No Book Buying Challenge: Progress

Posted December 25, 2015 by Nicky in General / 10 Comments

So, this is the last #ShelfLove update from me for this year!

#ShelfLove banner

The prompt is to show how you’re doing. Well, you can check out Mount TBR in the top menu on my blog. If you compare my books bought/acquired in 2015 with other years, I’ve made some serious progress in thinking before I buy. Also utilising the library, and only buying books I’m sure I want! Which is not to say I’ve had no duds this year, or that I’ve done particularly well at tackling the backlog — I still apparently have 440 books unread from 2013, for example. Eek. But I’ve dealt with some of the causes of that backlog, and learned to stick to a budget!

#ShelfLove Breakdown

  • 58/51+ already owned books read from prior to 2015 (302 books read altogether)
  • Spent: £21 out of ~£30 budget (budget is 10% of my income) for January
  • Spent: £20 out of ~£25 budget for February
  • Spent: £22 out of ~£25 budget for March
  • Spent: £15 out of ~£16 budget for April
  • Spent: £45 out of ~£30 budget for May
  • Spent: £18 out of ~£40 budget for June, plus stuck within holiday budget
  • Spent: £45 out of ~£50 budget for July
  • Spent £51 out of ~£60 for August
  • Spent £30 out of £40 for September
  • Spent £20 out of £20 for October
  • Spent £36 out of £50 for November
  • Spent £0 out of £25 for December

Here’s my more general progress on resolutions:

  • No books impulse-bought (pretty much all year, with only one or two lapses)
  • Read every day (even if it was only a page or two)
  • Bed before midnight (less great at this)
  • Up before ten every day (some struggling in December)
  • Only bought one book from a series at a time (except where I was confident I’d like it)
  • Posted to the blog every day (I missed one day through a scheduling mess-up)
  • Commented on at least one other blog every day (no days missed except when I had no internet access)
  • Tithed 10% in every month
  • Done 85 hours volunteering total (just short of the goal, not really under my control)
  • Reading/reviewing books from NG/etc (82% ratio)

So not bad at all, right?!

I’ll be taking part in this challenge next year too, so hang tight for my starting post as 2016 opens.

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10 responses to “No Book Buying Challenge: Progress

  1. I do well in reducing the tbr for a spell then I grab piles of zombie freebies or sale books and I’m back where I started! I went a bit mad on Boxing Day…I didn’t spend much but I got a pile big enough to keep me in books for several STSs! I do need to get more reading done next year to catch up!

  2. Wow, Nikki, you did great with your challenges! I think it’s completely reasonable to want to sleep in during the winter, it’s so hard to get up when it’s cold and dreary outside. I know I’d be sleeping late if my kid didn’t wake us up early each morning (seriously, sleeping in on the weekends is one of the things I miss the most).

    And wow, you posted every day? Congratulations, that must take some serious determination.

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