How I saved money on a lost library item

My two-year-old is the biggest gleek in the world. She's seen the Glee concert movie a zillion times and knows the moves to River Deep Mountain High. She even knows where to find the Glee soundtracks in our local library.

See this CD to the right? We took this out of the library and my daughter insisted on holding this as we rode the elevator up to our condo apartment. Seems like an innocent move, right?

Wrong! A fluke accident happened: the cover spontaneously opened and the CD slipped out, falling straight into the elevator crack.

Turns out it costs $25 to pay for a lost CD from the Mississauga Library. I'm thinking, "aw crap, the library is supposed to save me money, now I have to pay for a lost item? I could've just bought the CD myself!"

Well, instead of paying $25, we have the option of replacing the CD. We could buy it used from Amazon, but we'll have to pay for shipping. However, Indigo has it for $14.99 and shipping is free when you have it sent to a store, so we've decided to go with that option.

So today's lesson: If you lose a library item, see if you can buy a replacement. It might save you a few extra bucks.

Now some of you are probably thinking, "Who cares?! It's only $25!" But when you have a kid, you know that $25 can go a long way.