What Money Can’t Buy

It seems that many of today’s lifestyle tips concern a newly rediscovered thrift; a quick glance at the newsstand confirms this.  10 Ways to Save on Household Products bleats one magazine’s subhead. Five Local Vacation Hotspots! blasts the travel section.  (Or my favourite from a few months ago: an article quoted Bill Clinton that he now helps the environment by turning off the tap while brushing his teeth.  Thanks, Mr. President.) 

I gloat that when it comes to leisure pastimes since I’ve always been a pennysaver – or as my friends say, a damn cheapskate.  When I read a newly published novel, 99.9% of the time I’ve borrowed it from the library and I can count on one hand the number of times I shelled out money instead of borrowing for free.  My rule – no, law – was never to pay full price for a new book unless it was a gift and, since I shopped at used bookstores anyway, I never spent more than $10 a book.  Mass market paperbacks?  Not a penny above five bucks.  Ever. 

However, one day after a particularly disastrous cinematic experience, I began to reconsider and did some mathematics on the way home.  The movie was $12 (New Zealand dollars) and 90 min long which works out to $8/h.  Since the movie was crap, that was 90 minutes of my life gone.  Irretrievable.  Not even the ephemeral, occasional happy memory to justify it.  And honestly, how many times have we gone to the cinema and come out thinking, “I really wish I’d waited until it came out on DVD?”  And now more than ever, I don’t want to be thinking that. 

But a romance novel – ah, a romance novel is different.  Figure $10 a book (or less), and if you’re a fast reader you can get through it in 4 hours, which comes to a cool $2.50/h (or less, if you take your time).  If you hated it, you can always return it.  (Provided you treated it nicely.)   And if you liked it, you can keep it forever, and the gratification is unending.  Not to mention the average romance novel is, in my considered and considerably snobby opinion, heaps better than the average Saturday Night Movie (we’re not talking Roman Polanski here). 

Since then I’ve relaxed my purchasing habits at the bookstore, although I still quail at paying full price for a new book (even with my member discount).  I figure authors can use all the support they can get, now more than ever, and with the tragedies and distresses of our lives, we need happiness and security where we can get it.  Given a choice between the latest Julia Roberts or the latest Nora Roberts, I know which one I’d choose.  It’s like the old Mastercard commercials:

Movie for two: $25

One box Godiva Chocolates: $40

Fancy dinner for two: $70

True Love’s Kiss: Priceless

There are some things money can’t buy.

For everything else, there’s romance novels.

-Jean Wan

 

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CindyS
CindyS
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05/11/2009 4:54 am

I have to say, I love looking at my TBR pile and knowing that at any time I can pick up a book and go somewhere new and exciting. In my younger years I couldn’t afford to buy many books, now I can buy and I do buy. I buy faster than I can read. My notion though is that I’ll never run out of books to read even if *God forbid* things go financially bad.

Like you said, I now have them for always and in the bleakest times I can reach for one and experience a whole new world.

CindyS

Dawn
Dawn
Guest
05/08/2009 11:40 pm

Reading is the one indulgence that I don’t skimp on, normally I read 4 to 5 books a week sometimes more depending on the books. I do order used books off the internet but it is hard to wait a week or more for the books to come in, also I go to the used book store, but I can’t always get there so when in need I will pay full price. I need a lot I take a book every where I go. One good thing is I have many favorites so I reading them again when I don’t have the money to get a new one isn’t a problem.

Jean Wan
Jean Wan
Guest
05/08/2009 8:50 pm

elainec: I am generally a fast reader, but a) it depends on the book (of course), and b) I’ve been making a concerted effort over the past few years to slow down, because years of super fast reading meant I was starting to miss out. Lately, however, I’ve had a romance drought, so I’ve been devouring them like dark chocolate.

LeeB.
LeeB.
Guest
05/07/2009 9:10 pm

Totally agree. Books are gifts that keep giving again and again.

elainec
elainec
Guest
05/07/2009 4:27 pm

Priceless. Books are more entertaining than movies for me and much quieter. I do buy my favorite authors’ books because they won’t make a living and be published if lots of people don’t buy their books. I also use the library. It’s a valuable community resource.
Books: So many books, so little time.
By the way, Jean, most romances I read lately are close to 400 pages. You are one fast reader! Fifty pages an hour for fiction is my limit. I stand in awe.
elainec

LeeAnn
LeeAnn
Guest
05/07/2009 4:08 pm

My sister and I went to LasVegas and I spent about $5.00 in quarters in a slot machine…. only every time I put a quarter in I thought to myself, “”I could be buying a book with this”” (books were cheaper then, of course)…. but I never gambled again. A woman’s gotta have priorities!

Katie Mack
Katie Mack
Guest
05/07/2009 2:37 pm

I’ll take a book over a movie any day of the week. Although money is tight for me, I’ve been making it a point to purchase my favorite mid-list authors’ new releases.

Estella
Estella
Guest
05/07/2009 2:27 pm

I agree 100%! I’ll take a book anyday.

Lusty Reader
Lusty Reader
Guest
05/07/2009 8:27 am

I completely agree! And your version of the Mastercard commercial is spot on, love it! Plus the entertainment from books is so much more versatile. You don’t need anything to “”play”” it on, anything electronic, just the light to read it by!