Comments on: No Matter How Hard We Try… We All Stumble a Little

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:57:00 +0000

My fiance had tried to get me into downloaded books. Being an anti-clutter freak, I like the idea but there is something about a paperback that is infinitely more appealing. I do utilize the library, and recently I found a new trick. Half Price Books. I take a box full to ‘sell’ and then buy new ones with the money I made. Then it’s less clutter and more books!

By: Juice

Juice — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:45:00 +0000

I love books and I really make use of my library. You can order online and they'll deliver to your branch of choice.

However, I do allow myself to buy books from our local used book store. It is walking distance from my house, dog-friendly and I like the idea of supporting local businesses.

My house is tiny with limited book room, so I do not purchase books intending to keep them. Good ones I pass along to friends. Average ones I sell back to the used bookstore. And my favorite trick of all is purchasing a used book and leaving it on the airplane when I've finished it. One less thing to carry and a unexpected gift for someone else. :)

By: One Frugal Girl

One Frugal Girl — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 02:06:00 +0000

I’m glad to see that many of you are just as obsessed with books as I am. I do use bookins and paperbackswap as often as possible, but I really need to promise myself that I will not purchase another book until I get through at least three or four of the ones I already own.

By: high interest savings

high interest savings — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 02:53:00 +0000

I can never seem to use up an entire bunch before it goes bad. Well, this week I’m making a dish that calls for cilantro so I had to buy some. It was on sale for $.50 a bunch at my grocery store, which was great, but what wasn’t great is that all the bunches were enormous.

By: Beth

Beth — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 23:54:00 +0000

A co-worker and I used to regularly ban ourselves from Barnes and Noble near where we worked. We both knew that when we walked in the door, we would walk out with at least one book that we didn’t intend to purchase when we walked in the door.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:04:00 +0000

I suppose there are worse habits to have. There was a time that I had a nasty habit of buying shoes. I know. I'm a guy. This is unusual, right? Well, I'm a fan of quality men's shoes. Now, I buy them on ebay and discount and thrift stores. I still get what I like but it still leads me to save some money. There's no insurance for impulse buying but if you can replace it with something similar that doesn't have as much of an impact I think it's a little better.
Jerry

By: Slinky

Slinky — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:55:00 +0000

I also read voraciously, and would happily buy out shelves of books, but I only have room for ONE bookshelf in my apartment. I also love to reread old favorites, so I try to only buy books that I will read more than twice. My main policy to keep things in check is to only buy a new book to read if I have no unread new books, including borrowed books and library books. I never buy a book by a new author until I've borrowed and read one from someone or a library first, because I may hate them, and that would take up precious book space. Favorite authors though, are happily bought up at once.

Generally I find that by limiting my trips to the bookstore to when I don't actually have anything to read, I only buy what I can carry, and never have more than a few unread books sitting around.

By: Laura

Laura — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:55:00 +0000

“Years after I graduated I would go to the University bookstore and find reading lists for literature courses that sounded interesting.”

I do this, too! My fiance makes fun of me, but I absolutely love a trip to the course materials any time we find ourselves on campus. I’m so glad to know there is someone like me out there…

By: Jamie

Jamie — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:46:00 +0000

You have to- HAVE TO- check out http://www.paperbackswap.com/. Love the site- you ship off the books that you don’t want anymore and can order books that you DO want. No cost, except for mailing the books. You’ll get free credits just for posting books. I love being able to log onto the site, order or wish list a book that I want to read and then it magically appears in my mailbox! I also love that there isn’t really money changing hands- I like the general idea of the barter system. Happy reading!

By: sara l

sara l — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:47:00 +0000

They're so irresistible because they are so wonderful! I use BookMooch and the library to keep book spending at bay.

I have a 5 shelf book case, a 2 shelf bookcase, and 2 shelves on another- all 3 feet wide and I still have books overflowing.