Finding Money on the Bookshelf

As you lovely readers now know, I use to be a full time student, but since the end of June, I am now a full time RN. It's awesome. Not only is it super cool because of the additional paychecks in the bank (and of course getting to help people), but I also get to rid myself of my most hated text books.

I LOVE books. Love them. I have an e-reader with a few books on it, and we have many books (but not nearly as many as I would like to have) on a book shelf in the living room. I agree with Cicero when he said "A room without books is like a body without a soul." But, my text books drained me of my soul!

You may have seen me share this photo when I was cleaning out the shelves.

There was a mix of reads from when I went through my hardcore feminist phase, when I was  Med Humanities major, old devotional books, books I read once and didn't love, and many, many nursing school books. I hesitated, honestly, to rid myself of the text books at first. If you find yourself to be doing the same thing with your academic books, think about the field. I realized that medicine is ALWAYS changing. Always. And praise God that he continues to open man's minds to the wonders of our own bodies and the world around us. Because of that, my text books will be out dated in easily 5 years. So, why not make a bit of money while I can sell them?

If you have books around and would like to get a little extra cash in your pocket, sell! Recent grads can sell your textbooks back to students who are still in your program. Package them together at a competitive rate to the book store and starving college kids will flock. Big bookstore also but back textbooks for good prices. I used Barnes and Noble. You have to do it online, but you go on to their "Sell Your Textbooks" page, get a quote, decide if you want to take it, and then they give you a shipping label.

You can also try to sell for a bit more at a place like half.com (affiliated with EBay) where you state your price. I have used half.com for some things, but with this shelf clean out, I didn't want to wait around for a buyer to bite and then have to go to the post office, get a shipping label, and send it off.

For books that Barnes and Noble didn't accept, I sold the rest at my local Half Price Books. You can find many local places to sell back your books. Just look!

I made about $140 on books I just didn't want to have around anymore. This money started our super strict and serious savings fund. There have been some good things happening here in the financial department and I can't wait to share the details with you guys. It's pretty exciting.

What else have you guys done to rid yourself of those unwanted, not so loved books?