[Book Talk] The Upsides of a Book Budget

17:40 Cilla 4 Comments

If you've been here before, you may know that I have been trying to stick to a book-buying ban of sort. I set myself a book budget of $100 for the year. I was literally the only one who was optimistic about this goal; even my mother didn't think I'd be able to do it! Unfortunately for my wallet, she was right, but not by too much! My spending on books for 2016, so far, stands at $200. Not bad for someone who can easily spend triple that amount.

Apart from skepticism, the general reaction from other book lovers when I say 'I'm on a book buying ban' is incredulity. Why would anyone deny themselves books?! It is bad for your health. In a way, this is true. The amount of times I wandered into a bookshop only to browse longingly and exit empty-handed is depressing. I would love to have unlimited money and buy all the books. Alas, I do not.

A couple of good things have come out of holding myself to a budget though!

I'm reading more out of my TBR pile. Fact: I have two books on my shelf that I bought when Borders went bankrupt, and I still haven't read them. Because I haven't been buying new books, I'm this much closer to reading them. 

When I'm not adding to my reading list, that is. Though I'm not buying as many books, I can still visit the library! I can gush on and on about the wonderful libraries I have access to, but I'll refrain for now. Anyway, because I don't have to pay for library books, I'm more adventurous with my reading choices. Whereas I might hum and haw (and check Goodreads' reviews) for a while before buying a book (because investment), I have snapped up random books from the library purely because they sound like good stories.

The ban has also, indirectly, led me to bond a little with friends through book swaps and the discussions that naturally follow. I feel like when your friends trust you enough to lend you their books, you've officially taken the friendship to another level.

But what about supporting authors, you ask? I still can, as I haven't banned myself completely from purchasing books. Also, check out this post about why libraries are brilliant for supporting authors.