Bill Myers - May 22, 2009

Until recently, my wife and I typically spent $300 a month on books and magazines and DVD rentals.

Once a week, we'd take a trip to the local Barnes & Noble or Books-a-Million bookstore, and load up on the latest novels and magazines.

Rarely did we get out of these bookstores without spending a hundred dollars or more - each and every week.

But a few months back, we found something better and far less expensive than Barnes & Noble, or Books a Million or even Amazon.

We found our local library.

Don't laugh. Libraries have come a long way from what you may remember from your school days.

For example, our local library has a website where we can search their catalogs, then reserve, renew and even request books, magazines and DVDs.

This means we can sit at home, find the best sellers or DVDs we want at Amazon, and then reserve them at our local library.

As soon as these items become available, the library sends us an email, and they hold the item until we pick it up - all for free.

So instead of going to the local bookstores or Amazon, these days we just head to the library and pick up the books or DVDs or magazines we want - without spending a penny.

It may not sound like a big deal - but going to the library is likely to save us close to $4,000 this year - money that can be used for other things - like adding to my boat fund.

If you have a local library, you might want to check it out. You may be surprised with what you find.

One final point - our local library (like most) has free wifi.

This means whenever your internet connection is down, or you just want a quiet place with internet, you can head to your local library.