MobileRead Book Challenges discussion
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Purchase Challenge particulars?
Good point. I don't think they should count, but I always treated my book budget (which oddly enough was $20 a month) as an on-going thing. So I have a budget leftover that gets added to the next month. If you're starting January one then I wouldn't count them.What I still track now is the amount of unread purchases I have or how much money is tied up in unread books. I try to keep that below $120 and 9,000 pages. About a half year of budget and reading pace. Right now it's climbing up a little bit, but that's due to buying some books for this year's challenge. Any more than that and there's a bigger risk that books will remain unread and buying more is just wasting money if I'm not going to ever read it.
I don't think they should count either.As for tracking, while I'm not physically tracking my purchases, I am using the series challenge to curtail my spending. I have to accumulate 250 points before I can purchase a new book.
I have also decided that I will choose from previous purchases to fill in any "unplanned/what should I read next?" gaps. I would specifically like to go from most expensive to least, but it will all depend on where I am at that moment (especially if said previous purchase is in the middle of a series).
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "Good point. I don't think they should count, but I always treated my book budget (which oddly enough was $20 a month) as an on-going thing. So I have a budget leftover that gets added to the next m..."These are good points.
I think I'll give myself a clean slate. I have two more books coming in from December but those won't count! :-D
I really like the idea of tracking the unread book cost. Not sure if I'll start that this year. But it would help control me knowing I have money just collecting dust - unread.
Nyssa wrote: "I don't think they should count either.As for tracking, while I'm not physically tracking my purchases, I am using the series challenge to curtail my spending. I have to accumulate 250 points be..."
I should try this, too.
I just spend too much money on books and it's always FI,LO with me. :(
These are just books that I have bought and haven't shelved yet.
I went back and categorized all of my unread books on my kindle and paper books as well when I started that.I believe I have $82.48 of unread purchases lying around. Some of that could potentially be written off as Humble Bundle extras and two collections of novellas that I am half through.
I check the monthly Amazon kindle deals and I have a list on eReaderIQ Canada which emails me when something goes on sale to a point I might consider buying it. I put all of the books I need for my reading lists on it and wait and use my library. I am glad to be pretty much series-free in my reading needs now.
HiMS..I'm not talking to you anymore! You're making me learn the truth about my buying habits and its not pretty! :p ;) After doing some calculations, I can't even admit how much is tied up in unread ebooks, all purchased between 2011 and 2013 (its triple figures).
50 of the books cost $1.99 or less. with the next 51 costing between $2.50 and $7.99. I had 7 that cost between $8 and $10, then 1 at 11.99 and a boxed set (of which I read one book) that cost $19.99.
*whistling*So what is everyone giving up for Lent? :)
lol!
Easily I spend $500 a year on ebooks and audiobooks. The cost is mostly audiobooks though. I do have to curtail the spending this year and made a resolution not to spend more than $150 not including Baen Bundle or my monthly credit at Audible. My goal is to really hold off the spending until late in the year when all the great deals start in November. Just like the rest of you, I have a lot of unread and unheard purchases, going back to 2008 when I first bought an Ipod followed a year or two later by a Kindle. My Kindle account alone has over 1200 ebooks. I need to start taking off all the free non-scifi/fantasy because it's becoming irritating to family members to scroll through pages and pages of stuff they don't read on their kindles. LOL. They will still have to deal with the dozens of murder mysteries and westerns. I keep hoping one of them will accidentally read one and thus discover a new genre... fat chance.
Stephanie wrote: "Easily I spend $500 a year on ebooks and audiobooks. The cost is mostly audiobooks though. I do have to curtail the spending this year and made a resolution not to spend more than $150 not includi..."Can't you send different books to different kindles?
$500??! You're in good company here, lol.
Yes, audiobooks too. The problem was the audiobook that I had was from the library. You could only have it checked out for ten days because it was very popular. So long as you don't plug it back into the computer, it stays active on your device no matter how long ago it came due. I did request it again,but it would be months before I was eligible again. Good thing I found it.
I'm feeling very proud of myself. The last 3 books in FoF that I'm going to read will be borrowed from the library.Steelheart
Howls Moving Castle
Gardens of the Moon
That's money saved, right there!
MrsJoseph (taking back my data & giving GR the middle finger) wrote: "I'm feeling very proud of myself. The last 3 books in FoF that I'm going to read will be borrowed from the library.Steelheart
Howls Moving Castle
Gardens of the Moon
That's money saved, right t..."
Woot! Good job!
:-)
MrsJoseph (taking back my data & giving GR the middle finger) wrote: "I'm feeling very proud of myself. The last 3 books in FoF that I'm going to read will be borrowed from the library.Steelheart
Howls Moving Castle
Gardens of the Moon
That's money saved, right t..."
Good job. My library lending statistics should be pretty crazy this year. Over half of what I read every year is from the library, but this year should be more. So far, it is two library loans and three purchases, but the next several books are all coming from the library and everything is paper so far.
Yeah, I'm slashing my book spending this year by quite a bit. I still plan on some binging: the Balitmore Book Fair has tons of used book sellers and there's always the library and the Goodwill...but I want to cut that back, too. It's no good to have a ton of books that I'll not read.
Hmmm, I have another question: what about book purchases for gifts? Should I include that as part of my monthly budget or no?Right now I'm leaning to "no" as I see the $20 for personal use - and my hubby will be chipping in on the gift.
Libraries are great. I can get all the In Death series at my library. I should be able to get all the Diskworld from relatives, but I do need to apply for a card at the Hennepin County library because they have a substantial SciFi collection in both ebook and downloadable audiobook. Can't apply for the card over the Internet though (pooh), but that will give me an excuse to go to the Tea Source, which is located nearby.
I need some help!! Or advice! Or willpower!There are two books I really want to buy:
The Chronicles of Narnia: Including an Essay on Writing by C.S. Lewis - Hardcover
*This is to replace my current copy which is starting to fall apart.
Becoming a Supple Leopard: The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic Performance - because I've been hurting myself exercising and this is supposed to be great.
Problem:
Narnia: $27 used
Supple Leopard: $31
Monthly budget: $20
!!!!!!
You need willpower. I would say you don't need the Narnia one. You have one. How often do you plan to re-read it? Seriously?!?The Leopard book I can see being useful. I would buy it and chalk it up to half of next month is gone.
eReaderIQ, if there's such a thing for your country is the most useful thing I've found. Just put the books there and wait for the price to drop and get an email.
Skip Narnia .. You have a copy, frayed though it may be.Research Supple ... Make sure it is really what you need, not just a knee-jerk reaction "want". If it will, in fact help you, then buy it now and subtract the extra $11 from your next budget.
((Holding your hand through the process ))
:)
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "You need willpower. I would say you don't need the Narnia one. You have one. How often do you plan to re-read it? Seriously?!?The Leopard book I can see being useful. I would buy it and chalk it ..."
I've read it more than 20 times. I'm currently on my 3rd or 4th copy of the series... But I probably won't re-read it until 2015 or later
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "eReaderIQ, if there's such a thing for your country is the most useful thing I've found. Just put the books there and wait for the price to drop and get an email."Hmmm, that looks great...but I don't buy kindle books - free only.
I have a kobo
I would be great if there was a price aggregator for all stores and all formats. That would rock.
Nyssa wrote: "Skip Narnia .. You have a copy, frayed though it may be.Research Supple ... Make sure it is really what you need, not just a knee-jerk reaction "want". If it will, in fact help you, then buy it n..."
Yall are probably right about Narnia. I can hold off for a little. *sigh*
So, after I read yall's comments I tracked down a copy a the library and placed a hold. It should get here in a week or so - I'll be able to flip through it.
Right now, Amazon has the best price on Chronicles of Narnia for ebook $44.99. I'm assuming (possibly incorrectly) that you are in the US. I noticed that there are used copies of the hardcover going for as little as $3 plus shipping on the Amazon site. For that, you'd do better to buy 2 copies and be set for some years since this is obviously a favorite, favorite series.
Right now, Amazon has the best price on Chronicles of Narnia for ebook $44.99. I'm assuming (possibly incorrectly) that you are in the US. I noticed that there are used copies of the hardcover going for as little as $3 plus shipping. Alternatively, take your pages with you to a copy center and see if they can't remove the binding and put each book in its own binding. I've done that for craft books that are no longer available in print. Even did that for my 1950s Betty Crocker cookbook until they reprinted it.
Stephanie wrote: "Right now, Amazon has the best price on Chronicles of Narnia for ebook $44.99. I'm assuming (possibly incorrectly) that you are in the US. I noticed that there are used copies of the hardcover go..."I need to check that out!
May I recommend the camels? I saved an extraordinary amount using it in 2013.Go to camelcamelcamel.com Its home page will explain how to get started.
The camels is a computer which keeps track of all of the Amazon websites throughout the world. You tell it the price that you are interested in for a particular item, and when Amazon's price drops to that level, the camels emails you, thus alerting you when something is on sale.
Amazon's prices fluctuate a great deal, so you need to act quickly.
I will try this!
GA wrote: Amazon's prices fluctuate a great deal, so you need to act quickly. Yes, it does. The one I use is specifically for Canada and books will show up for a day at a cheap price a lot of time. I have snagged a few books using a similar tool.
OMG!! I need SUPPORT!!!I've already bought two books this month - my remaining budget is less than $11.
BUT there's this cookbook I really want to buy and it's on sale! Typically $14-$18, it's on sale for $12 and some change.
O_O
http://www.amazon.com/Budget-Bytes-De...
help!
Budget cooking is unhealthy. I just looked at how much evil bread is in the index. :)Am I helping?
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "Budget cooking is unhealthy. I just looked at how much evil bread is in the index. :)Am I helping?"
lol
I don't know. Does the fact that I grabbed this from the library help?
The CarbLovers Diet: Eat What You Love, Get Slim For Life
I'm going to duck...Gluten Is My Bitch: Rants, Recipes, and Ridiculousness for the Gluten-Free
I look at eating as this kind of thing. When I remove the sugar and wheat from my plate (or moderate it) then what am I adding to eat? Meat and vegetables which I should eat more of anyway. Eating is a very personal thing so I leave it to others on what they want to eat.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "I'm going to duck...Gluten Is My Bitch: Rants, Recipes, and Ridiculousness for the Gluten-Free
I look at eating as this kind of thing. When I remove the sugar and wheat from my pl..."
I'm trying to get more veggies - I get plenty of meat.
Sadly, I'm not the best with veggies. I like them but I don't have a lot of recipes for them. Plus the cost and the frozens... *Sigh*
Tonight for dinner we are having:
Baked Salmon
Rice with Herbs
String beans baked with shallots
MrsJoseph (taking back my data & giving GR the middle finger) wrote: "I'm trying to get more veggies - I get plenty of meat. Sadly, I'm not the best with veggies. I like them but I don't have a lot of recipes for them. Plus the cost and the frozens... *Sigh*
Tonight for dinner we are having:
Baked Salmon
Rice with Herbs
String beans baked with shallots "
That sounds good! I eat a lot of rice. Partly because I'm poor :D but also because it makes a great canvas for other things. For a while, I was making fried rice at least two or three times a week. I prefer white Basmati - long-grain, fluffy, nutty, not too sticky. So many different veggies can work well with fried rice.
My challenge is protein because I don't eat much meat at all, and I'm not a bean fan. Sometimes I make egg drop soup with just the whites in fat-free chicken broth.
But honestly, I won't give up my wheat and dairy. I can't drink milk anymore unless it's cooked, but cheese... oh, the cheese... I love cheese.
I eat a lot of rice because:1) I'm broke
2) Its a cultural thing
3) It's tasty and delicious
The rice recipe is DELISH and made with basmati (btw, I by a 12lb bag from Costco for $15.).
(view spoiler)
I can't drink milk but I can eat it cooked. I LOVE cheese,t oo.
Oooh definitely going to try that recipe!! Thanks! Love onions, raw or cooked. Love dill, too. Speaking of which, I make this a lot in winter...(view spoiler)
Tastes EXACTLY like what I used to get at my favorite restaurant, which really makes me wonder if they were using Campbell's too.
Oh, and you can add some cooked white rice to it for extra heartiness.
Okay, I'll stop derailing your purchase thread now. :D
That looks goooooood! Really good. I have another recipe for tomato soup but it takes forever. THis looks GREAT.
Hope you enjoy it. I find going "halfway homemade" is the most cost-effective way of cooking while still ending up with good food. :)
Christa wrote: "Hope you enjoy it. I find going "halfway homemade" is the most cost-effective way of cooking while still ending up with good food. :)"*truth*
Ineed SUPPORT!!!Saving $4 to SPEND $12? You don't need this book at this time. Keep in mind that allrecipes.com has many fabulous recipes FOR FREE. Many of the recipes in recent and current cookbooks have actually been stolen from home cooks who posted family favorites in private lists. I know. Had it happen to me. They are also stolen from old cookbooks in the hopes nobody recognizes them.
Also, as a cookbook fanatic myself, I have an entire bookshelf full of cookbooks,yet try only about 60 new recipes a year (and fewer each year). Honestly, there is nothing new under the sun unless you or a family member must follow a gluten-free diet due to health issues and even half of those books, the authors never tested the recipes.
Does that help?
Stephanie wrote: "Ineed SUPPORT!!!Saving $4 to SPEND $12? You don't need this book at this time. Keep in mind that allrecipes.com has many fabulous recipes FOR FREE. Many of the recipes in recent and current coo..."
:-D
It does.
I really like this one chick because she does all her recipes based on price.
But to be really honest, I should look for recipes based on HEALTH.
:(
The best thing you can do for a cooking budget is learn what to do with what cut of meat.The other thing useful thing we've done here is to just write out all of your favourite recipes and group the ingredients so that there is some overlap and create a few weeks worth of recipes for planning purposes. I buy less types of thing each week and it results in less spoilage and easier grocery trips.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "The best thing you can do for a cooking budget is learn what to do with what cut of meat.The other thing useful thing we've done here is to just write out all of your favourite recipes and group ..."
I use pepperplate a lot. It's a great app and the internet version is better.
I can do it - plus the girl who wrote that book has a blog that she posts to almost daily.
I have issues. Book issues. Lots and lots of books.
MobileRead Book Challenges
Books mentioned in this topic
Gluten Is My Bitch: Rants, Recipes, and Ridiculousness for the Gluten-Free (other topics)Gluten Is My Bitch: Rants, Recipes, and Ridiculousness for the Gluten-Free (other topics)
The Carb Lovers Diet: Eat What You Love, Get Slim for Life! (other topics)
The Chronicles of Narnia (other topics)
Becoming a Supple Leopard: The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic Performance (other topics)
Wondering: I was going to count the two books I had delivered today BUT I realized I actually paid for them at the end of 2013. When should the books count? When I bought them or upon delivery?
When I catalog my books I go by delivery date (since that's when they are in my hands) but in this situation...?