Book spending
Nov. 15th, 2006 08:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bksI have a Borders Rewards membership. Eh, why not, it's free, and I get coupons and discounts. This morning in my inbox, I had a message about my holiday savings reward -- $29.88. That's a hardback, or a couple of trade paperbacks, or three/four massmarket paperbacks. Yay me! Except the email also broke down what my other savings were during the year. Working from the discount (usually 10% but occasionally as much as 20%), I can tell about how much I spent on books/magazines at Borders this past year -- more than $700. And I probably spent equal that at B&N and Amazon, although I haven't run a report in Quicken to know for sure. Which is more than I estimated. I thought I spent about $800 annually on books from all sources. Granted, this year I went a little overboard and the TBR pile grew into a mountain, but, but... Ouch.
But then I stop and think about it. And I feel like a feckless spendthrift, because even if it is only $1,200, that's $100 per month, which is 3 or 4 hardbacks per month, or 12-14 paperbacks, or 6-7 trades per month. Am I reading that much? Well, yeah. And that doesn't even take into account library books, PBS, or library sale books.
I justify my book buying by saying that there are worse addictions. That I don't smoke or scrapbook or do drugs. [Scrapbooking ranks as an insidious, addictive activity, I think, based on my observation of my obsessive scrapbooking friends.] I don't drink to excess. I don't collect expensive tchotchkes. I just read books. But seeing in black and white what I've spent on them (the bulk of my entertainment budget) is making me cringe.
But then I stop and think about it. And I feel like a feckless spendthrift, because even if it is only $1,200, that's $100 per month, which is 3 or 4 hardbacks per month, or 12-14 paperbacks, or 6-7 trades per month. Am I reading that much? Well, yeah. And that doesn't even take into account library books, PBS, or library sale books.
I justify my book buying by saying that there are worse addictions. That I don't smoke or scrapbook or do drugs. [Scrapbooking ranks as an insidious, addictive activity, I think, based on my observation of my obsessive scrapbooking friends.] I don't drink to excess. I don't collect expensive tchotchkes. I just read books. But seeing in black and white what I've spent on them (the bulk of my entertainment budget) is making me cringe.
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no subject
Date: 2006-11-15 01:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-15 02:17 pm (UTC)Yup, free. I didn't renew my B&N card or BAMM this year, since they charge for membership. In the long run, those may be better bargains with a straight % off each purchase, but I resent paying for a discount.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-15 05:55 pm (UTC)The B&N card more than pays for itself, but still, free is a lot more attractive!
no subject
Date: 2006-11-15 02:23 pm (UTC)The first year of the program I realized I had spent 1100.00 in books and maybe I bought 4 HC in the year. Yeah, that was an eye opener but back then I used to get 5 bucks back on every hundred I spent as well as the 10 % off.
Now, it's strictly 10% off and then they will send you the odd coupon and most of the time the membership is 25 dollars. So I would have to buy 250 dollars worth of books just to pay the membership but since I spend that easily I pay for the membership. Although I do sometimes make them work for it - They will send reminders and for the last few years I wouldn't sign up right away and then they would send a 10 dollars off coupon - much better ;)
Like you, I don't drink or smoke and the decorating I do is for 'us' and not just me ;) Yep, I love the justification.
CindyS
no subject
Date: 2006-11-15 02:35 pm (UTC)I remember that! I loved my Waldenbooks membership and bought there almost exclusively. I would get a thrill when I received the $5 coupon. They stopped doing that here a while ago, though.
I *know* that I'll spend enough to offset the price of the membership...I just resent having to pay for it. And I get tired of lugging around a wallet with a million membership cards. Safeway. CVS. Giant. Borders. B&N. BAMM.
Plus (an afterthought for me) I don't want to share my address, phone number and other information with every vendor in the world. It's kind of scary to think what marketers and vendors could tell about me if they pooled all of their information about what I buy and where I live, etc.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-15 02:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-15 03:38 pm (UTC)The only other bookstore I frequent on a regular basis is my local independent, Goerings Books, one of the last of a dying breed. They carry my Darlene Marshall books, handsell them and have set up signings for me too. While I'm glad Amazon offers books for sale at a good price, I want to keep as much money as possible in my local economy.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-15 03:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-15 04:53 pm (UTC)Also, independents usually get books after the big box/chain stores get their shipments, so if it's something with a high turnover and short lifespan it's not economical to try and compete.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-15 08:32 pm (UTC)My NF and "literary" fiction purchases tend to be unplanned. I find something interesting while wandering around the store after browsing the romance section. So P&P and Olsson's, which I go to when I have a planned non-romance purchase or when I want to hear a speaker or get an autograph, miss out on the impulse buying that makes up the vast majority of my non-romance reading.
justification
Date: 2006-11-26 11:11 pm (UTC)