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.