Shopfession: More Books and Konmari

I’m really kind of rubbish at this whole not-buying-stuff thing.

BookOutlet.com has a monthly 50/50 special (50 books at an extra 50% off) and my mom told me this month was sci-fi. I did pretty well on that list putting all but one title on my to-borrow list on GoodReads but then I was reminded of my wish list. I decided to remove all future temptation in one go. I gutted the wish list putting almost all of it on my to-borrow list and a few titles I was genuinely excited about in my cart.

It’s Not You: 27 (Wrong) Reasons You’re Single               $4.99

Jane Austen’s Guide to Thrift {oh, the irony}                    $3.99

Joe Golem and the Drowning City                                        $4.99

Lockdown (Escape from the Furnace 1)                               $1.99

Miss Jane Austen’s Guide to Modern Life’s Dilemmas    $3.99

Robert Asprin’s Myth-Quoted                                               $2.99

The Golem and the Jinni                                                         $6.99

Jesus Feminist {I had to know}                                            $6.99

Minus the $5 off coupon and add the $6.99 for shipping it came to $38.91. Not a bad price for that haul but more than I needed to be spending after my Deadpool Corp splurge.

I took myself off the mailing list to avoid temptation and I’ve got limited reason to go back. However I’m not sure if this just reinforces a bad habit rather than removes temptation. I’m trying to save money to move later this year but I’m not doing a very good job.

Another temptation I recently found was a book by the founder of the KonMari method of organizing. The English translation was released this month and it blew up. The biggest shift from American thoughts about organizing are that you should do items by category and go through all of them at once. Want to minimize your closet? Gut it all at once. Cut down on your books? Dump them all in the same place at the same time.

How do you decide what to keep from that category? “Does it spark joy?” If the item doesn’t spark joy, it goes. Simple as that. One person I read said that you need to go with the gut reaction you have in the first 1-3 seconds of looking at the garment. After that you’re just arguing with your instincts. I want to try it but I want to read the book first. That means buying the book. I seriously question if this is the best idea.