Libraryflix - a better option?

I loved this witty sign - made by the librarians at my local library.

It makes a good point. If I want a choice of hundreds of movies or documentaries - the local library is a great option.

Great for the minimalist

Most movies we watch just once. In most cases owning movies is a waste of space. The great thing about the library is that there's a built-in deadline to return them and get them out of the house.

Great for the money-saver

At $0 per month movies don't come cheaper than that.

You have to carry it home

That doesn't sound like an advantage, but it is. An all-you-can-eat restaurant tempts us to over-eat. A $10/mth all-you-can-watch deal can turn into a binge-watching session that eats away our whole weekend.

Don't get me wrong. Value for money is great. Spending less money means we don't have to trade away so much of our time for dollars. We can use that time for other things. For a more meaningful life. But unless your life goal is movie-watching, an unlimited buffet of movies can steal your time.

The lure of freebies

My work colleague was coming to the end of a streaming service free trial. She said it wasn't worth the $9/mth and was going to cancel it. A month later she's talking about a new series. What? She'd won a 3-month extension to the free trial - so kept it.

I'm curious that for something not worth $9, we're still willing to give up 20 hours of our time to watch it. No offence to my workmate, it's probably much the same with me and televised sport.

In short

Try out your "Library-flix". You can get great value without using heaps of your space, your money or your time.

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