I’m always looking for ways to save money on road trips and this is one of my most used tricks on our travels. We are a family who loves to read and we go through LOTS of books. It’s one of our favorite ways to pass the time on a road trip and we always pack a big basket full of books when we hit the road.
It’s Easy to Save Money on Road Trips With a Thrift Store Book Grab!
But at 10-12 bucks a piece, paying full price for our books is out of the question. So we make a trip to a local thrift store to stock up on reading material before we head out. Generally priced from 50 cents to a dollar, thrift store books are a major bargain. Heck, at least once a week our local St. Vincent de Paul store offers 50% off of books making many of them only a quarter! By buying books at thrift stores, not only do we save money on road trips, I like that we are reusing items that otherwise might get thrown in a landfill while also funding wonderful charities. We all love to visit the book section of thrift stores and there is usually a large selection, from current best sellers to well loved classics.
When we are on longer trips, we replenish our library throughout our travels. Most cities have at least one thrift store, so we seek them out every couple of weeks to donate the ones we’ve finished and stock up on new books. By donating the books we’ve already completed when we are stocking up, we keep the cycle going- saving money, helping a good cause and reusing perfectly good reading materials. And by donating books we’ve already read, we keep our travel library reasonably sized.Looking to save money on road trips? Head to your local thrift store to stock up on books. You’ll all be reading for hours for hardly any cash.
Here are a few of my favorite local thrift stores that have a large selection of books to help pass the time and save money on road trips:
Society of St. Vincent de Paul
Peppermint Pig Thrift and Gift
Happy Travels!
Took a 4 day drive with my 10 year old grandson-to my oldest sons wedding. I used thrift store finds to make busy bags for my grandson. He loved it. Books to read. activity books, I found a pile of Highlights-3 for 50c, he went nuts. Even pointing out how old each book was, he still loved all those books. Found a Star Wars-seek and find like Waldo-99c. I also found a book about the 50 states-So I copied the pages for the states we went thru-so he could do the puzzles. He read to us, had tic-tac-toe games with who ever was in the back seat with him, read us jokes and riddles.
His school has a out side book box, I told him when he got done-to put the books in there.
It is so wonderful that your family reads real actual books. Our public library often has used book sales and we have walked out with a huge bag full on Sunday (the last day) for $10. when traveling, I also like to pop in to the local public library, where they often have magazines or books for sale.