In 2020 and 2021, I was renting a couple of films through my Apple account every month. I had recently gotten more into film during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and was thoroughly enjoying checking films off of my Letterboxd watchlist. I was spending a minimum of $3.99 for each rental, some upwards of $6.99 for a newer release. The most I’ve ever spent on a rental was $19.99… for the Dear Evan Hansen film adaptation. 🙈
This somewhat expensive hobby of mine tampered off after 2021. I was much busier with work and other responsibilities, and mostly saved renting films for when I was with my friends (for which we would normally split the rental cost). Due to this, I discovered that many of the films that I first put on my Letterboxd watchlist had remained on the list year after year. This would annoy me momentarily as I looked through my watchlist, but I would soon forget about these films once again. These films typically weren’t on any of the streaming services I subscribe to, (which is a whole other topic to discuss) and I didn’t want to fork over the $3.99 to watch them by myself.
Earlier this summer, one of my best friends (hi Nicki) was visiting from her new home in Idaho, and was telling me her struggles with the internet at her new location. Due to this, she isn’t able to do much streaming for entertainment purposes. What does she do instead? She borrows DVDs from her local library.
Y’all. When I tell you that my mind exploded…
Let me clarify one thing before we go further – I have always been a big library girl. Growing up, I swear I read every YA book in my local library. One of my earliest memories is of flipping through The Berenstain Bear books available at my library. I used to borrow CDs from my library and burn them to my iTunes library (unsure if this was legal, but I was a child, so I think I’m good). Into adulthood, though, I did fall off of the library train.
Over the past year, I have re-fallen in love with going to the library. I’ve saved over $500 from checking out physical books, audiobooks, comics, ebooks, and, most recently, DVDs.
Imagine me rolling up to my local library in June of this year and checking out *literally* a dozen titles. Actually, you don’t have to imagine, because that is what happened.
As of today, I’ve been able to check eight films off of my Letterboxd watchlist through checking out DVDs. Most of these films had been on my watchlist for upwards of 3 years – The Blackening (2022) is probably the most recent addition, and it’s been on there for nearly 2 years. Here’s a list of the films I’ve watched and how much they would cost me to rent (or the streaming service they’re currently on).
- Parasite (2019)
- Cost $3.99 to rent. Available to stream on Max.
- Fargo (1996)
- Cost $3.99 to rent. Available to stream on Max.
- BlacKkKlansman (2018)
- Cost $3.99 to rent.
- Happy Death Day (2017)
- Cost $3.99 to rent.
- Jackie (2016)
- Cost $3.99 to rent.
- Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)
- Cost $3.99 to rent.
- The Blackening (2022)
- Cost $5.99 to rent. Available to stream on STARZ.
- The 355 (2022)
- Cost $3.99 to rent. Available to stream on STARZ.
If you’re keeping up with my math, I’ve saved nearly $34 by checking out these titles at my library! That’s a lot of money on only eight films.
I also have to credit @newts.films on TikTok for the inspiration for this post – she’s been promoting going to local libraries for DVDs this summer, and I’ve loved seeing what’s available at hers. If you’re a newcomer to this practice and aren’t sure what to grab to check out, her videos are a great starting point.
Support your local libraries, friends! It serves your community and can help you save money.
Follow along with my journey on Letterboxd – @rachelori.
poptalkwithrach 