We live in a consumer nation, where it has long been the case that many of us are encouraged to spend and to pay it off with money we don’t have, racking up debt. This mentality has shifted a little during the recession; people are gradually spending less and saving more. However, there are still a lot of things we’re paying for that we don’t need. Here are nine things you should be getting for free:

Books: Don’t buy books. Instead, borrow them from the library or from a friend, and explore sites that will let you swap books with other people such as BookMooch, PaperBackSwap and GoodReads has a section dedicated to swapping. Alternatively, there are plenty of wonderful free ebooks on Amazon if you’re game enough to try an indie author.

Cable: A record number of Americans are canceling their cable services, reports the AP. Paying for cable almost seems pointless when you look at all the free options out there such as Hulu and network websites that offer free streaming of their hit shows online.
Credit report and score: Get your free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com, which allots you a free report per year. If you’re looking to get a free credit score (you can’t get it through AnnualCreditReport.com), head on down to Credit Karma, a free service that tracks your score for you.
Shipping: Hunt around the web for free shipping when you’re shopping online. Go to freeshipping.org and find promo codes for free shipping on the website; you can even subscribe to get free shipping alerts from the site. Be sure to also check out retailmenot.com for free shipping codes.