Book Buying in 2015

Before I talk about my bookish and blogging resolutions later this week, I thought I would discuss how I intend to handle book buying in 2015. As you are fellow book bloggers/readers, I am sure you understand the problem of buying too many books because they're inexpensive or because you have heard such good things about them. As I started my book blog just this year, and began reading many more books in a year then I used to, I did purchase A LOT of books this year. Probably way more than I needed to, but sometimes it's so hard to say "no". However, that is something that I am going to focus on this year, and because of that I am going to set a few rules for myself for my book buying in 2015. I do fully intend to stick to these rules, and I hope that I am successful with it!

Rule 1: I am going to set aside part of my spending budget each month to pre-order the new books I know that I am going to want that month. I am going to order them at the end of the previous month from Amazon to ensure that I can get them, but that I also don't fork over the extra money at Barnes and Noble because I happen to be in the store and see it there. Amazon prices are much better, and they will be shipped to me on the release day, so I know that I will not have to wait too long for them. I plan to pre-order no more than 4 for any given month (I just pre-ordered three for January, and I am very happy with my selections).

Rule 2: Aside from my pre-order books, I will only allow myself to buy a new book after reading five or more books that I already have on my shelves. That means for every five books I read that I already have, I will allow myself to pick up one book from a store such as Target or Half Price Books. This will cut down on a lot of the impulse buying that I tend to do when I see a new-ish book on sale at Target, and then come home and put it on the shelf and don't actually read it.

Rule 3: I am only going to buy a book if I really, really want to read it, and not just because it's on sale or has a pretty cover. I want to make sure if I am buying books this year that I am actually going to read them, and they won't just sit on the shelves collecting dust.

Rule 4: I am going to try not to buy anymore first books in a series until I finish some of the other series that I already own. This means I will allow myself to buy books to continue a series, but not any that start a brand new one unless I really, really want to read it.

Rule 5: I am going to start checking the reviews and ratings on Goodreads before I make a book purchase. Sure, it might not end up being the same for me since I have liked books that a lot of people hated, and hated books that a lot of people love. Still, I do think that it's a good starting point, so I am going to at least check it out before buying a book.

There we have it, the book buying rules I am going to try to stick to next year. Of course, I am sure I will have some months that are less successful than others (like when Book Outlet has huge sales and sends me coupons), but overall I am going to try to stick to this as much as possible. Is anyone else limiting their book buying in 2015? What are some rules you plan to stick to?