We have reached my favorite topic, books. I am a confessed bibliophile. I love them. Reading them is not enough. I love to look at them, hold them, carry them around, and not part with them just like a cat that carries her kitten around does. I envy the authors that sit behind their desk whipping out poetic prose for us bibliophiles.
But when is enough, enough? For me, it is when my husband insisted that I part with some of them. I started slow, I started small, and I was brave (Sept. 27, 2010 ). Don’t get me wrong, it still hurts, but through the years I have learned more self-control and have learned to be more discerning. My ah-ha moment was when I bought the same book three times. Those marketing gurus wreck havoc with my pocket book!
I found two ways that helped me develop more self control.
- One, I keep a list of books that I’m interested in purchasing in my purse and when I’ve purchased it, I mark it off the list. It keeps me from being so spontaneous. Just like a grocery list.
- Two, if I’m unsure, I tell myself I’ll check out my books first and if I don’t have it, I’ll add it to my list. Usually by the time I get home I have found that I didn’t want it all that much after all. I also use the public library as often as I can. My last trip cost me $12 (overdue fees).
Fran J. has found a way to deal with her abundance of books.
Fran’s tip: When her bookshelf is filled, she does not allow a book on its side. One in, one out, like your closet.
But books really don’t seem to be the culprit that jumps up to bites us. They are a little easier to control and they are a little more costly. The hidden danger is magazines. They come in on a regular basis, we pay a pretty penny for them, and once we’ve paid for them they keep coming – all year! There may be an article or two in them that we would like to keep. It doesn’t take long for magazines to take control of our space. If you are a crafter, artist, and/or cook, etc. you have your favorite magazine or two you look forward to every month. We love those glossy covers with the pretty pictures. Some of us don’t want to cut up our magazines and file those articles we want to keep so we keep the entire magazine. How successful have you been finding that article?
Here’s my tip: Sort your magazines by name and year (if you go back that far). Label your magazine file box. Keep them separate. All Martha Stewarts together, Cloth and Paper together, Cooking Light together, etc.
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| Separate Magazines |
Here’s my big tip for a Quick File Method: Photo copy the Table of Contents of the magazine, highlight the year, make notes on the articles of interest (to remind yourself later why you wanted to keep this magazine). This way, you need only search your Table of Contents file to look for your article. This keeps you from getting distracted and reviewing something that takes you off course of the task at hand.
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| Table of Contents |
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| Table of Contents |
If you are a technopile, scan and make a folder for the Table of Content pages or if you’d rather keep the Table of Contents handy by your cookbooks, keep the Table of Contents in a three ring binder for a hard accessible reference.
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| Highlight Year |
Several ways you can handle this method. One notebook for all Table of Contents (you can separate them with tab dividers or keep the individual Table of Contents with it’s appropriate magazines.
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| Magazines in File Box |
Change
The summer
still hangs
heavy and sweet
with sunlight
as it did last year.
The autumn
still comes
showering gold and crimson
as it did last year.
The spring
still comes
like a whisper
in the dark night.
It is only I
who have changed."
-Charlotte Zolotow-
Meet me here Monday. We're visiting Georgia and Oregon.
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