This weekend, I broke my pact to not buy any books for the rest of the year.
What happened, you ask? Simple. I walked into a bookstore. I don’t know what I was thinking. I walked in to look at the selection of 2009 planners, just to see what was available, and walked out with two books I’ve been wanting to read.
On the plus side, they weren’t random books that I hoped I would like. But at the same time, I really didn’t need to buy these books. I have a lot of unread books in my home, and I had both of these books wishlisted on the various book swap sites I use. I would have gotten them eventually.
I know I could return them, but well… perhaps I’m not that committed to this whole “no books” thing after all. But maybe I’ve learned my lesson. If I go into a bookstore to browse, I need to be making a wishlist of books, not actually buying them!
But from now on. NO MORE BOOKS. This time, I’ll remember. Really.
Megan is a 40-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:
In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance. It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information. It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck. While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.
While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.
Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.
So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan. I needed to budget. I needed to know what I was spending my money on. I needed to prepare for the future.
I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.
It’s called backsliding. You’ll be stronger next time.
I know how you feel. I stay away from bookstores, but I forgot about Amazon.com. I told myself I was just going to look for books about organization . . . and that’s it.
I found two (and bought them) they are in my book bag right now.
If you bought them at Barnes and Noble, you have 30 days to return them… even if you read them! My friend worked there and said people returned read books all the time within the 30 days. I am pretty sure it is unethical, but if you haven’t read them yet, return them! LOL
Great post. I actually just got a card at the library. I have only used it a couple of times, but I want to start more. Buying books is a weakness of mine.