3/23/15

Discuss: Tips concerning your book budget

For booklovers nothing is better than buying books (besides reading them of course). But we've all had a period where we just used up our whole book budget. And that period just sucks. Especially when you planned to buy that new release you've been waiting for months. So I thought, why not share some tips to avoid this problem? Not everyone has a big budget and I hope these little tips will help you!

1. Sell books

You may be thinking "NO WAY" right now. But think about it. It can't be that you love every single book that's on your shelf. You know I'm right. Sell books you didn't particularly liked and save up the money for new books. There are plenty of ways to sell books these days: online, markets, in second handed bookshops,  etc. You can also try to sell them to friends or family. Just keep in mind to be reasonable with your prizes ;)

2. Go to the library

If you're lucky enough to have a good and updated library near your work/home/school, use it!! Instead of immediately buying a book, go grab it at the library. And if you really liked it, just buy it afterwards. This tip is really handy if you're not 100% sure about the book. This is the best way to try out new authors, genres etc.

3. Invest in a kindle / e-reader

I'm sure a lot of people already know this, but most of them intent to forget this, but ebooks are (usually) way cheaper than books! This tip is very handy if some books are not available in your country. Also for the same reasons as in tip 2. I really recommend the kindles from Amazon by the way. They last very long and are extremely good investments. I had my previous one (one of the first model with the keyboard) for at least 5 years and it still works fine! Now I have a Kindle Paperwhite and I love it. The battery last so freaking long. I bought it 3 months ago and I've charged it only 2 (!!) times.
And let's not forget the millions of FREE ebooks that are available! 

4. Buy online

Yes, I know, browsing in an actual bookshop is way more fun. But it is also more expensive!
Online sites like Amazon and bookdepository (both free shipping btw!) sell books way cheaper than in bookstores. I don't know if this is the same in every country, but for me I can buy two books online for the same price as one in a bookshop... 
Extra tip for Amazon: compare prizes on http://www.cheapriver.com/ ! Extremely handy tip especially for European booklovers ;)
By the way, it’s not because you buy books online that you can’t browse in bookstores anymore. You can go touch/smell the books there and then go home and buy the books you fell in love with in the store online :D

5. Use a limit on your purchases and avoid buying bans

Buying books can be addictive! I used to be a major bookhauler. I bought at least 3-5 books at the same time (at least 2 times in the same month) and although it was fun in the beginning (because your personal library grows way faster like this), after a while my wallet started to be exhausted.
I tried buying bans, but that made me want to buy books even more. That's why I have a limit of max 5 books I'm allowed to buy per month. It also helped me to enjoy the books I bought more. I also think using a limit is better than a strict buying ban. When you’re actually allowed to buy books, so you don’t have the urge to say ‘oh f*uck it’ and buy 10 books in the nearest store. That’s how you learn how to control everything more.

Do you have extra tips?

These 5 little tips are from my own book-experiences. Do you have more? Share them in the comments and help other booklovers!

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