5 good reasons why you should buy a lot of books

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5 good reasons why you should buy a lot of books

Hunting for good books can be fun and beneficial to you. In this article, I’m NOT talking solely about the benefits of reading a lot of books, but buying a lot of books. I’m sure buying books is much easier and more fun than reading, right?

Believe it or not, I really need a shopping trolley when I buy books. Most of my monthly spending goes to books. Before you say that I’m crazy, please let me share with you why we should buy a lot of books.

1. Reading

Yeah, this is so obvious. Books are there for us to read!

Reading is highly beneficial. Books are wonderful knowledge resource to be used as stepping stones or leverage for you to achieve success in life. Imagine reading a lot of books about property investment, you will feel confident to make your wallet fatter by investing in properties. Also think about those guys who read a lot of books on career and leadership. Not only these people have higher chance of bullet-proofing their jobs, they are also more likely to get fat promotion. These are just examples of benefits you can get from reading a lot of good quality stuffs. The application of knowledge is endless. Think of success in relationship, seduction, problem solving, working skills etc., with the help of reading!

Reading a lot of books enables a writer or blogger to write articles smoothly. Books are great knowledge resource that gives you the raw material (input) and substance to write stuffs (output). I’m a heavy reader and don’t have the problem of lacking ideas to blog, unless I attempt to write 10 articles in one day. Alright, you can call me a geek, but don’t call me a nerd please. 
I have written an article about reading to write here.

A book is highly mobile and compact. As long as you are not taking a heavy book with you all the time, books can be your good companion where ever you go. It keeps you occupied with reading when you have nothing much to do. I always read a book while travelling by train or bus, instead of wasting time staring at strangers digging their noses or hugging each other.

2. Enhancing your image

Another plus point of carrying a book around is to enhance your image. People dress well to sell their image, but not many people exploit books to look good. You can carry a fancy looking book to make yourself look cool in public (not to show off, but to carry yourself. Read more here). Last time I carried a black hardcover book (after removing the outer skin) with a beautiful bookmark in it, where the golden ribbon of the bookmark was visible. Pure black matches well with golden yellow. I felt good and confident carrying it while waiting at the airport.

We need to have more books, a lot of books, so that we can have more choices of books to enhance our image. I always arrange my books according to their theme and color. I can easily pick up bright red or pure white cover book and bring it along with me. The size, theme, and color of the book should match my dress and occasion.

It’s a good idea to carry popular books authored by famous people. It enables you to start a conversation with your friends and contacts. If you are meeting a group of people who are interested in getting rich, bring a book written by Robert Kiyosaki. If you want to hang out with “high class” literature lover, it’s cool to bring a book with the name Ernest Hemingway on it. Get the right book and your social network will expand.

3. Home decoration

Sometimes we buy a lot of books but we seldom read them completely. Don’t worry. You don’t need to read every single book to benefit from them. You can use them as part of the home decoration!

Set up a mini library where you can display your books like trophies to impress your guests and enhance your home ambient. It’s a good idea to display books with big names prominently at your mini library to enhance the majestic look of your home. Imagine having names like Stephen King, John C. Maxwell, and Malcolm Gladwell on your book shelves. It’s important to take care of your books well so that they still look new after many years. You don’t want your mini library to fill with torn dirty books.

You don’t have to put all your books at mini library to make your home look nice. You can pick some books, such as world atlas and cook books, to put them on tables, together with aroma therapy candles, flowers, and wooden statues to create the atmosphere you want. Try to use suitable lighting to create the desired visual effect. For me, I like Balinese mellow mood with nice books lying next to the calming indoor fountain and Zen stone lanterns. Don’t forget to play Kitaro or Yanni’s soothing music.

4. Gift idea

If your books can be easily replaced, you can give them to your friends or family as instant gift. Just pick up a book from your mini library and hand it over to your good buddy and say, “I think this book will help you solve your problem. Please take it. I care a lot for you.”

How would your friend feel when he hears these words? He’ll feel like a million bucks! What if more people in your social circle are touched by you with the help of your useful book gifts? I bet you will become popular. It’s always good to have healthy social network.

Make sure your books are in good condition before giving them away as gifts. I would suggest you to include a beautiful bookmark in the book, which will increase the book’s value as a gift.

5. Tax relief

Some countries, such as Malaysia, enable tax relief for book purchase. That means you can pay less for tax by buying books, as long as you keep the purchase receipt properly. This government policy serves as an incentive to encourage people to read more and take education seriously. You can read more about it here.

Now you know by buying a lot of books, you save money! It sounds counter intuitive but it’s true.

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I have shared with you 5 good reasons to buy a lot of books. Now I want to show you that I’m serious with my article and put money where my mouth is. Here’s my November 2008 expenses pie chart. Most of the money spent goes to books.

And here’s my December spending to show that I walk the talk.

I hope this article can help you to make better decision on spending money. Book hunting is a good way to spend money. I consider books to be an investment, not expenses, because they are there to enrich our lives in many ways for many years to come.

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Tagged as: book, personal finance