Book Buying Addicts Anonymous discussion
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How do you keep you book buying need in check (just a little!)
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I borrowed The Lion by Nelson Demille from the library. if I don't finish it, I'll buy it to finish it up.
I always return books late to the library. I like to reread books too so makes more sense to buy them . Thing is eventually I will have no space for them and I love the smell of frsh paper and ink. Legacy inhaling...kay I think I'm a hopeless cuase I'm an addict but to a degree I do have to stop the compulsion to buy. I have four to be read books lets not add to the list legacy. I love this group it so for me.
I owed the library 30 dollars in late fees OY.
I love rereading and my Nook has allowed me to pick-up a lot of books at a major savings.
Louise wrote: "So, you've just read some raving reviews about a new book, Amazon sent you an email tempting with a huge discount and you found some amazing lists here on Goodreads.BUT the budget is tight this mo..."
Looking through the TBR pile is a great idea, and I do that sometimes, too. But I have to admit that my willpower is VERY weak. I also have a family that doesn't judge at all, which doesn't help, LOL. If I ever want to make a SERIOUS attempt to curb the buying for a while, I have to stay away from all book stores -- including online -- and also stay off GoodReads. Way too much temptation here!
About the only thing that really works, though, is to allot myself a certain amount IN CASH -- once it's gone, it's gone, end of story. That works pretty well for me, but I have to admit I don't do it very often (although I should!).
Lea wrote: "Louise wrote: "So, you've just read some raving reviews about a new book, Amazon sent you an email tempting with a huge discount and you found some amazing lists here on Goodreads.BUT the budget i..."
I have to just avoid book shops, the book isle in supermarkets, and online books sites. The only way it might work is if I took the set amount of money only and no purse and no cards in to a book shop.
... But I will likely see another book I will want desperatly, so will pop home and grab my cards and come running back :)
I don't.It's as simple as that.
I just don't.
Occasionally I make a feeble attempt to restrict my book buying. It usually doesn't last longer than a week...
With you Joanna, nothing works my book shelf grows, and my money dwindles, its a fact of life there is no stopping it
I download lots of free classics to my Kindle.Some of the .99 books also help satisfy my craving to buy but keep the costs low.
Well, I shop only online and if I see a book that I want to buy, I usually make myself wait a couple of days to see if I still feel the same about it. If I do, I go on and buy it I'm afraid:(
I also use the library a lot (although it often costs me in fines!)
Legacy-serenity wrote: "I owed the library 30 dollars in late fees OY."That's not bad, Legacy. I still 213.00 from an eviction 2 yrs ago. Does your library have a free browse section where there is no time limit and needs no card to check them out? Manchester CT (USA) does
I actually have a couple of tricks to help keep costs down -- when I absolutely MUST buy! GoodReads bookswap is awesome, and I've just started searching out the best price (new or used) when I order from Amazon. Small steps, lol.
I'm so jealous of your bookswapping possibilities!!! :-)
Louise wrote: "I'm so jealous of your bookswapping possibilities!!! :-)"I keep forgetting some of the GoodReads features aren't available everywhere. Could you start GR group for local folks & do your own swap?
I have no self awareness when it comes to buying books! You know those little voices in the back of your head that tells you "You better not!"... well, he stays in the car... strapped in the seat like a six year old child! Barnes and Noble, Borders... any book store is not even a temptation for me because you actually have to have a feeling of guilt in order for it to be a temptation... no guilt here!!! Especially when I go to the local library, they have a room called the Book Nook, and all the books in that room are used and for sale... paperbacks are 50 cents each, hardcovers are one dollar each... I can literally walk out of there with 20 books and spend only about $8.00... how can you feel guilty about that?
Unless it's an author that I just adore, I'll add it to my list, look over the reviews from others, think about it for a week or two, then if the series still has my interest I'll go and check it out.If I can't wait that long, I'll jsut grab a copy of the book, find a spot to sit and read the first chapter and see how it goes from there.
Well, sometimes it actually gets down to eating or buying a book. I could lose some weight. lol
Carrie-lol: that's one way to keep your book buying in check! It worked for me (until they got older, that is. Then I had a rebound reaction!)
mine are 3 and 4 and I'm beginning Ellie :-)@ Lea, Denmark is such a small country, about 6 mil. people, and postage is ridiculously expensive, so I don't think it would work. At least I can get used books from Amazon :-)
I made two Goodreads shelves: "recently-purchased" and "owned-yet-sadly-unread." Every time I think about going out and buying a new book, I glance at them and wince.
Classyreader wrote: "Well, sometimes it actually gets down to eating or buying a book. I could lose some weight. lol"LOL! When I lived in Poland and my wages weren't great (and the books are quite expensive there) I used to get to that stage... Needless to say there wasn't really a choice... As a result my bookshelves were getting fatter and I was gloriously skinny :P
@Kurt - good reasoning! :) I have a different problem though - the guilt's not because of the money spent (there's none there, even if I buy full prize books. I mean I earn the money working really hard, I don't spend much on other stuff, why shouldn't I buy books if I want to?), not because of piles of books not read (I love having at any given moment dozens of unread books and being able to pick and choose from them). The problem however is that I don't have enough space to keep them and that I loathe to part with my books. But I don't live alone and while my fiance likes to read to a reasonable degree, he does not necessarily share my need to owe books and objects a bit to them taking over EVERYWHERE (which they do)... I kind of see his point and I sort of promise myself I'll try to keep the purchase madness in check... But that just doesn't happen...
I don't really try to control my book-buying. I guess the only thing I really do is never pay full-price for a book. There are too many books on Amazon, in thrift stores, trading stores, yard sales or book fairs to pay full price. So, I guess that would be the only way I 'control' my book-buying. When I have all those resources, I don't feel guilty coming home with a bag full of books!
I only buy books from boot sales, market stalls and charity shops etc, my rule is that I'm not allowed to spend £2 or more on one book so that kinda keeps me in check (:Although that said there's a good 2500-3000 books in my house,every room is covered and the attic and under stair cupboards are pretty full too! and despite reading a massive amount (and my partner reading occasionally) I will never read every book I own and I'm always buying more!
When it gets to the point where I feel like I should hide new purchases from my partner ("But they were only 10p each!") I try and stop at least or a month.
I use the free samples from B&N to try some books before I buy them. If that doesn't make me want to buy it, I forget about it. If it does, the book goes on my wishlist for when I do have some money for books. Otherwise, I just have to stay away from physical book stores. I don't know what self control is when it comes to books. I've tried using my TBR pile to curb book buying but it doesn't work for me just because I've had to pack away all my books so I don't have a heck of a lot to choose from. Once I get my own place, though, it might help some.
I go through my bookshelves, finding all my TBR books that I've bought but haven't had the time to read yet. Usually there's a lot, so that calms the urges to spend even more money.
I make feeble attempts at controlling my book buying, by making promises to myself that I will read at least 20 of my unread books before purchasing anymore, Sadly, it never works. I seldom purchase "new" books, and try to get most of my reading material at places like Value Village (in Canada), where books are extremely reasonable and they have an excellent selection that changes frequently. I find the downside of my "addiction" is more to do with space for my books than cost, although my family might disagree. Every once in a while I purge my shelves to make room for new material, but I admit, it is very difficult to let go of anything.
My issue is definitely space as well. I can usually control the spending pretty well, but when I do have the money for books I definitely spend it. Then I get home and have nowhere to put them. My husband is way more organized than I am and even though he doesn't say anything I know he'd prefer straight lines in the bookshelves opposed to the haphazard way I shove everything in to make it all fit. I don't think he knows how many I have that are TBR or else he might be slightly less supportive when he sees the Barnes & Noble bags come out haha.
I ran out of space so now I have one little shelf with 30 books from the library on it. Well, that's in addition to the room full of boxes...lol. I have to be religious about returning them on time or renewing them but so far it's working well for me because I always have something good to read and if I have to return it without reading it, well, so be it. I can always check it out again sometime later.
I have to tell myself i'm only allowed to buy 2 books a month and now i am running out of space and money so I need to stop :p Even buying the cheap books on amazon adds up eventually. Also you have a bunch of books that you were dying to buy and didnt even read them yet! so I think the final answer is..will power :) lol
I always buy a couple, and download at least one for free. Example: today I bought
and
and I downloaded for free Anna Karenina
I don’t even try to suppress my book buying. When the urge hits or I see another one “I just can’t live without”, I buy it and smile all the way home. An opportunity missed is a chance lost, maybe never to present itself again. I don’t like the thoughts of “I should have bought it when I had the chance” and would rather spend the money for a new book and peace of mind. I see it as a win/win situation.
If I keep so busy that I don't have time to go on Amazon, then my book buying stays in check. But if I wander onto Amazon then I'm a lost cause lol and their iPhone app doesn't help my willpower (or lack thereof)
I keep myself in check by running out of money lol.
Mod
lol. That's not exactly by choice! ;-)
true! but if I didn't run out of my book spending money, I would constantly be buying books lol
I avoid going to the bookstore, or driving by one, for that matter. Also, looking at this stack of books (there are at least 20 piled beside my bed) kind of keeps me in check, sometimes.
omg! I too have a stack of 2o by my bed lol
Sammie =^.^= wrote: "omg! I too have a stack of 2o by my bed lol"Have you started reading any yet? Or do you continue to buy books and promise you'll tackle your stack eventually? I've done this countless times! I'm proud of myself, though, because I've just started a book from the pile.
I've wiped out like 3 of those books over the weekend, but I have more books in the shelves that need to be read as well like later books in a series and stuff, but I constantly buy more to add to the list. Like I might go and get
came out today and may grab
cause I've heard so many great things about this book.
I set an amount at the start of the month. I am aloud to spend that on books. I must admit that most months I go over :D But I'm working on it (NOT!). This Sunday will be the annual book market in Deventer (the Netherlands). It's the biggest book market in the Netherlands. I am so exited. I have a 4 page list :))
Sammie =^.^= wrote: "I've wiped out like 3 of those books over the weekend, but I have more books in the shelves that need to be read as well like later books in a series and stuff, but I constantly buy more to add to ..."Sounds good! How do you add book covers to your posts, by the way?
when making a post right above the box is a link that says add book/author...click on that type in your book and make sure cover is checked and click add on the appropiate book and tada the pic is there.
Sammie =^.^= wrote: "when making a post right above the box is a link that says add book/author...click on that type in your book and make sure cover is checked and click add on the appropiate book and tada the pic is ..."Ok, thanks!
you're welcome doll
I found out how to use Librivox.You can download or stream audio versions of the classics. Delightful.
Still getting books at book swap :)
Have four kids who like to destroy them. All I have to think is, do i really wanna spend more money on something that unless i read it once and put in storage is going to get ruined anyway? Sometimes it is a hard choice. :)
The library. Then, if it's due but it still is in my HUGE to read stack, I buy the book via Amazon. At my age I'm aware my book reading life is in sight. I live in a senior park where many of my neighbors are not able to lift or carry books unless they are paperbacks. That observation was like walking into a cold shower and has completely changed my previous hoarding og books. Where I had stacks and stacks of books that I believed I must have, now I'm ebooking, and library reserving far more often. I'm going through the thousands of books and getting rid of yellow paged paperbacks and any book I read that did not impress me, but I reshelved. Bent backs and shaking limbs, and slightly dementia-d neighbors has caused a major rethink in my life. Maybe it's not politically correct to say, but after handing a regular book to my neighbor only to see her almost fall over with the weight, or being given all the neighbor ladies' knitting yarn because they no longer can manipulate the needles or understand the patterns, shook me up.
Book Buying Addicts Anonymous
Books mentioned in this topic
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BUT the budget is tight this month so you ATTEMPT to stop yourself from going on a spending spree.
What do you do? Any particular techinques you resort to?
Here in Denmark, July is a nasty month, in the way that real estate tax, mortgages, insurances etc are usually due, so I've promised myself to try and show restraint. One of the things I do, is when the buying crave comes over me, I'll spend some time looking through all my TBR piles, often finding books I've forgotten all about purchasing, and that helps a little.
How about the rest of you?