Tuesday, April 21, 2015

#ShelfLove ~ Preventing Relapse


This month's #ShelfLove Challenge discussion is how I prevent relapse. Ah yes, how does a self-professed one-click addict keep from backsliding when it comes to buying books when I'm participating in a book-buying ban?

Well, I can give the a short answer...FREEBIES!

The long answer...freebies really have helped feed my one-click addiction since when I created my *rules* for this challenge, I included a stipulation that freebies wouldn't count against me. I also created a budget for myself where I can spend $10 a month on books and I can earn book money. Buuut, I admit that not spending money (much, anyway) has been liberating. That feeling of accomplishment has prevented me from backsliding. Well that, and the fact that I one-click freebies. :) Seriously y'all, I haven't spent a penny of my $50 GC that I got for my birthday. And I've wracked up quite a few book privileges per my *rules* and I haven't used many of them. 

The girls at Chapter Break included the number of freebies they'd one-clicked versus how many books they'd read, and I thought this was a good idea. So here's my freebies added to books removed from my shelves ratio:

55 Freebies Added vs 24 From the Shelf

Gah! I'm thinking I was pretty brilliant with that "freebies don't count" clause! ;) Seriously though, saying (printing) it out loud makes me kinda cringe. I thought I was doing a bit better than this. Sooo, I am going to refrain from one-clicking freebies quite so often. The whole point of this challenge is to read what I already have and I'm defeating myself.


24 comments:

  1. LOL Brandee! At least you're not spending all your money on books this year... And freebies are quite different, even if you've added far more than you've read. And hopefully, you'll be adding quite a few books to your shelves in three weeks, but they won't count either, right? Book-con books shouldn't count IMO ;)

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  2. LOL! Yes, freebies are definitely an easy solution to a book-buying ban if the ban is in effect b/c $$$. But if the ban is b/c TOO MANY BOOKS (and, man alive, you have to know that I have too many UNREAD books), then, yeah, I can see your problem. But how can you not?? I'm a horrible influence b/c honestly I don't think there is such a thing as too many books. Save them for a rainy day, that's what I say ;)

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  3. Wow Brandee you are doing so awesome. Sadly freebies are a butt kicker and while I am on my challenge on not buying and actually reading what I have I have stopped freebies all together. Just cold turkey. I honestly feel a lot happier now and only grab freebies when they've been on my tbr pile for some time. I hope you continue doing awesome on your challenge.

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  4. Hey freebies should be guilt free. Purchases are the same for me. It's the ARCs that get to me because those comes with strings

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  5. I agree with Braine - freebies are guilt free, like calories consumed among friends.. :)

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  6. You're doing great with this challenge and havign a gift card and not using it must cost a lot of restraint! I don't have much money to spare, so I am on an ever lasting book buying ban and only in really good months I cut myself some slack and set some money aside for books.
    If I remember correctly I haven't bought any new books since end january and that were books I bought with a gift card, but i did pre-order some books in December with money I got from my grandma, so I am still getting some new books that way. And every time I resist buying a new book it feels like a little achievement, even though it's hard as well. For me those freebies help a lot as well and the constant influx of review copies, I love reading new releases and receiving new books so I am happy I still get enough new books. Although those freebies are hard to resist sometimes they do add to your to-read list, although sometimes I cheat and do grab the freebie, but don't add it to my to-read list on goodreads, so it feels like they don't add to the burden of making my to-read list longer.

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  7. 55 freebies..you crack me up. That's like saying I can't buy chocolate and raiding everyone's candy dishes at work. You are doing great on the purchase band though.

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  8. You and your 1-click finger! I know what you mean though, it will always get you into trouble!

    Naomi @ Nomi’s Paranormal Palace

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  9. I have started to not buy as many freebies-unless the book is free, and is going back up to not free and it's something I want to read. But I still break over occasionally-you actually coerced(Ha!)me to get a freebie last week!

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  10. Freebies are guilt-free, like chocolate on Easter morning, lol. But they ARE books, and if your goal is to cut back and take charge of your weakness in buying too many books, then 55 books is a number taking you in the opposite direction from your goal, lol :D On the other hand - how can you not? I mean, they ARE free and all... Life can be so complicated :P

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  11. Guilty of free book clicking addiction! I have a lot of Amazon freebies that I haven't read yet, and not sure if I would, but it was just so hard to let them pass by... Right? Hehe.


    Goldie @ My Book Musings

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  12. I try to only one-click books I really want to read, Goldie. But you're right - I don't know that I'll ever get to them. *sigh* And I just couldn't pass them up! I'm going to try to be better though. Really. ;)

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  13. Oh, I like the way you think, Ramona. ;) Yes, I'm in quite a quandary, aren't I? I do want to reduce the number of books I have on my shelves - both digital and physical. And at my current rate, I'm not accomplishing that goal. So free or not, I'm going to try and restrain myself a bit better. I'd really, really like to come out of this challenge positively. :)

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  14. That's how I'm going to approach it, Lorna. If it's a book that's already on my wish list, I'll one-click it. Otherwise, I'm going to exercise a lot more restraint. I think. *haha* Oh, and I'm terribly sorry to have coerced you into one-clicking. Not really. ;) What is it Jessica says? sorrynotsorry?

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  15. Yes, I know you understand, Naomi! Especially as you have been known to be the cause of my one-clicking...freebie or not! ;)

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  16. Bwahahahahaha I can't tell you how much I've laughed over this comment. I even shared it with my hubs. :) I'll do better, Kimba. (maybe)

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  17. You're doing well - and you're not even participating in the ban, right? I have saved a considerable amount of money so far this year, Lola. And it's a good feeling. As I said when I started this challenge, I've never put myself on a book budget - well, not since I graduated from college and got married, anyway. Review copies certainly help. Although they also keep me from reading what I already own. :/ I like your idea of not adding freebies to my tbr on goodreads so it's not a burden. I have been working on a freebie 'collection' on my kindle though.

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  18. I like this philosophy! :)

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  19. Yeah, ARCs are the same for me, Braine...lots of trouble. I'm still trying to get some read that I've had for 2 years. Ugh! But I like the guilt free philosophy. :)

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  20. I should do that too, Sharrice. But I just can't seem to. I'll try to exercise more restraint though. :) Kudos to you on doing so well with your personal challenge!

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  21. Yes, and herein lies my problem. I *am* participating in this challenge in order to read the books I already own. So I'm defeating myself. Sooo, I'll try to be better about my one-clicking habit. Oh, I'm sure I'll still one-click freebies but I'll try to be more selective about it. (maybe) Because you're absolutely right, there is NO such thing as too many books. :) And that is one more reason we are book friends. :) Oh, I got Rosemary and Rue, by the way. THANKS!! <3

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  22. This is true - way to look at the positive side of things, Lexxie. :) Oh, and I absolutely said that book-con books don't count when I started this challenge. I also just told James that all that money I've been saving not buying books, yeah, some of may or may not be used at RT. ;) You really don't have to buy many at RT because there are so many free ones offered but I think I did buy about 10 last time. And you remember my total was something around 96??? I hope you're making room, Lexxie! *haha* **BIG HUGS**

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  23. I'm wondering if I should bring an extra suitcase in my suitcase for coming back... but the overweight might just be too much. I need to check also how much it would cots to ship books back home...

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  24. I have had such a horrible week and there's only more stress coming my way due to two back to back business trips. Avoiding relapse is going to be hard. I always want to buy books when I'm down.

    Terri M., the Director
    Second Run Reviews

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Now you know what I think...what are your thoughts??