, you name it. F-R-E-E.

• Children's activities - story times, craft groups, reading programs. If you're looking for ways to entertain your kids on the cheap, the library is the way to go.

• Research resources - for our last two appliance purchases, we made use of the libary's copy of Consumer Reports. In one case, I think it saved us from making a mistake, and it was absolutely free to do the research. Your library's website may also have internet research access that would be subscription based if you got it on your own - here's what mine has, just to give you an idea.

The bottom line is that you're already paying for this resource, you may as well use it. If it saves you one book purchase and one movie rental per month, you're talking about at least $20, which is $240 per year. It may not seem like much, but the name of the game here is baby steps. Add this to the savings you'll get using The Grocery Game and I'll bet you'd be easily adding $1000 to your pocketbook every year, with very minimal change to your lifestyle. Give it a shot - what have you got to lose?

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