I love buying books. I do believe that reading can take people to great lengths that is why I am also exposing my son to literature so that he would have a wide knowledge about the world. I'm glad that my son was able to have the habit of reading even the littlest details.
I have already written in the past the book finds that I got during my book shopping (see my posts here and here) . Our book collection is growing and I have a need to buy another bookshelf to accommodate new acquisitions.
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| Kib's bookshelf. It has more books now |
I also remind Kib to donate some of his books every now and then. I ask him to check his bookshelf on which books he wants to give away so that others will also learn from those books. Part of our growing book collection is from friends who gives their hand-me-down books to Kib, so I also wanted Kib to develop the attitude of sharing.
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| Years back, we donated books and toys at Philippine Toy Library |
It's a fact that books are not cheap. Most of the time I buy books in bulk during sale periods. I have already tried buying books at warehouse sales, second-hand book stores, and book fairs. I am always proud of my loot whenever I shop for books. Book shopping can be both fun and tiring. It can also sometimes overwhelm you because you have a desire to buy all the books that you can see.
To help you with your book shopping for you and the family, I'll share to you some tips to help you with your budget and to buy the best books for your collection.
1. Dress comfortably. There is no need for you to shop in stilletos. Dress casually when you shop for books and wear comfortable footwear so that you can withstand long hours of walking and standing. Book warehouse sales can bring you a lot of stress as most books are not arranged accordingly to type and shape. It can also be dusty, so better bring wet wipes and alcohol to clean yourselves after shopping. Book warehouse sales can be humid too because of poor ventilation.
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| I like wearing shorts and shirt whenever I shop |
2. Bring shopping bags. In warehouse book sales, most of the time they do not put the books you bought in plastic bags. Either they just tie it up or put them in boxes. Sometimes, they do not even have shopping carts or baskets for the books. Better to bring your own shopping bag so that you can secure the books that you will buy and also it'll help save the environment by lessening the environmental footprint. In book fairs, while each exhibitor has their own packaging, you do not want to carry several plastic bags while you walk around the exhibition area.
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| You don't want dragging all your shopping bags, right?! |
3. Set a budget. Shopping during sale period can be really tempting. You have this desire to buy everything. Try to set a budget when you shop for books. In my case, I usually set a budget between Php2000-Php3000. You can already buy lots of books at that amount because some books can be as low at Php25. Bring cash with you because there are instances that the company doesn't have terminals for credit/debit cards.
4. Plan your book shopping. In book fairs, you might get overwhelmed with all of the books that you will see. You may want to check the social media pages of your favorite stores/publishers so that you will know the books that will be on sale. However, try to go around first before buying because one seller/exhibitor might give better discounts. In book warehouse sales, grab the book that you are interested in and just decide when you're about to pay for everything, because most of the time there are only few books in stock. You can bring along your kid with you so that he/she will know what books he/she likes, but remind him/her not to go far away from you especially during book fairs. Books are wonderful gifts to friends and loved ones too, so better list down the names of your friends whom you want to give books as present so that you won't go beyond your budget.
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| Books galore! |
Are you now ready to shop for books?
2 comments
Nice tips, Mother! 😍😍😍
ReplyDeleteThanks!
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