by Hope
As of yesterday we are a book free house…at least temporarily. We gathered every single book in the house and sorted them into four piles…
- Goes to the apartment – mostly schoolbooks but a few personal books
- Goes to donation
- Schoolbooks to sell – homeschoolers have lots of sites they sell/trade used curriculum so I’ll try that route with my old stuff before just giving it away
- Book Exchange (this is a link to their Facebook page in case you wanted to check them out and maybe find one near you. It is NOT an affiliate link of any kind.)
The fourth one is my new cheat…I knew there were used bookstores, but I’m such a fan of the library that I rarely buy books. But over the years we have amassed quite a collection between gifts, etc. So a few weeks ago as we headed into this transition I drove by this place and thought to give them a call. They will take our books and based on their inventory and the condition of the book, will give us store credit for the books. That way, down the road and as a treat, we can go in and “shop” without actually spending any money. (When I dropped them off, they even offered to donate the books they didn’t want to keep for me so I didn’t have to do that…score!)
We dropped off four huge boxes of books to them yesterday…dropped two more at the local thrift store and put four more boxes into storage so it’s ready for the apartment without being in the way. Our house is now book free. (Ok, the schoolbooks to sell are still here, but they will be gone soon and are neatly stacked out of the way.)
It would have been great if they actually gave us cash for our books, but I think this is a great alternative to that and will be a neat treat down the road when we have the “shopping” itch!
As the principal, administrator and only teacher in our homeschool, I made the executive decision that we will delay starting our new school routine until after the move. Since we school year round and I believe that the kids will learn many lessons from this move, I am certain it will not affect the overall scheme of things and it takes a lot of pressure off both me and the kids as we have daily tasks pertaining to the move. It also made putting all our books in storage for this last month a possibility.
Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 5 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.
That’s such a neat idea to be able to treat the kids and yourself later on without having to spend money. Well done & good luck on the garage sale.
Kili,
I thought that too. My teens especially are always wanting a new book…this way, that might be an option!
Question: If they make the donation, they get the credit for it with the IRA, whereas if you make the donation, you get the credit. Right?! I would think you would want any donation credit that might reduce YOUR taxes?
Hey Sandra,
I did think of that. And under normal circumstances, I would have said to hold them and I’d pick them up. But since I’m running ragged with everything we have to do to get ready for this move, this option left me free to focus on other things and cross “books” off my list.
Long term…I’d definitely do the donation myself. But this year…well, since we’re donating or selling more than half of everything we own, I think we’re in okay shape.
Good point though!
You could also use the credit to “buy” books for birthday and holiday gifts for your children or others. I did that in the past and it was a great saving.
Hadn’t thought of gifts…but you are right! Thanks for the suggestion, Juhli!
What a great store/resource for you and your kids. I hope you get lots of enjoyment out of the store credit!
Thanks, Kayla, I think it will be a fun treat…especially a nice escape when we need to get out of the apartment.
That’s great that you found something that works for you. Should be fun.
I donated most of my books many years ago but kept my favorites. I use the library heavily but occasionally I’ll purchase books that I want to use as a reference or the ones I know I want to read again and again. I read mostly non-fiction so it works.
I rarely read a book twice so the library is perfect for us. I bought the kids a bunch of books when they were smaller, especially since I feared them tearing them up.
Now they know to take care of books and we all love library time!
You might try half.com for your books. A little more time intensive, but you make a LOT more money.
I tend to go Amazon but since time was of the essence this was a great solution! But thanks for the recommendation!