A few years ago i decided in my preparation of living with a year of not spending, i would start to really look at where the money was going, and live on less as a consequence.
I realized that i spent at least £50 on books a month, which i had no problems with but many of the books just sat on my shelf whilst i went hunting for more delicious delights at the book shop.
- I decided that for a year i would not buy any new books, unless i really needed to, and i couldn’t borrow, either from a friend or from the library or buy second hand. I did very well. I bought 5 new books and 3 of those were given away as presents.
- I decided to give away any book that i was never going to read or read again; I gave 200+ books away over the years.
I realized that I spent about £32 a month on magazines; works out to be about £8 a week or £4 a magazine. Again i would have had no problems with that amount if i had actually found time to read them all.
- i decided to stop buying magazines. For a time i yearned for them, i would walk into newsagents pick them up and then remember and then put them back.
- my daughter bought me a years subscription to 1 magazine. It was an amazing present, because each month i received another present. It was very worthwhile.
So what now? did i learn from my lessons?
My daughter is staying with me at the moment and one day she came into my room and sat on the floor is a neat pile of books, 6 in total. She said ‘have you been buying books again?’ I actually replied ‘NO’ they were down stairs’, which was of cause was a total lie. Of cause i have bought them, not all on the same day, and i do intend to read them, honest. But i hereby promise that i will NOT buy any more until i have read them all, yes every single one of them.
So far this year I have bought 4 of the Harry Potter series and I intend to buy the rest because i have never read them all and i really would like to have a set of my own. I have also bought 1 other book, which i have read and enjoyed. I always tell my children that Book Tokens are always welcome and i won’t ever think it’s a last resort rather then a well thought out present. I also have 1 magazine subscription, I think that goal was more successful however this time i bought it myself.
So – I hereby swear to not buy any more books until I have read every book in my little pile and to gladly give away all the books i have finished with. Also I will not buy magazines, when most of the information is free online anyway.
yes. definitely do this. i have about 30 book which i have bought that i need to read. my favourite shops are bookshops and therefore always end my shopping trips in the book shops. SO that means that i end up buying one if not two books.
now i do read an awful lot but i am spending a good portion of my paycheque on books :/
have you heard of the big book swap? or any book swapping websites? that way you can swap your books between similar users
hope that you are succeeding in your challenges
keep smiling
No not heard of book swap sites, will look into that thanks. I tend to take my books to Oxfam shops as the one in the city where i live is a book shop and during the last quarter the books i had taken in made £80
I hope it works out with yah……..
I might have not bought as many books as you per month
but I DO BUY A LOT…….
and many I still get to read one day………
I made this promise before…
but I never was able to succeed…….
so good luck
and update is with the books you read
N.B: I have the whole series of the Harry Potter books… and I understand your need to have the whole collection of one book series or another…
N.B.B: these days I have a goal of collecting all of Agatha Christie’s books, my favourite crime/mystery author. And I have many many other goals of collecting certain books, But i wouldn’t like to bore you with it… and endanger you from going and buying something
I WILL read Harry Potter – apparently after the 4th book their characters change because of cause they start to grow up??
grow up, loss of other characters, new characters,,, I think you will like it
I’m ready for a bit of a change – 4th book done
grow up, loss of other characters, new characters,,, I think you will like it
Forward progress… great inspiration Bev! I always enjoy reading your posts! Blessings!
Thank you
Oh yes I know the feeling!! One of my goals this year is to make myself read the books that have been sitting around – sometimes for several years! – and weed them out. Unfortunately, more than half of the ones I’ve read so far turned out to be keepers
One thing that makes it a little easier is being crazy busy – I’ve been itching to browse around a bookstore for the past three weeks, and just can’t find the time! Anyway, GOOD LUCK.
what i came to realise is that most of the books i buy, no matter how good they are, i will never read again but someone else might
Unfortunately (for my supply of storage space) I do re-read books – some of them I read many times, others only after they sit so long I can’t remember exactly how the story went. I wind up with three categories – “keepers”, “giveaways”, and a small number that are so awful I actually throw them out.
I have a book case if they don’t fit then they have to leave or something does. I have several classics that i keep and i dream of the perfect library
I admire your commitment to this. I too buy books and have stacks here and there of ones I haven’t read yet. Fiction, though, I download onto my EBook from the library so that really cuts back on buying – well actually no, it just means I spend the money on non-fiction. heh heh. But I will go without food or new clothes in exchange for a couple of new books.