Let’s Talk Bookish – Do Book-Buying Bans Work For You?

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where they discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and spread the love by visiting each others’ posts.

JANUARY 14: DO BOOK BUYING BANS WORK FOR YOU? (Jillian @ Jillian the Bookish Butterfly)

The book community is full of consumerism. People want to not just read their favourite books, but own them as well. Sometimes this can get…a little out of hand. How do you control your spending/buying books you don’t have time to read? Does setting a book buying ban work for you? How long do you usually ban yourself for?

Welcome to another LTB here at DTRH! Today’s topic is certainly interesting, and I always love hearing about different strategies the community has to tackle the same problem. Definitely let me know what you all do in the comments below!

I personally don’t have the hugest problem with buying too many books. I’m a fairly frugal person so I tend not to buy anything if I don’t have to. That being said, of the things I do like to buy, books would definitely be way up there. So I suppose, proportional spending-wise, books do probably take up way more of the budget.

I think I’m generally financially responsible though, so money-wise it isn’t the biggest deal. But bookshelf space definitely is a big deal. Honestly, that’s probably the biggest deterrent for me not to buy books—where would I even put it?! So I guess it’s not exactly a book-buying ban, but more of a self-restraint to save my bookshelf space

I often self-restrict from going to the bookstore too often, as that is often a big trigger for me to “unintentionally” buy books—I’m sure many of you can relate to that. Lately, with the whole world situation, it hasn’t been the biggest deal, as it isn’t recommended to go out anyway. So I suppose for me it isn’t really a book-buying ban as much as it is a bookstore-going ban.

I don’t think I’ve ever set an actual book-buying ban before for myself, though I have definitely resisted buying many a book at the bookstore before. I’m not sure a ban would work for me, since I doubt I would adhere to it on any sort of time basis. I much prefer to just overall buy books less, rather than have periods of time where I can buy unrestrictedly versus times where I can’t.

One thing that actually does help me get over this book-buying is by buying books for friends! I get the feeling of buying a book, it doesn’t take up my bookshelf, and a friend is happy to receive the book. It’s a win-win all around, except for maybe my wallet. But it does solve the “buying too many books” problem a tiny little bit. (Unless money is your main issue!)

What do you all do to stop yourselves from overconsumption of books? Do let me know below!

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