Keep a close watch on garage sales, thrift stores, auctions and you can usually pick up books cheap. HOWEVER, if there's only one pattern I like, and I REALLY like it, I buy the book but I wait until the second time I look at it. I've found that after a couple of months my tastes change and I may like something else in that book or think of a way to modify another pattern to my tastes. If it's really expensive in the store, I check online or wait until they have a sale or I have a coupon.