For as long as I can remember, reading has been one of my favourite escapes. Being transported to another, fictional world through the pages of a good book, or enhancing my mind with informative magazine articles is my go-to pastime. But I haven’t always read as much as I do now.
After completing my English Literature degree, there was a period of time where I stopped reading for pleasure completely. I think the beauty of a good novel had been drummed out of me by essay questions and boring lectures. Plus, I didn’t have the money to spend on pricey books and magazines. Luckily I rediscovered my love of reading and now I read more than ever.
If you want to find out how to read more without spending a fortune on paperbacks and pricey-but-pretty-for-the-coffee-table magazines, I’ve got a few tips for you for how to save money and read more.
4 Easy Ways To Read More For Less
Avid readers know that there are many ways to save money on books and magazines. Here are a few money-saving hacks I’ve found that help me read as much as my heart desires without spending all of my money on reading material.
1 Invest in an e-reader
It might sound counterproductive to spend money on an electronic gadget if you’re trying to read more on a budget, but my Kindle has saved me thousands over the past few years.
I love to hold a real book in my hands but if I was to purchase and hold on to every physical book I’ve ever read, I’d be buried alive by books. E-readers are just so convenient – especially if you travel a lot, like me. And of course, Kindly Unlimited lets you read free books on your Kindle.
I tend to stick to downloading books from the Kindle monthly deals section of the Kindle store, and I’ve found some amazing reads for just 99p. I share my mini book reviews over on Instagram in a Story highlight, if you’re looking for some recommendations for what to read next.
You can even read books for free online with your tablet legally – the old classic works of literature have been around so long that the copyright laws no longer apply, so you don’t have to pay to read them online!
2 Get a Readly subscription
If you’re trying to reduce your impact on the environment by cutting down on paper waste but you miss your favourite magazines, this app is the solution. Readly are currently offering one month for free.
The app gives you unlimited access to up to 5,000 magazines for a fixed price of £7.99 a month. You can read online or offline and it works on your phone, tablet or desktop.
I downloaded the app, selected my age, gender and interests, and now my feed is full of my favourite publications. They’ve got everything from Vogue to Photography Week. It has massively enhanced those quiet pockets of time I have when pulling out a book wouldn’t be worth it, but I still want something to read!
I love that I can get a few tips for my tomato plants from a gardening mag, flick through some healthy recipes from the BBC Good Food magazine then do a quick crossword – all without putting my phone down or paying for a copy of each publication.
The app has a phone read mode that makes the magazine content easier to read on your phone screen.
You can share your subscription with up to 5 family members, which I think makes it a worthy investment because it feels like you’re buying a gift for your loved ones at the same time as treating yourself!
You can also bookmark your favourite publications and get alerts when new issues are released.
My favourite Readly feature is the Articles section at the top of my feed – it saves me trawling through a magazine to find the content that most interests me and is perfect for when you just want to read something fascinating on your coffee break.
3 Join your local library
I have treasured memories of perusing the lofty shelves at my local library as a child, carefully choosing six books to devour over the upcoming fortnight. I almost always finished my allotted six novels before the two weeks were up, and would pester my dad to take us back to the library.
Nowadays, you don’t have to leave your house to loan titles from your library. You can borrow e-books and audiobooks for free! All you need to get started with virtual library loans is your library card and PIN number.
There has been a lot of talk about local councils shutting their library service down, so if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.
Enter your postcode on the government website to find your nearest library.
4 Subscribe to your favourite blogs
We’ve all had to fish through the endless spam in our inbox to get to the good stuff so giving more entities your email address is probably the last thing you intend to do. But have you considered curating your email content to show you what you want to see?
Save yourself time in the long run by unsubscribing from all the company newsletters that you don’t remember signing up to, and then actively visit your favourite blogs and subscribe to their RSS feeds.
Blog content is completely free to read, and you can easily keep up to date with your favourite online content creators by signing up to their email list. Often, bloggers share their best tips and insider secrets exclusively to their newsletter subscribers.
May as well throw a cheeky plug in – you can sign up to my email list here!
What’s your all-time favourite book? Are you subscribed to any magazines? I’m always looking for new ways to read more, so share your tips and tricks in the comments!
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, this article is sponsored by Readly. Views are my own.
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