A long forgotten cheapskate habit I had years ago: remember those old Book of the Month Club ads? You could get 4 or 5 hard cover books for only $1 and could cancel your membership at any time. In those days they also had book clubs for subjects such as History, War, Science Fiction, Mystery, Classic Literature, Crime, and other topics. I would take advantage of the sale, cancel my membership, join another club, and cancel that membership as well. Maybe a couple of years passes by and I do the same thing again. Got many really good books that way.
Still another thing I did was to go to the many used books shops we had in Brooklyn and in NYC in the old days. You could buy an arm full of books for a dollar back then. What a time it was for inveterate readers like me!