This article will probably be more of a reminder for myself than written for anyone else, but Hey! We need to do all it takes to make sure we don’t spend much on books we won’t even read, right?
I came up with few tips that I have been using myself for few months now and honestly, they work!
Tip #1: Write down everything you buy and how much it costed you
Since November 2015 I have been using a book journal (just a pretty notebook) to write down in the end of each month what I read and what I bought including prices, and even new books that were given to me by friends or relatives.
It has been working great so far, I see how much I read and how many books I buy and can control the ratio between both. I noticed that I’ve read most of the books I bought this year, they are off my TBR and I don’t feel bad about buying them!
Tip #2: Look for book sales
I made it my (almost) daily routine to browse amazon, bookdepository or any other book store websites in search of good deals and sales.
What I’ve noticed from this was that Amazon is a great way to buy book series for cheap, especially because you usually pay shipping for every single item you buy, but if it’s a bundle you get multiple books while only paying shipping for one item!
BookDepository has a very broad variety of bargain books and SOMETIMES real treasures appear there, make sure to grab them in time.
Tip #3: Not having a credit card or PayPal helps!
This might be strange for most of you, but in Portugal not a lot of people actually use credit cards, it is mostly debit and it’s more than enough for all everyday life transactions.
Not having a credit card always available to you or a PayPal account to spend tons of money online, actually comes very handy. You can’t just one-click buy everything your heart desires in those crazy bookaholic moments.
Tip #4: Don’t buy the book as soon as it comes out
Usually new releases are very overpriced, as the demand is very high, ultimately resulting in people spending more on books than they actually cost.
Here comes a 6-month rule! If you wait six month (sometimes even less than that) to buy the book, it will usually be way cheaper and you will be saving some money to spend on other books! Isn’t that awesome?!
An exception to this rule can be made when it comes to any new Harry Potter releases.
However! Amazon has great deals on pre-ordering and you usually end up paying only half of book’s standard price!
Tip #5: Second-hand Books and Book Fairs
When it comes to book fairs… (I might expand on this topic later on) Portugal is not the best country to buy books during fairs, prices still remain quite high.
But! Second-hand book stores are absolutely marvelous! Very often you can find great books in very good condition and sometimes they even still smell like new books (I know we all like to sniff our books).
These books are still amazing, you will be giving them new home for a ridiculous price! Think about it!
Overall I have been incredibly proud of myself for all the restrain I’ve shown these past few months, and also very grateful for all the books I received from my friends (best friends in the whole world know exactly what to give to someone like me!).
On a final note:
Don’t let shiny covers win over your sense of self restraining!
I would love to know what tricks you have been using to not go completely wild in the book stores! Let me know in the comments down below.
Love,
WhimsyPages 
I cannot tell you how badly I needed this post!!! Nicely written, and very helpful.
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Thank you! Book buying addiction is a pretty serious thing, thought I would address it 😀
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There are so many books I’ve bought because I loved the cover but then I discovered (usually a couple of pages in) that the book really wasn’t for me…I wish I could say I’ve learned my lesson! Anyway, these are some great tips haha. I don’t buy books that often and when I do it’s usually on my Kindle, but I definitely need to continue keeping an eye out for sales. I also feel like I’ve been accidentally following the six month rule since I’m so bad at keeping track of new releases.
– Rachana @ Spun
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Thank you!
New releases.. it’s not that I dont keep track of them (more now than before because of the blog and goodreads community), but sometimes it is hard to get them right away.
That’s what I forgot to mention! E-books! I am not much of an e-book reader, I feel like my eyes suffer a bit especially after staring at the PC whole day at work. But, e-books are way cheaper! Thank you for the reminder 🙂
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Oh I definitely agree with you. I hate staring at my laptop for hours on end but I actually read ebooks on my Kindle (which is an old model that doesn’t have backlight haha). ❤
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Great post and tip #4 is especially awesome. It’s amazing how much the books come down in price once they have been out for a few months. And seriously, all I have to do is look at the mountainous TBR pile in my room and know that I have plenty to keep me busy until the books I want to buy are cheaper, haha 🙂
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I need to build the TBR mountain as well. I feel like my unread books are a bit hidden and I forget how many I have sometimes. Awesome trick! Thank you 🙂
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I use thriftbooks a lot to get books for cheaper. They’re definitely enabling my book buying addiction. // ▲ fredsguidetolife.com ▲
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