The Kindle and Financial Considerations

The major thing holding me back from purchasing a Kindle was the cost. Kindle editions of books are generally slightly cheaper than new paperbacks and signifcantly cheaper than new hardcovers. However, I almost never buy new books. Over the past few years, I have mostly bought used books and sometimes taken books out of the library. Before my youngest son was born, I would frequently sell books we no longer wanted on Amazon if I could sell them for a few dollars. I also have traded books on bookins.com.

The Kindle itself was a little too pricey for me until recently, when the wi-fi version came down to $139. At that point, I decided I could buy a Kindle with our credit card reward certificates and use it at least to read books that were available free, at a lower cost than a used book, or not available at the library, or if I were buying material to read while traveling. However, since buying my Kindle, I have changed my mind. I like reading on it so much better.

I think that the cost may be worth it because books bring so much clutter into the house. I don't want to take the time to sell them or trade them, and I don't like lugging boxes of books to the library for donation. I also have problems using the library. Our library doesn't have the greatest hours or selection, and I have a tendency to lose books for several weeks.

So, I have decided to be very careful about what books I choose to buy, to read the first chapter before buying them to make sure I will like it, and to get all of my books on Kindle that I can. I have often bought used books online very cheap, and then decided that I didn't like them. I don't think I will be spending any more money this way, especially if I take care not to buy a book until I am ready to start a new one. (Unless, of course, it is on sale, in which case I would go ahead and buy it.) With buying used books online, I tend to buy several at once because they take so long to arrive, and I don't like to be out of reading material. Kindle books are available to buy 24 hours a day, so I shouldn't normally have to buy more than one at a time!

I think that with this strategy I will spend about the same on books as I do now, and very possibly less. I will also save myself time because I will not have to deal with shelving or disposing of hard copies of books.