Reading Makes Good Cents 15 May, 2023 – Posted in: Articles, Books – Tags: Opinion, Reading

Reading is an economically sound decision. When you look at all the things that eat into our income, reading becomes one of the least expensive and most rewarding ways to spend our free time.

Looking at the demands on our limited free time it’s easy to lose track of how much things can cost. Streaming services offer short, no-cost introductions. They count on the fact that you will find something you want to watch, initially. They also count on the fact that you put it on a credit card and forget to cancel before the introduction offer expires. It’s not uncommon for us to have two, three, four, or more streaming services at the ready. However, with all this choice it can become difficult to make a decision as to what to watch. All this choice may seem like a good thing, but you can spend hours just searching for something that interests you.

Reading also offers choice. Greater choice than television given all the books available to us since printing began. However, reading doesn’t demand our attention the way television does. It offers and entices with a more relaxed and fulfilling experience that will last much longer than our latest binge watch.

When you start adding the cost of multiple streaming services, the time wasted searching, the shorter durations of entertainment, reading makes good cents. A book, in whatever form, will cost less while delivering greater returns on your investments of time and money.

Choosing to read is choosing a better world. I firmly believe this. Television has its place and I do watch things I like, but reading offers an experience television cannot. It opens unexpected avenues to us. And with those avenues unexpected opportunities arise, both social and professional.

Reading can cost as much or as little as we want it to. I gladly pay full price to buy my favourite author’s newest book in hardcover. But the library can give you the same thing for free. Purchasing second had books is an excellent alternative to buying new when building a library for your home.