You might remember that at the start of last year I wrote a post about going with a book buying budget instead of a book buying ban. In case you don’t, I gave myself the loose goal to not spend more than 50,- Euro on books each month (with the exception of gifts and the Boekenfestijn which got its own budget). You can find the whole post here.
Even though I didn’t nesseciarly meant it as a goal it sometimes felt like that. I tried very hard to keep track of what I spend. It was very confronting at times to see how much I would spend and how much my husband actually gave me too. A lot of those that my husband gifted I also counted. He buys me books every month that I would have bought myself otherwise. I feel as if they don’t really count as gifts then, especially since everything is ours instead of his and mine. Though we do still have seperate accounts, haha. We’ve just never bothered getting a joined one.
Fail or Pass?
In any case I will share whether or not I failed each month. I’m not sharing how much I spend. I share a lot, but not that much. Wink. For the Boekenfestijn and the Deventer book market I each had a seperate budget of about 70,- Euro
January – FAIL (but only by a few Euro’s)
February – Pass
March – FAIL
April – Pass
May – FAIL
June – FAIL
July – EPIC FAIL
August – Pass
September – SMALL EPIC FAIL
October – STOPPED COUNTING KIND OF EPIC FAIL
November – EPIC PASS
December – Pass
Boekenfestijn – EPIC PASS
Deventer Book Market – FAIL (but only by a bit)
Clearly, I have a problem. But you all already knew that. I think there are about three things here that made me fail in these months. They all kind of hang together though.
Pre Ordering Months in Advance
As I have mentioned before last year, I had been pre ordering more books . This happens sometimes a few months in advance. Which is great because there are always books coming in. The downside is that there have been months where I had three pre orders coming in that month. However I did not have the enjoyment of actually buying a book that month which sprung forth impromptu book buying moments. I have no self control. In that case the amount of books and money does stack up.
Buying More New Releases
Next to the downside of pre ordering, new releases just aren’t always the cheapest. I’ve been buying more releases as I have been seeing so many interesting books on my twitter and goodreads timeline it has been hard to resist them.
Buying More Hardcovers
Which automatically brings us to the next related item. I’ve been buying more hardcovers, especially when it comes to new releases. Hardcovers have been slowly seducing me over the last few years. It doesn’t help that a bunch of new releases don’t have paperbacks coming out until a year later. And all those pretty editions. I really have no self control. But hardcovers are more expensive.
Verdict?
I shouldn’t be allowed around books with my wallet.
“October – STOPPED COUNTING KIND OF EPIC FAIL”
AMAZING 😁
I also want to “Boekenfestijn” I went in Mechelen, I even skipped a boring class for it 😋
Great post! 😊
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Haha.
Boekenfestijn is always pretty great though it does lose its magic after a few years I guess.
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Such an amusing post 🙂 Loved it. I had a couple of EPIC months too. I am determined to read what I have at the moment rather than buy more (Now watch me fail that notion spectacularly in the future)…
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Thanks!
Haha yeah same here. Trying not to think of buying books, it is only the sixth…
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This is such a cool post!! I may need to start setting myself a monthly budget because I am spending wayyy too much money on books at the moment!
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Thanks. If you can, make it work. In any case it is a good way to get insight on your book spending habits or the months where you struggle the most.
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Haha this is hilarious! I have this issue as well; not so much with the actual amount I’m spending (it doesn’t bother me and I tend to buy them really cheap from Book Outlet anyway), but the amount of books really adds up. I’m trying to cut down in 2018!
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Thanks. 😀 I wish we had a book outlet like that because they are really cheap on there (but then I’d buy even more so I guess not). Fingers crossed it will work for you!
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What country do you live in? I’ve heard it gets expensive for people outside of US/Canada so I’m just curious. 🙂
Thanks!!
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The Netherlands. Shipping costs would be more than the books probably 😂
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Haha fair enough! I was just curious. 🙂
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I totally had to make adjustments based on things I discovered in 2017. A lot of them are things you discussed here. Like, lately, I have realized that new hardcovers are pricey together. So, sometimes, I look for them used or I wait a couple of months for them. And,I basically gave up on the idea of pre-ordering for precisely the reasons you mentioned. a) it doesn’t feel as fun as buying them the month of, but also b) I didn’t know they were coming, and so I don’t get to read them much. I am trying to read the things I buy AND read from my huge TBR each month. It’s tricky.
The question now is: are you going to do this challenge again in 2018? And, what adjustments would you include this time around?
PS: that thumbnail/featured image of this post is EXCELLENT. So clever.
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Yeah, it is always good to see and wait a bit. In some cases English hc or pb’s do get quite a bit cheaper as the time passes (unlike Dutch books).
Hah. I don’t think so. I’m just going to see how it goes this year. I can always reinstate a budget if I feel I am buying too much. But I specifically got a library card again to divert my need for new books not my shelves by being able to go to the library. So hopefully that move will help. According to November and December, it did a bit.
Thanks. 😀
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It’s lucky I didn’t make a budget for 2017 because my whole year would have been like your October…. Stopped Counting Kind of Epic Fail!!
I am putting myself on a budget this year though…. it’s going to be tough!
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Haha some years are just worse than others. 😉
I hope you will succeed a lot better than I did!
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I particularly love the month you labelled “SMALL EPIC FAIL” 😂😂 Ahh hahha. Okay but don’t feel bad because you’re supporting artists and the industry!! You just might end up broke because of it haha. Ahem. I’m actually pretty good with keeping to my budget because it’s basically non-existent😂 and I only allow myself to splurge if my Society6 store does well for a month or something.😂
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Right? Got to love months like that. 😉
You should hold my wallet then. 😀
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XD “Verdict? I shouldn’t be allowed around books with my wallet.” TELL ME ABOUT IT.
I can completely relate to this book buying problem. I used to struggle with it quite a bit back in 2010-2015. In 2010, I got my first job after being unemployed for almost two years. I couldn’t be stopped! Almost all my disposable income went to books… In the end, I solved this by getting a library card. It took almost 3 years after decided to focus on borrowing books and buying used books only. I still don’t budget my book buying, but I try to donate a lot of the books I read once I’m done. That helps a lot!
Will you be setting any goals around book budgeting for this year?
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I don’t think I’m setting any goals but I did get a library card again with the purpose to buy less books. Especially Dutch books are more expensive and so I hope to get to read the translated books through the library. Especially those I’m not a hundred percent sure of or those I don’t think I’ll likely reread. (Or just don’t have a pretty cover, haha). So I am hoping it will help like it did for you.
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I respect not setting any goals. That can be really freeing. I am allllll about using the public library. I am blessed to have a quality library system in my area. All the libraries in the tri-county area I live in pool their resources so I have access to quite a few books. Do you have a quality library system? Do you even know yet?
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I’m not sure yet. I do know I can request books from other libraries in the area if mine doesn’t have it (or across the country for a fee).
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I hope that the library system cures you of overly buying books and provides you easy access to everything you want to read. 😀
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Haha, I’ve been buying loads of second hand books and very little new ones. It saves SO MUCH money! I’ve also had the good luck of finding someone who was giving away all their YA books and got about 30 YA books that I otherwise would’ve had to buy, for free!
Only if I’m sure I’ll love the book, I buy it new. Otherwise, I let other people buy it as birthday/christmas/random presents. I however, do not count what the boyfriend buys me. 😉
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Oh yeah that helps a lot! Haha I wonder what would happen if you would count those. 😉
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50 euro a month? Wow I’m doing so well then… Last year I bought some books when it was the Sales (Solden) and I went to Waterstones once or twice (buy one get second half price) and I went to the book fair Boekenfestijn in Mechelen where I spent 30 euro I think for 9 books :-). OK I did buy two subscription boxes from the US this year 😉 but it was for my birthday and Christmas so it doesn’t count for book budgets, right? I don’t see the problem here though.. so you won’t buy that t-shirt but you’ve got books instead :-).
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Haha fine those don’t count. 😉
Ah but see I also have a tiny human walking around so it might end up being his shirt I won’t be able to buy because I got a book and that would be a shame. 😉
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As long as there is money to feed and clothe Merijn, you are okay in my idea of things. Heh heh. I think everyone has their needful thing… for you it’s books, for someone else it’s shoes or Magic the Gathering cards. 📚,
What I want to know is what is a small epic fail? 😂😘
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Haha true but that is why I do have to try and buy less. I can’t have everything.
I shall share on messenger. 😉
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Haha, ik was echt aan het gniffelen tijdens het lezen. Gelukkig heb ik mezelf wel kunnen inhouden. Ik merk dat ik de laatste tijd echt kritischer word in de boeken die ik echt wil hebben en dat ik dankzij mijn grote tbr doorgaans ook kan wachten tot de voordeligere paperback op de markt komt. Al zijn sommige hardcovers gewoon zo prachtig dat ik ze toch aanschaf. Deze maand verschijnt er nog een post rond welke boeken ik kocht en hoe het mijn boekenbudget gesteld is.
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Ik ben echt vreselijk momenteel als het op hardcovers aankomt. Sommige zijn echt om te kwijlen. ._.
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Echt hé, het lijkt wel alsof de covers de laatste jaren steeds knapper worden.
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