In recent discussions, especially in the comments for some of the Books on Sale posts, a few of you have mentioned your book budgets. Sometimes it's howls of agony that the monthly budget has been exceeded by yet another tempting $1.99 deal – I feel your pain, as I'm equally susceptible.
But a few have mentioned interesting solutions, such as Tam and Dora on 11 April. Dora mentioned how tempting some of the sales are, and that she needed to come up with a book buying rule.
I try and budget (note the use of the word try), by using gift cards. I send them to myself each month as my book budget spending. It mostly works.
I've seen other readers mention this strategy in passing, too – especially when the gift card can often be purchased at a grocery store checkout along with all the other necessities (of course books are a necessity, right?).
I limit my book purchases by attempting to budget my time – or by forcing myself to recognize that my reading time, alas, is not infinite. I started listing what I've bought and when its “read by” date is on an evolving spreadsheet. (I know you can use a “to-read” shelf on Goodreads, but I prefer to use the spreadsheet.) That way I can track what book, what genre, when it releases (if it's not out yet), where I heard about it (blog? Twitter? eavesdropping on the train?), and whether I've read, DNFd, or written a review. Often looking at what I have on the list for April, May, June, etc. stops me from buying one more, because if I know I'm not going to get to it soon, I'm better off skipping that one.
But I'm just as susceptible to the .99 and $1.99 temptations, so I repeatedly try to stop myself from buying more books without first looking at my Reality Check Spreadsheet. For example, the Linda Lael Miller sale this week was hugely tempting, so I bought one and started it – and as I mentioned yesterday, I want to slack off and keep reading instead of getting things done.
So I budget my time, while some readers use a financial limit to curb book buying. What about you? How do you budget your book purchases? Any strategies that work really well?
Am I alone? I love books, but my book-buying budget has been a whopping 0.00 for some time now. I’ve been getting better and better at scrounging – filling out library requests, finding the rare (legal) free ebooks online, and sometimes spotting books being given away through freecycle or friends.
It has some benefits – I find I read more widely, more of a variety of things, when I’m reading whatever I can get my hands on. But sometimes it makes following book forums and blogs personally frustrating, like staring into a candy-shop window when you’re hungry.
I don’t know what I’ll do when circumstances change and I can buy books again; the temptation to go a little crazy will be strong. I’ll have to try some of the ideas in the comments.
I’m another Paperbackswapper and I also have 2 library cards(which I use to borrow print copies only). I’ve become a lot more selective with which authors I’ll autobuy. One dud and they’re off the list, downgraded to library authors. Lately I’ve inadvertently saved money because I’ve gone to B&N in the mood for a splurge and walked away emptyhanded because I couldn’t find what I wanted. The one near me has a mediocre romance section. I’ve started downloading the free samples from Amazon, even for bargain books and that has really cut down on the impulse buying. It even partially satisfies the emotional need Courtney was talking about.
Ah, the book budget.
I started seriously reading about 9 months ago (“serious” = averaging about 4 books per week), and at first I was just buying whatever. Enter the book budget.
Gift cards are the best. At first, I gave myself $50 a month to spend on whatever digital books I wanted, which worked well. Some months I didn’t spend the whole amount, while other months I went through that by the 15th. Now, I actually get gift cards through my credit card rewards program—so worth it. Especially since I’ve cut down on other binge spending (Target, anyone?) after I started devoting a significant amount of time to reading. I’m actually SAVING $$. Amazing. (This budget does not include the romance book-of-the-month club I subscribe to, which sends me a new paperback every month from a monthly list of newish releases and backtitled favorites.)
At first I was buying anything that struck my fancy. SBTB has been a GODSEND in recommending great fiction, and I tended to buy (almost) everything was recommended. Now, I use Goodreads to track my reading habits and wishlist (the spreadsheet is a really good idea too), and I’ve gotten more strategic. Any “RECOMMENDED” titles or authors go on my “To Read” list and I wait until either a) they are on sale ($2.99 or lower) or b) I can find them at one of the AMAZING used bookstores near me. The only books I buy full price are new releases, and usually those are only of authors I love. That’s actually allowed me to branch out into some subgenres that I wouldn’t have otherwise tried, and still get all the stuff I love, without breaking the bank.
Part of me feels a little guilty about mostly buying stuff used or on sale—I used to work at an Indie bookstore, and I’ve seen how “only buying books on sale” etc can affect an author and the industry, but I think it’s worthwhile in the long run. Any live author events, I will still buy a print copy from the onsite seller, even if I already have a digital copy. Most of the time, those books end up becoming loaners to friends, who then go out and buy that author’s backlist.
@Selkie- If you like classics, Project Gutenberg is a pretty good source of free ebooks, with lots of format options.
I am supposed to be budgeting for books? Really?? Guess that’s why I have tons of books and no money.
As a library director, I wish more people would check out ebooks. Our total circulation is dropping, and I think some of it might be that ebooks are so easy to buy. In a small rural area like mine, with not a bookstore to be found, that can really make a dent.
And while circulating materials is only the tip of iceberg as far as what we do (providing computers and wireless internet, helping patrons with technology, children’s programming, getting old/out-of-print/esoteric titles through interlibrary loan…) circulation is the easiest to count. Libraries are always tempting targets at budget time—I don’t want lawmakers to have that kind of ammunition.
So even though it costs us a bit more when more ebooks are borrowed, it is well worth the modest cost in the long run. It give us better statistics come budget-time, and—more importantly— it connects more people with the library. In the end that gives us the means to do even more for our community.
So in short, use your library—chances are, your librarians greatly appreciate it!
I used to spend a ton of money on books, but when the ebook price fixing started way back when, I decided to boycott thm, so i started keeping a wish list as a tab on my book spreadsheet. Every so often I’d check to see if they had gone down in price or become discount eligible. That worked really well for keeping my book buying habit in check. I think I did fulfill some emotional need by just writing them down. Fast forward to these days when books go on sale for short periods, and if you miss it, you’re back to full price, which makes it such a temptation to buy it and save it for later….which never comes because my TBR is appalling. So now I restrict myself to buying authors I love when their books go on sale, and the occasional cheap book that just happens to strike my fancy. I’m going to use the advice about putting books on my Amazon wish list and checking it regularly to help give myself that same kind of high that I got from keeping them in the spreadsheet. It’s such a thrill to find the book at the right price then.
My local library uses FReading for ebooks, which I haven’t found to have a good selection. I’ve heard there are library systems that will allow outsiders to pay for a library card, but everytime I’ve been given a name of one of these, I’ve found that you have to pay for the library card in person, and they’re too far away for me to do that. Anyone know of ones that will allow you to apply for and get the card either online or by mail without residency requirements?
I don’t have a book budget as such, but I do use gift cards. Everything I put on my Kindle, I buy with a gift card. Friends and family give them to me for holidays and my birthday, and when those run out, I do buy them at the grocery checkout or at the drugstore. It’s a good way of, if not limiting, at least keeping track of how much I spend on ebooks; I’ve definitely postponed buying things until I receive/buy a new gift card. I like to make them last as long as possible, and while there are a handful of autobuy authors I buy without hesitation, many others wait for $1.99 or $2.99 sales.
I think my Kindle has actually made me a pickier book buyer. Since I have a basic model, I’m not tempted by pretty covers. I always make myself read the sample before buying, and if I can’t make it to the end of the sample, that’s a good indication that I won’t enjoy the book.
That said, much of what I read comes from the library. I’m an academic librarian, so I have access to extensive collections at work. The local public library system is also excellent, and the closest branch is only a block from my apartment, making it easy to stop by to pick up requests.
In the days of Borders, its rewards card, and its coupons, I bought many more new paperbacks. Now I’m much more selective. I think I’ve gotten better at judging which books I want to buy because I’ll actually read them, not because I might refer to them or they might be cool to have around. I used to buy many more books, new and used, with the idea that I’d read them someday. They’d sit around, in some cases for years, till someday arrived.
My husband bought me an I pad a couple of years ago because we were basically wall-to-wall books. I installed Kindle and Kobo on it, so I can see who’s got the best deal on whatever I’m looking for.
Luckily (?), I live miles from anything resembling a decent book store. I used to make monthly trips into the city and load up on books, both new and used. My rule was that if it was an author I’d never tried, I would buy it used and, if I enjoyed it enough, the next book I bought from that writer would be new.
I don’t get into the city much anymore, but the sale e-books let me apply the same system. I have bought only 4 physical books in the last year and forced myself to stop buying cookbooks (because they didn’t count as books according to me) when I realised that I had filled an entire 5 shelf bookcase.
There’s a lot to be said for the notion that we buy books to feel better about life. I don’t spend anything like I used to, but I remember that as a very unhappy period in my life. Things aren’t perfect today, but, although I have a lot more disposable income, I tend to put a more thought into what I buy and, since I’ve given up on a number of authors I used to rush out and buy, my book budget is mostly under control.
I have 2 non-resident cards that are available without going in person to pick up or pay. The Orange County Library in Florida and the Free Library of Philadelphia – I love both of them. I also use my local library which has really improved over the last year.
My reading addiction is so long-termed and deeply rooted that I’ve owned two used bookstores. So, I’m totally spoiled, which is as it should be. However, since I closed my last store and we moved to a smaller house, book-buying reality is intruding.
I try to buy new books only with a discount: at the Big Box stores and Wal-Mart and Target. This limits splurges quite nicely since these stores don’t carry all my authors. Recently these venues have decreased the number of books they offer for sale. I consider panicking, but then remember that this is a phase and it will pass.
I haunt UBS since I love to support my industry, small businesses, and my local economy. I have nothing but the highest regard for folks who, in this economic climate and with today’s rents, can make a business plan work using second hand books, labor, and a cheerful personality. I try to make myself take the books back so they can recirculate, but if I really like the book, it can be difficult because I may want to re-read it.
For ebooks I limit myself to $2.99 and less because I simply don’t read them the way I read paperbacks. I like paperbacks. I like being able to check back easily – yes, he did say that! And we have an iPad – not a mini – so it’s heavy to hold. The cat objects when I rest the iPad on her, so I have to rest it on the chair arm. So if I read too long, Courtney puts a crick in my neck.
At the age of 66 I don’t care anymore if I buy too many books to get through before I die.. By buying books I’m surporting authors and that’s very important. I want future generations to be able to enjoy books and reading as much as I do now.
A couple months ago, I started the buying a giftcard to try to limit my spending. I decided needed to do this after spending almost $250 on kindle books and audiobooks in one month. So far I have went over each month but not by too much. I also use credit card points to add to my budget. This month, I’m probably going to have some left over due to my e-book settlement credit.
I don’t have a monetary budget, but I have a severely restricted reading-time budget, so that serves as my book-buying monitor.
I am really, really (no, REALLY) jealous of people who are able to read the impressive amounts most of you are. 🙂 How do you manage it?
I think this is why I’m addicted to audiobooks: Because my daily freeway commute is at least 90 minutes, often more, that’s how I get most of my “reading” time. But those suckers are expensive, so I haunt my library and watch for sales.
I don’t have exactly ‘a budget’, but ‘buying rules’.
1) I try not to spend more than 60 € (82,90 $) each time I buy paper books in Amazon, which is more or less once a month.
But then I’ve got the kindle, so
2) don’t spend more than 5€ (6.91 $) in an e-book. I used to put the limit in 6€, but now I think 5 € is enough.
Then once a month I go to the local bookshop and I buy:
3) Just 1-3 books, no more, although they can belong to any genre (fiction, non fiction, literature, whatever).
Perhaps it’s too much money, I’m not sure. But books are really the only thing I spend my money freely. I have this feeling that they are a very important part of who I am. Reading books is something I’ve done all my life. A person that works in the same field as I do has always said that he remembers the first time he saw me because all the people that were there trying to be chosen for the job were nervous, or walking or talking, but that I seemed relaxed, seated on a sofa, just reading.
Anyway, to sum it up: I don’t have any budget, but I have these rules that can be considered as ‘strategies’ that work -more or less. My TBR pile has never reached the ceiling, so to speak. I buy a lot but I do also read very quickly.
When I was single and had no bills my book budget rivaled my monthly car payments at times. Now that I’m older and have responsibilities, my book budget is significantly less than what it used to be. So I had to make some changes.
1. My husband and I get a cash stipend every paycheck. We can use this money for anything we want. This includes eating out, coffee dates, and all book/ comic book buying. This forces us to prioritize what we want. For example, I’d rather take $20 and have a coffee date with my husband than buy a hardcover I won’t have time to read before it’s released as a paperback. When we buy online, we have to put the cash in a jar to cover the payment. Then we save this cash for splurges such as vacation money or having pizza when friends come over.
2. I have a subscription to Oyster. For $10 a month I only have to read two books to feel like I’m getting my money’s worth.
3. I hoard coupons and scour deals through email and twitter
4. I also keep a wait list spreadsheet that I cull regularly. This is usually made up of books that look interesting but I can’t justify buying at full price.
5. Used bookstores both locally and online.
With all these plans I still spend more than I’m comfortable with on books. So since my library isn’t a good option due to my hatred of Overdrive and work schedule, I think I’ll be looking into gift cards shortly. I did this with iTunes to keep in check and it worked really well, so it’s probably time to apply it to my book habit as well.
$20/month, which includes postage for mailing out paperbackswap. And yes, I read wayyyyy more than that. I read everything first from the library, and then I’ll buy if it gives me joy in one of these ways: if I want to share my copy with friends ( one of the BEST things about reading ) or if I want to read again (not maybe someday, but that “I have to read again now” feeling.) That may sound strict, but paperbackswap helps fill in the gaps.
I forgot to mention Book Mooch! I give away some books there and get some books, too. I just got “The Sandalwood Princess” (by Loretta Chase, in case someone doesn’t know) in the original Avon paperback yesterday from there – and it’s in excellent condition.
Libraries get ebooks for the same reason they buy print books – so that people can read them. Don’t hold back on checking them out to save the library money. If the librarians find it takes too much of their budget, they’ll make changes.
@Hestia, thanks for #46! Good to hear from an actual librarian about how things work.
FWIW, @Phyl and @SBSarah, even unseemly begging may not induce the NYPL to order books. I keep asking for the library to add to its minimal collection of Brigid Kemmerer books (she’s so good! And neither my YA-reading nor romance-reading friends seem to be into her Elementals series, and in fact I am MOCKED FROM ALL SIDES for loving them because my friends are assholes) but requests to the NYPL have been falling on deaf ears for years. WAH.
I don’t have a formal budget, but I have almost no auto-buy authors (Courtney Milan, Robin Le Fevers, mmm, a few others) and I too am a relentless library patron. I have several wishlists on Amazon and every day I sort by “items with price drops.” (And I check the emails from SBTB, bien sur.) Whenever a higher priced book on my wishlist goes to $1.99 or less, I invariably buy. $2.99, maybe. I am a price-slashing sucka. There are unpurchased books on my list at $2.99 that are almost certainly better than some of the ones I buy when I see a price drop, but I AM SALE SHEEPLE.
I used to easily spend $20-$30 a month on books…that adds up after a while! Luckily for me, when I moved to San Francisco and got my library card, I found out that the ebook selection was very good. Now, if there’s a sale or a book that I want to read, I’ll check out my library via overdrive app first.
Hi Kate – I don’t know if your comment about library budgets relates back to my comment, but I was making a distinction between using your library network to borrow ebooks (which is awesome), or using your mom’s log in from out of state to get ebooks (which was offered as a budgeting tip).
I don’t want to be too harsh and label the behavior as fraud or theft because I don’t know if the OP is aware that what she’s doing is not OK 🙂
A different Kate here.
@Liz – You make a good distinction, that we should be using our own library accounts.
I took the other Kate’s comment to be referring to the poster who said they will re-check out a library ebook if they want to read it again and the poster who mentioned that libraries only get so many check-out leases.
Fastidious response in return of this question with real
arguments and telling all on the topic of that.
@ Jill-Marie
I have a friend who listens to audiobooks on her commute and has an audible membership to try and limit the cost.
I suggested to her that she check if Amazon has the books that she wants and if these have a Whisper Sync upgrade available. Quite often buying the e-book and adding the narration is cheaper than the membership price of an audiobook.
This may be a way for you to make your budget stretch a little further (at least with some books).
My book budget fluctuates from month to month, but I try to keep it from going too crazy in the following ways –
Bookmooch (about 80% of the time )& Paperbackswap save me some serious book-buying dough. Even though I opt to send out of the country on Bookmooch, and postage can get a little crazy once in a while, I’ll cut back on the mailings for a few weeks to make up for it. Besides, it’s good book karma to be able to send someone a book they’ve been trying to get for FOREVER…..even if they’re pretty far…..
I always hit the book section of any Goodwill/Salvation Army/thrift store that I stop in (ususally once or twice a month), & I almost always find something….the donation shelves of the local libraries are pretty good for that too….
There’s a used book store several towns over from me that I bring paperbacks to that don’t move on Bookmooch or Paperbackswap….but since it’s an all-day excursion for me, that place is only once every several months.
My town has a B&N, & we have the Special Member thing (have for years), which pays for itself several times over (yes, we’re the awesome book/calendar/game-giving friends/relatives!). I go here for the fave authors & series I have to own, armed with coupons of course, & sometimes just because I have to browse in a bookstore, y’know?
I have a Kindle that I barely use (I just love being able to hold my books), but I do have a ton of free books/stories on it, so at least that hasn’t been a budget-buster…
Do I have more books than I’ll probably need/want in a lifetime? Yep…….
Will the book-buying stop because of this? Probably not…..
Though to be fair, I’m getting waaaay pickier about keepers, so there’s that – most of my books get read and traded or donated…..
I don’t have a book budget. Books are my primary splurge in terms of both time and money. I do try to limit the number of physical books I’ll bring into the house—I’m trying to purge some of my possessions—so most of my purchases are ebooks. I have gotten better at delayed gratification, tho. Like others, I make use of the wish list as a cooling off period to see if I’ll still want a book days/weeks later, and also to wait for price drops and sales. Only a few books/authors merit full price. But—confession time here—my ebook settlement was shockingly hefty so I really won’t have to pay for a book for a long time to come.
@ Tam: THANKS so much for that tip! I will certainly check it out. 🙂
I actually have more disposable income than I used to, so I don’t have a strict book-buying budget (also, I don’t have a TV for various reasons, so no cable or Netflix fees), but I do have a few rules:
1. These darn SBTB sale posts always get me! I use my ereader off and on, but I use it the most when traveling. That’s often when I like beach reads, romances, new authors, etc. It also helps me narrow down my choices, as sometimes shopping for romance can be overwhelming for me! I’m more likely to buy a $1.99 book if the description piques my curiosity. However, I’ve been trying to be more judicious with what I purchase lately. (Doesn’t help that I got a nice settlement gift card from B&N.)
2. I am a frequent user of the library. The Chicago Public Library’s customer service sometimes leaves a lot to be desired, but they are AWESOME in terms of interlibrary loans – you can get about anything delivered to any branch you want. The big branch in the South Loop is on my way home from work, and I live just down the street from another branch. Sometimes I find it relaxing to browse after a long day, plus I put a lot of things on hold (music and DVDs as well as books). And it’s free!
3. I have a few auto-buy authors, but generally if it’s a bestselling author I figure they’re not going to lose out if I borrow their book instead of buying.
4. If I do find myself in Barnes & Noble, I try to stick to the sale shelves. Or just buy ONE book. These strategies have varying degrees of success.
5. However, if I am at an indie bookstore, I buy at least one book. There are some wonderful indie stores in Chicago and I want to support them.
6. Ditto if I go to an author event/signing – I buy the book, even when it’s not required.
I am SO an emotional book buyer.