How I did it: I went cold turkey, just stopped buying books and magazines.  I didn't have room for any more, and I had too many still-unread books on my shelves.  (In another goal, I wanted to read 52 books this year; of the books I owned and read, I was able to donate 35 to the library, so freed up some shelf space that way.)

UPDATE 1.9.10 - I thought once the restriction against buying books and magazines was off, I'd go hog-wild. But so far this year I have bought one magazine which I've only half read, and the only book was a knitting pattern book, and craft instructional books had been exempted from my book-buying ban.  I'm back to looking at books, but now I think, 'I've got so many at home still to read' and pass them by.  This has been a major change for me, and I'm loving it!.

Lessons & tips: Don't torture yourself the way I did, looking at books at thrift shops and garage sales.  I'm also a volunteer at my library's book sales, and that was hard, seeing other people buying books by the bagsful.  If I could have, I would have stayed away from that.

Dec 31, 2009, 06:04PM PST | 0 comments