Saturday, July 21, 2007

Books, a waste of money?

I've discussed with friends what are disposable income items which you buy? One of the top purchases is obviously clothes. But it can be difficult sometimes to distinguish how extra clothes are because for many people there is a certain look they need to achieve for work.

However one disposable item that people seem to always buy is books. I just bought the Harry Potter book 7 last night and it cost $22. Which seems insane to me. But this is the one book I just had to have. However for the most part I don't buy books.

I'm a huge fan of the public library being an avid reader. I borrow books all the time. I can honestly say the last book I bought for pleasure, not school etc, was the last Harry Potter book 6. But bookstores are still making a living and I often go sit in a book store and read for hours. So I can see people buying books. I wonder why people don't use the library more? Or buy used books from the library for 25 cents?

Are books the biggest use of disposable income? The argument can be made for eating out, except by many single people who tell me it's for counteracting loneliness, dating, and saves them money from buying food that rots. So eating out depends on person. But books are they a waste of money?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Personally, when I buy books, I like to buy them used because they are so much cheaper. The library is also a great place to go.

To answer your question, no I don't think books are the biggest use of disposable income. I think gaming, TV/movies,and cars are all bigger drains of disposable income - especially among the younger crowd. But people could definitely spend less on books by using the library more often.

jo-less said...

I buy books... New, used whatever. I like to own books and I like to have them around. Sometimes I can bring myself to give them away when I have finished but mostly I stack them up :-) They are my major indulgence and I'm keeping it that way!