Book Buying Addicts Anonymous discussion

How do you afford your book buying addicts? I know I can barely keep up but the books are too tempting. Most times I would go days without buying anything because of limited funds and then I make up for it by buying it basket-full. Sometimes my husband buys for me. How do you, as an addicted reader, afford your books?

I sold my soul :(

In reality most of my spare money goes on books and coffee, I don't spend much on food or clothing, I am happy with just my books :)

The same way I afford groceries, gas for the car, etc., I budget for it. Each paycheck I put aside a certain amount of money. If I run out of that set aside money, then I wait until the next payday before I buy any more books.

No car to pay for, a small mortgage, no evenings out at expensive restaurants/clubs/pubs/takeaway meals, no big foreign holidays, no interest in expensive clothes, and no girlfriend demanding all the above and more….

need I go on? ;-)

Honestly though, the majority of my book-buying is very inexpensive as I do hunt through charity and secondhand shops for bargains. It's when you start buying from big chains like waterstones that your expenses rocket - I could buy anywhere from 5-20 books in a charity shop for the price of one paperback in my local new book chain store.

edit: that's not to say I never buy new or expensive books though - when I buy new books they tend to be quite expensive ones - I recently bought The Handbook Of British Mammals and that was £35 (albeit reduced from the usual £70), plus have bought quite a few secondhand books for £20-35 where I particularly wanted them and that was the going rate. The point is that I buy cheap where I can, but don't avoid the big tickets if it's something special.

By getting them cheap on half.com.

Today I bought a book in the bargain books bin at the grocery store. I also buy from friends of library, yard sales, thrift stores, and new from book store after bills are paid as a treat. In other words I space out places and prices.

I buy used books online and usually only buy new books when I have a gift card. I buy several times a year so I don't feel too deprived and usually I will buy a dozen or so to get free shipping.

I buy a lot of stuff from Amazon.com (not books, stuff) and then use the accumulted points/kickback to get expensive books.

I LOVE library book sales. There's a library warehouse of used books in Cincinnati open every week and when I get the urge I go there. It's amazing how many great books at great prices there are. Esp. in my favorite genre of mysteries and historical fiction. Thousands.

Also, of course, Half Price books occasionally. Goodwill has a huge amount of books here too, though they take some sifting and you have to be in the mood.

In The Netherlands where I live you have whats called the book fest(once a month for 4 days in a different city) and they sell books with small printing errors or slightly damaged for very cheap(sometimes only 0,75 euro's ) so I save for that every year, the first time I was there I bought 30 books for 80 euro's

I sell books that I have read and don't think I'll pick up again and use the $ from that to buy new books. I do try to hit used books stores, library sales and new book sale shelf. I have a select few authors I pay new book price for since prices on new books seem to be sky rocketing lately.

I budget a bit of book money every month for books.

I’ve never really thought about it. Many of my books are bought second hand and occasionally I buy from Bol.com or some established bookstore. Here in Holland, as I am sure it is in a large part of the world, traditional bookstores are rapidly becoming extinct. This is a sad and mysterious development as I think the numbers of new publications are keeping pace with new readers. Luckily I have never been in a position where I have to count my pennies and debate if I can or can not afford a book. For those who are in this situation I can only say “where there’s a will; there’s a way” and hope it provides some encouragement.

Jim, I don't think I have ever attended a book fest but it does sound interesting. Where could I find the dates and locations?

I'm not a clothes horse, I don't care for a lot of jewelry, I don't drink, I don't smoke - - - so I buy books and a nice cup of tea. Makes me very affordable. Also, I never pay full retail price for books. I either go to charity shops or the Dollar book store.

Mary wrote: "I'm not a clothes horse, I don't care for a lot of jewelry, I don't drink, I don't smoke - - - so I buy books and a nice cup of tea. Makes me very affordable. Also, I never pay full retail price..."
I read years ago, that you should get the best coffee you can afford, buy books you love, and dry sheets, towels and PJs out in the sun. It works for me. I have to add my home made biscuits to the list, though.

Well, when I was buying books before my bookshelves became full to capacity, I would get them from the library and book sells with in the St. Louis, MO areas. Now that I have a Kindle Fire, I'm getting a lot of books from Amazon, especially the free eBooks. The county libraries here has stopped selling them directly and made it possible to buy them online. I miss browsing through those bookshelves at the library.

I typically look for deals on amazon can get book bundles for $1. Library sales. And used book store and thift store. There are some authors I will buy full price. Sometimes hubby givea me money too.

I set aside part of my monthly wages specifically for buying books.

Nearly all of my books are bought second hand or from bargain bins or sale racks. Also, library books sales, Half-Price Books, freebies for the Kindle, book trades with friends...

I very rarely go to the big chain bookstores unless I was given a gift card, and even then rarely do I buy full priced books.

My books are almost entirely bought used on Amazon, Half Price Books, Salvation Army and the like. Quite a few recently are free with a trade, as my college got a Little Library which I frequent every Thursday with books I give up and grab a new one.

The only new books I get are usually through gifts from people. Even them, I tell them not to bother getting new books; they're too expensive! And textbooks?? Psh. Amazon or ebay all the way. NO new textbooks for me unless they're impossible to find.

I usually buy my books from thrift stores, yard sales etc. I almost never get new books unless I get a gift card or one as a present.

I'm a big fan of Amazon.co.uk. I do read a lot of history books so those aren't always the 1p + £2.80 shipping. But they are almost always half price. I also pick up a lot of books at charity shops. You never know what you'll find there.

I've only gotten to Hay-on-Wye once, but I hope to make it a regular event. It was amazing to be able to walk into shop after shop of used books. However, I always made sure to check that it wasn't cheaper to buy them on Amazon.

I'm not a big spender on clothing and while we do travel quite a bit and are buying a lot of stuff for the house I find that space and enormous to read piles are more of a problem than anything else. When I lived in Manhattan I made a rule that I couldn't buy more books until I'd finished the ones I already had. Now that I have a house I seem to always be able to find more space for books and my collection is simply exploding.

I can't afford books the same that I can't afford to pay some of my bills. However, I manage to go to the thrift shops and Amazon.com to acquire them.

http://bookoutlet.com/

If you don't want to spend some money do not go to the above site ;) I found this from a lot of booktubers. I have gotten a lot of my Y.A. books out there, some you wouldnt think would be on an outlet site yet!

I also have a B&N credit card we put our bills on. So I earn free gift cards that way. My husband, friends, and family all know if they don't know what to get me for my birthday or like Christmas that I will always take gift cards to B&N or Amazon :)

My spare money mostly goes on books, I make sure I don't have anything to pay before. I goe to a store called '' Relire Livre'' where theres used and new books almost half their price in stores. And now I buy my books in English instead of French this way It cost me less to buy books :D

I buy my books in paperback mostly and I also buy used whenever possible. Like Brian I don't drink or smoke but I do buy movies too. I wait until they go way down in price or go to McKay's, our huge used book, dvd, cd etc store. :)

With summer coming garage sales will be a pretty good place to find cheap books. I also like checking a goodwill, thrift shop, or used book store.
Of course as a addict i want everything that sounds great and i keep a running list so i can keep my eye out for those books everywhere i go. For the books i just have to have now Amazon is a lifesaver.

Meagan wrote: "http://bookoutlet.com/

If you don't want to spend some money do not go to the above site ;) I found this from a lot of booktubers. I have gotten a lot of my Y.A. books out there, some you wouldnt ..."

Ummm, thank you for the website link. The prices are really low for fairly recent books. Of course it broke my heart to find that a new copy of Three Stations was less than I paid for a used one!!

I buy most of mine used at the thrift store. Paperbacks are only 25 cents there, so I can get a lot of them. I also buy some when they are reduced on Kindle. I also get classics from Amazon Kindle since they are free.

Thom wrote: "Jim, I don't think I have ever attended a book fest but it does sound interesting. Where could I find the dates and locations?
If you check at www.boekenfestijn.nl , you can find the dates and locations. I absolutly love love love going there... For the past 4-5 years, it's been my main source for "casual reading books". The last time i got the complete Harry Potter-series for like 20,-...

I also used to go to De Slegte to buy second hand books as well and to the big bookstore in the city (for the Dutchies: Donner/Selexyz/Polare). But since there was a whole drama around both chains (they merged, bought by a financial investor that obviously had no clue about how to run a bookstore and went almost bankrupt), their assortment really suffered... So i rarely go there anymore.

I work at a charity shop 18 hours a week with a steady stream of temptation, so what I buy with my 20% discount keeps me pretty busy.

Usually when I don't have enough for a book I go to my library.

When I visit Seattle, I get books at Value Village. There is a huge selection.

Karen M wrote: "Meagan wrote: "http://bookoutlet.com/

If you don't want to spend some money do not go to the above site ;) I found this from a lot of booktubers. I have gotten a lot of my Y.A. books out there, so..."

Oh yeah I hear you! Makes me not want to pay full price again! I even got a copy of Unravel me on there!

It seems that most people know how to find a deal and typically buy used books over new books. I am one of these people. I have noticed that new book prices have increased steadly and it has been speculated that this is because new book sales are down since most people buy used books. I typically perfer used books over new not only because of the price, but because they have more character to them. What I have noticed is that with less new books being purchased, there are less used books and even the prices for used books are going up. What are you're thoughts on this?

I've found my books on BookBub. Each day that site pops in my inbox and tells me which books are on sale and which are free. That's how I started my Kindle collection. Some books were fun to read and some books were not that great. But all free books I "bought" there was something about the description that interested me. If I want to read the current best sellers books now, I just go to my library and place a hold.

Marianthi wrote: "Sorry about spelling, typed on phone. Darn small keys" No big deal, that's not the worst typo you can get with that word. I've seen "public" typed without the L. ;-)

Jacqueline wrote: "I have noticed that new book prices have increased steadily and it has been speculated that this is because new book sales are down since most people buy used books."

Could this be the effect of ebooks as well? If you want something cheap and quick you get an ebook or secondhand paperback, but new and hardback are for when you already have a very good idea you're going to love it(love the author?), have already read it and loved it, or would get an ebook but want to support a new, deserving author. It's the section of the market that used to be filled by pulp and cheep new books.

I put the books on my wishlist. My family knows I love books so it's a good bet that I'll get them for birthday, Christmas, and Father's Day.

I have saved up for them through time. But books are REALLY expensve here, and I can´t get them anywhere else because they don´t sell books I want in Engish anywhere else. I think I am going to create an Amazon account, because the books there are literally 1/4 of the price of the books here.

Tina wrote: "I buy my books at Goodwill, thrift stores(one store has them 50% off once a month.) used trade book store,Humane Society twice a year all books .50cents,
Better World books and Goodreads, also gift..."

Me too, I never buy a new book. Have been buying at Auctions,estate sales, library sales, and such for over 45 years. I even opened a used book store one time but I spent all the time reading and did not want to sell anything so closed it. I could not sell a a book I had not read and when I had read it, I felt it was mine , so not for sale.

Tina wrote: "I buy my books at Goodwill, thrift stores(one store has them 50% off once a month.) used trade book store,Humane Society twice a year all books .50cents,
Better World books and Goodreads, also gift..."

Jacqueline wrote: "It seems that most people know how to find a deal and typically buy used books over new books. I am one of these people. I have noticed that new book prices have increased steadly and it has been s..."

Book prices have been rising for decades - my impression (which could be completely wrong!) is that if anything the shop price rises seem to have slowed - in the case of my Terry Pratchett paperbacks:

Colour of Magic (1990) - £3.50
Thief of Time (2002) - £6.99
and looking at the current RRP for these, and other Pratchett paperbacks, they're both £7.99 - which is a rise of 14% in 11 years compared to a 100% rise in the previous 12 years.

The hardbacks have risen less:

Lords and Ladies (1992) rrp £14.99,
Mostrous Regiment (2003) rrp £17.99
Dodger (2012) rrp £18.99.

Of course that's just a snapshot and ignores changes in overall inflation and the like (I'm not going there!), but it still amounts to a very much slower pace of change in cost compared to the 1990's. I remember seeing the price of books going up each time I went to the shops, it was difficult as a young apprentice to accept the constant rises in cost.

Some of the ones I find in charity shops say they were 3 and 6. I don't even know what that would translate to. :-)

12 pennies to the shilling, 20 shillings to the pound - 3' 6 is equivalent to 17.5p, though inflation on top of relating pre and post decimalisation is beyond me! There is a calculator on this is money though:

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bi...

Some of my old post-war (1945) nature books were 16 shillings, which I think works out at around £29-30 today. The new titles in the same series of books are now £55 each so they've risen well above inflation!

Library used book sales and yard sales. Yesterday(yard sale) still wrapped new..Lord give Me a Heart for You by Kay Author (2 Books) $3!!! What a wonderful Easter surprise!!

I work a (sort of) 2nd job part-time-ish for my boyfriend, and get paid $40 roughly every other week or so; that money goes straight to Amazon or Ebay for books :)

auctions, auctions, auctions, they are always cheap by the box lots. Plus it is such great fun to find whats in the boxes after you get home. I spent over 20 years buying books this way.

I would love my library here to have more book sales. but the most we have is only one a month. and they are not the kind of books I am interested. :(

We have a few here, big county. Wed in my day!! Can't wait!! About 50 miles away...but well worth as I live in a town with no library:( So I share!! Shouls start me a bookmobile....hmmm.

me too! (saving money)

Fiona wrote: "I value everything by how many books I could get with it.

I don't wear make up and don't use anything other than shampoo and conditioner in my hair so save a lot on all that crap. Besides, I thin..."

Me too! I only wash my car 2-3 times a year (same price as a book!) and I don't feel any need to buy hand bags etc. I keep an eye out for library sales and thrift shops, but I also buy a lot of books in regular bookstores. I try not to spend more than 40£ a month on books/ebooks and audiobooks. But I don't always suceed.