A Guide to Buying Optimal Number of Books

Hey everyone! It’s April and so, it’s time for BookEnding Spring hosted by Sam @FictionallySam and Clo@BookDragons. You can check out the announcement post over here. I am delighted to be chosen as one of the hosts and this is my second prompt: A Guide To Buying An Optimal Number Of Books.

You all may not know this but I fight with my mom every day about buying new books. She is the one person that is stopping me from buying new books or else I would have enough books that there wouldn’t have space to even enter my room! (that’s how you know you have a problem)

Now, the thing is: I am a teenager and she is the only way I can buy books but some of us are adults who earn money and can spend it on books and can keep increasing their TBR manifold, so, HOW TO STOP YOURSELF FOM BUYING TOO MANY BOOKS?

That is exactly what I will teach you here. It’s hard and very difficult to achieve but I am here to assure you it can be done and I will tell you how.

STEP  1: COUNT THE BOOKS IN YOUR TBR 

This is one thing that always stops me from buying books. Your TBR is already so high and if you don’t want it to touch the sky, stop, take a breath and look at it. Honestly, this will help you get a complete sense of what you have. Seeing the big numbers always scared me and tells me that I need to stop buying more book ad maybe it will work for you too?

Right now, I have an immediate Physical TBR kept on my nightstand to remind me of how many books I have not read and how many more are lying on my bookshelf as an attempt to discourage me from buying new books.

Another thing adjacent to this is a TBR cart to keep all the book on your TBR so you can make it a goal to not buy so many books that they can’t fit in there and well, there’s a motivation to read more books and keep your TBR under control.

STEP 2: REASSESS YOUR TBR 

Once you take a look at your TBR, you realise that your tastes have changed and there are so many books you don’t want to read anymore! So, set them in a different pile so you can decide what to do with them separately. This effectively reduces your TBR so you don’t feel as bad about buying new books when you do!

(I’d suggest donating it to the library or charity or selling it online)

STEP 3: SET A MONTHLY BUDGET 

This is the most effective thing I have done so far. I have my mom give me a set amount of money to buy books every month and I can do anything want with that money. Having a set budget makes you realise prices and crave sales. So, right now, I have not ‘bought’ any books in 2019 except those I have been gifted since I am saving for a huge sale so I can buy a bulk of books!
I know that buying a bulk won’t help but hey, I haven’t bought anything in 3 months so that counts as a win! Plus, it also gives me time to actually tackle and reduce my tar so that when I do buy new books, I won’t be all that overwhelmed by them!

STEP 4: DEVOUR YOUR TBR 

I have also seen that once you actually start reading books on your TBR, you read more and more of them and diminish it. You feel more motivated to read the books you already have because you are liking them. This consequently helps you stay away from buying new things!

STEP 5: REWARD YOURSELF 

Honestly, the single thing that gives me the most motivation not to buy more books is that every month I don’t buy books, I get 1 and a half times the money I usually get – so I can accumulate more money for sales and that is what keeps me going – thinking of that upcoming sale!

A combination of these 5 steps helps me refrain from buying too many new books!

How do you stop yourself from buying new books? What are your tips? Tell me in the comments below! 

-Jayati xx