Nearly every week I take time to visit the iTunes Store and download the newest free songs and music video (a money-saving strategy for adding to my music library, broadening my musical horizons, and finding new artists).
A few months ago I noticed something new: free eBooks. Since several of the free eBooks on offer appealed to me, I downloaded those as well, thinking I could use iTunes to read them. That did not turn out to be the case. After downloading the free Kindle app and having no success reading the free eBooks that way, I did some research and discovered that one can only read them on an Apple mobile device: the iPhone or an iPad.
When the iPad first came out I could not think of anything more senseless. It was somewhere between a smart phone and a laptop, but did not have the full capabilities of either. Who would possibly use this, I thought, and for what? But now a few of my co-workers and friends have iPads, and I've begun to see the possibilities.
So when I realized I'd need an iPad or iPhone to read the free eBooks, I started to think about it more seriously. I still viewed an iPad as a non-essential, luxury item, but since I could think of several ways I could use it, including using it to read these free books, I could start to justify a purchase. Even if it was (gasp!) $500. I had a tax refund coming my way--surely I deserved to be able to spend some of it on non-essentials?
What saved me was to think more seriously about that $500. What else could I spend $500 on?
a) New clothes--I hadn't bought many new clothes in the last couple of years; I lost weight last year and most of my clothes didn't fit me well anymore.
b) Ten nice dinners with friends--one of my favorite ways to spend "extra" cash is to treat my friends to a good meal and treat myself to their company.
c) An inexpensive, week-long trip--a priority in my life is to travel and experience new places and cultures, both in the U.S. and abroad.
d) A car tune up--my car is overdue for its next major service.
This kind of thinking helped me realize that if I do have an "extra" $500, I have other, more important spending priorities. I was on the verge of making an expensive impulse buy, and I'm glad I took the time to think about it differently. In the future I plan to use this reasoning more often to help me live in better alignment with my long-term goals.
Showing posts with label save money on books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label save money on books. Show all posts
25 March 2012
29 January 2012
A beautiful book, a moral dilemma
I was in one of my favorite shops this weekend (Presents of Mind) when I came across this book: Savvy Chic: The Art of More for Less by Anna Johnson.
After I got over the minor depression of possibly having found that the book I one day aspired to write had already been written, I picked it up to admire the hip cover art, glossy pages and satisfying weight of it in my hands. Sigh. This truly is a beautiful book.
The table of contents and a snippet of a chapter read in the store confirmed that this book would be of interest both to myself and to the readers of this blog. Then began the debate with myself over whether to buy it. Could I justify spending money I don't really have on a book that might save me money in the long run? It would be a long-term investment, see. And surely reviewing it on the blog would be like a public service. So a good karma investment as well. Surely that must be taken into consideration.
Then I looked at the price sticker. $18.99? Really? Does anyone else see the irony in this? Almost twenty bucks for a book about how to live the good life without breaking the bank. Do you know your audience at all?
Later in the day Mom was telling me about the challenges the owners of her local bookshop face: people will come in, browse the books, decide on the ones they want and then go online to buy them for cheaper. She feels sad and disappointed that these people benefit from the physical bookstore but don't reciprocate by buying there. If we don't buy from the physical stores, she points out, they won't be there anymore.
When I looked for Savvy Chic online and saw that I could buy it for almost ten dollars cheaper than the list price, I thought back to the conversation with Mom about supporting the local shops. And now I am faced with a moral dilemma. On the one hand, yes, I love to browse Presents of Mind. I love that it's there to be perused and that their buyers have such fabulous taste. I acknowledge that without this store I might never have come across this book. On the other hand, it's so darn expensive!
These are the kinds of moral dilemmas I face every day: a seeming choice between living within my means and being socially conscientious. How do I reconcile the two?
Do I buy the book cheaper online but shop at Presents of Mind next time I have some extra cash? (Pfft. Yeah. Like there's such a thing as "extra" cash.) Do I go a few more dollars into debt to support the local shop? Do I avoid choosing between the two and forgo the book altogether? Or do I borrow it from my local library, which saves me the most money and also supports a public service in which I believe?
This time I'll go with the library, and if I like the book enough, I can always save up the money, a few dollars at a time, to buy it from the local shop later. But the essential dilemma--the choice one has to make from time to time between supporting local business or saving money--still remains. It lurks in dark corners, waiting for the next opportunity to strike.
After I got over the minor depression of possibly having found that the book I one day aspired to write had already been written, I picked it up to admire the hip cover art, glossy pages and satisfying weight of it in my hands. Sigh. This truly is a beautiful book.
The table of contents and a snippet of a chapter read in the store confirmed that this book would be of interest both to myself and to the readers of this blog. Then began the debate with myself over whether to buy it. Could I justify spending money I don't really have on a book that might save me money in the long run? It would be a long-term investment, see. And surely reviewing it on the blog would be like a public service. So a good karma investment as well. Surely that must be taken into consideration.
Then I looked at the price sticker. $18.99? Really? Does anyone else see the irony in this? Almost twenty bucks for a book about how to live the good life without breaking the bank. Do you know your audience at all?
Later in the day Mom was telling me about the challenges the owners of her local bookshop face: people will come in, browse the books, decide on the ones they want and then go online to buy them for cheaper. She feels sad and disappointed that these people benefit from the physical bookstore but don't reciprocate by buying there. If we don't buy from the physical stores, she points out, they won't be there anymore.
When I looked for Savvy Chic online and saw that I could buy it for almost ten dollars cheaper than the list price, I thought back to the conversation with Mom about supporting the local shops. And now I am faced with a moral dilemma. On the one hand, yes, I love to browse Presents of Mind. I love that it's there to be perused and that their buyers have such fabulous taste. I acknowledge that without this store I might never have come across this book. On the other hand, it's so darn expensive!
These are the kinds of moral dilemmas I face every day: a seeming choice between living within my means and being socially conscientious. How do I reconcile the two?
Do I buy the book cheaper online but shop at Presents of Mind next time I have some extra cash? (Pfft. Yeah. Like there's such a thing as "extra" cash.) Do I go a few more dollars into debt to support the local shop? Do I avoid choosing between the two and forgo the book altogether? Or do I borrow it from my local library, which saves me the most money and also supports a public service in which I believe?
This time I'll go with the library, and if I like the book enough, I can always save up the money, a few dollars at a time, to buy it from the local shop later. But the essential dilemma--the choice one has to make from time to time between supporting local business or saving money--still remains. It lurks in dark corners, waiting for the next opportunity to strike.
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