Books, Books, Books! TIPS ON HOW TO SAVE FOR A BOOKWORM

I know I have not written in a bit but have been busy on my end with life events and summer. So I have been wanting to write a post about this for a while now and as I am taking a break from my book my words and thoughts are a little clearer so what better time to write about how I acquire books!

Property of  A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life- A picture of my favorite used book store

If you do not know I am a book worm and I actually family members past and present that would have their nose in a book. I am always trying to seek out new authors, new reads, and so forth to keep my bookish habit appeased. Now even though this hobby is on the cheaper side of hobbies it can still get expensive very quickly for the most avid reader to the person who picks up a book up now and then.

So here are my tips on how to get your books cheap or free!!!

1. NEVER BUY THE BOOK WHEN IT FIRST COMES OUT! Twilight Series, Harry Potter, Fifty Shades of Gray, Hunger Games and so on the must reads and the must haves. Got you biting at the bit? Just say no! As amazing as most of these books are they will likely be hardcover and higher price. Wait until they publish it in soft cover. If you must have it hardcover buy it used!

2. BUY YOUR BOOKS USED! Find a local used book store, 2nd Charles, library sales,  thrift stores, and local garage sales to pick up books. Being a military family I have moved around a lot and one thing I always looked for is used book stores. I personally love locally owned used book stores because they usually have their own personality and charm! Most local used book stores will offer used books half of the retail price or cheaper. Also will have a credit system for turning in your used quality books! 2nd Charles is similar to a local used book store except they are a national chain and a sister company to Books-A-Million. They often run sales as well. The last sale I came across was on their clearance was buy one get one free and when you are a $15 budget you cannot hit payday better than that when the books are ranging between $0.50-1.00!

3. GO TO YOUR LIBRARY! Who would have thought? Yep there are books there! I know I am being a little bit of a smart a** but you can check out books too read and return them to check out new ones. Just make sure to return them on time or you will have to pay the late fees like my brother has done for my sister-in-law more than once (not unless you turn it in on amnesty day). However, it has been brought to my attention that numerous libraries have set up eBook libraries as well that allow you to check out eBooks for a period of time on your device then will remove it when the time is up.

4. STAY AWAY FROM BOOK CLUBS! Buy 4 books for $1? Sounds like a great deal but then you read the fine print and you have to buy X number of books at regular price in a certain time period. It really is a big hassle because what they do not also tell you in these book clubs is that pre-select books for you each month in which you have the option to opt out of in X amount of days before your card is charged and sent to you. You have to remember to opt out each month of their monthly selection if it is no the book you want and if you forget to opt out and they send the book you can either send it back to get partial refund (minus refund) or suck it up and keep it!!! In other words it is one big hassle and one big money waste!

5. GET FREE BOOKS ON AMAZON! If you have a Kindle or the Kindle App you can get tons of books free on Amazon! I have probably over 900 books on my Kindle and I have probably only paid for only 20 since I have had my kindle for several years now. There are not only a lot up and coming authors offering their books for free (which I have a lot of) but well known authors such as Patterson, Bond, and Webb will offer one day for free. There are tons of sites that you can sign up for that can let you know which books are free or sale on Amazon that day. I do not use these sites I like the thrill of the hunt and actually like finding these gems on Amazon. That is how I found Peggy Webb, she was offering the first book in a funny series for free for one day I snagged it, read it, and now have purchased two of eBooks in the series (will be purchasing the rest down the road).

6. FIND OTHER READERS! Find other bookworms in your area whether this a friend or a local book club. The point is if you find someone who also is an avid reader they maybe up for sharing, swapping, or giving a book they have read. The beautiful part of this you may discover a new author or a new genre of books!

7. JOIN GOODREADS.COM! This is an amazing site for all readers. As much as love this site for just being for bookworm gathers. There are also two neat things about this site. Authors often join this site upcoming authors as well more famous authors. You can become their fans and in some cases they will even befriend you. I am friends with a couple of authors even a couple of known Authors. I have even had Authors message me offering me a free copy of their book in return for a free honest review usually on Amazon and/or Goodreads. The other thing Goodreads offer is giveaways! They have an area where authors, publishers, and groups run giveaways for books! What I like about it is pretty much 24/7 and in almost everything you can think of. You are not required to purchase anything and even not required to leave a review on the book you have won. Now I never win anything and I have won a couple books from them!

So there you have it how I have save on my love of reading!!!

PANTY LINER USE 101: The Other Wonderful Uses of these products!

By the title of this post I am sure I have a couple of you thinking why is this woman talking about panty liners and how to use them? No this is not about health, puberty, or instructions that can be found on the package they come in. I have found neat, functional, emergency,and alternative uses for those little mini pads that I actually use on a daily/weekly basis!

For any woman or man who has purchased personal female care products likely have bought or have noticed the selection of panty liners. The first thing if you noticed they are range in price but are cheap. I personally purchase a lot of panty liners keep on hand and mostly not "ALL Personal Reasons". If you do the math from a personal stand point depending on what actual product you bought and you used one panty liner a day for whatever reason you could buy a year supply for around $15.00.

Now this is a basic liner. I know they come in all shapes, sizes, scents, and colors but for this post and purpose I use the cheap basic ones. However, in a pinch and need of one part with more expensive panty liner and when it is over you will see why I keep the cheap ones on hand! Now obvious and will be stated to get out they way the number one use for panty liners the directions and the use can be found right on the package.

Here are my uses for using panty liners on a daily/weekly basis 

1. Removing my nail polish. Now I am not taking credit for this idea but my sister-in-law gave me this idea. When I was at my parents my sister-in-law was in the process of painting her nails. She had everything but the material she was going to use with nail polish remover. Thought she was going to run to bathroom to grab a cotton balls or tp....she came back with a panty liner. She removed her nail polish with a panty liner. Well when I got home of course I had to try it! What I like about it is it does not fall apart, one does both hands and feet, and I usually get multiple uses from them! So instead of using cotton balls or rounds were I go through several I now keep a small package of panty liners with my nail stuff.

2.I do not what kind of shoes you wear that do not require socks but I wear tons of flats (thanks to be one inch short of being 6 foot) wedges and some times things with a little height if the mood hit me. Now I know they make no shoe socks and insoles which I both own but I have run into a couple of problems. I love the no show socks I buy mine at PayLess because I can find them in many colors such as black, white, brow, nude, green, and pink to fit my big size 11 gorgeous feet! However, if you wear these no show socks you realize they really are not "no show" socks and it really for me is not a problem when I am not wearing jeans but when I am dress or something where my shoe is being completely seen I do not want my socks to be shown it kind of one my pet peeves! Now I go without wearing socks and for a short time it is an okay solution but for having to in your shoes all day is a no go for me... foot sweat and stank! So I went looking for solutions I could by insoles and they have a wide variety of these as well. Well I ran into a couple of problems with these. I found a lot of them made my shoes to small and unlike tennis shoes you cannot remove the sole of these type shoes to replace with the other insoles. Well I started researching where else online when I am across a woman who used panty liners as shoe insoles. So I gave it a try! I took the panty liner took the strip off and stuck the adhesive side down into my shoe. After a trial and error of placement I found that my feet do not sweat and provide a little cushion in my flats. Now they lady trims the liner for her shoes because of her shoe size but because I have big feet I do not have to so I just grab a couple of liners out of my sock draw when I am wearing shoes that require assistant! You can also adjust the liner to other parts of your shoe it really is a trial and error process to see what works for you! 

3. Dog's personal use. If you have had female dogs that are not fixed well they go through heat. They just go not through often as human women. Well I have a female Jack Russell Chloe and my husband kept going back and forth in we were going to breed her. In the mean time we had to deal with her in the heat moments! Well I bought her something called bitch pants... I know funny right? Well basically they are blue diaper with a hole for the dog tail with a white absorbent layer and come in multiple sizes. Now you can allow her to wear as is and then wash it but as most women know when "accidents" occur it very hard to completely removed if not taken care of right away. Well I looked at the dog care products and low and behold they make pads for dogs and they are expensive!!!!!!!!!! They are more expensive than my products and thin like paper. Well LIGHT BULB! Well just as a woman would use a panty liner I lined her bitch pants with the liner in the area where she needs, change them out when I walk her, and wash the bitch pants at the end of the day! 

4. I cut myself in the truck. I was trying to open a package and sliced my finger on right on the finger. Well I was running out of the couple of napkins and my kids were crying and my husband was going into caring but not required panic mode. So I was looking around in my purse for something when I came across a panty liner and desperate times call for desperate measures! I opened it and placed it on my fingure and applied pressure calmed the kids down. Then when I realized the first aid kit was in the glove box the whole time! However, in a pinch the liner was clean a lot better then a somewhat clean napkin! So you know what I added to the first aid kit?That is right panty liners! 

Now I am sure there are other uses for these panty liners besides the "conventional" use these are just some of they alternative uses I use panty liners for.

WARNING BE CAREFUL  RESEARCHING PANTY LINERS ON THE INTERNET. I NOTICED NOT SOME NICE TITLES AND IN THE IMAGE SECTION HAD SOME PICTURES THAT I THOUGHT WERE NOT RELATED BUT WERE XXX RATED AND OTHERS WERE GROSS