Kindle Ueberraschung!

Last year, I treated myself to the much talked about Amazon Kindle 3G+WiFi.

I won't ramble on about what it can do, I'll leave you to look at it yourself...


But I will say that I have hardly put it down since I bought it and that, despite costing £150+ it has been worth every penny. It's not for everyone and if I didn't read so much, I would not be able to justify splashing out so much on what is, for all intents and purposes, a gadget. But I do and I did!

I love the fact that I can finish a book and download the next one without having to go back to the PC. This does obviously have its own financial implications (see my earlier post) and although it is so easy to finish one mid-series book and go straight on to the next one, I have had to set myself some rules about how many books I can download per month.

In January, as my financial situation looked increasingly bleak, I set myself a new challenge (and registered it with Goodreads to help me stick to it)...

My challenge is to not buy ANY books this year! Here is how I plan to do it...

1. Read books already on my shelf (including my e-bookshelf) that I have not read.
2. Re-read books.
3. Borrow from the library.
4. Borrow books from friends.
5. Download some of the 'FREE' books for kindle.
6. Hope I get the 3 books I desperately want to read this year for my birthday.

See how I'm doing here.


So, if anyone can help, by recommending a FREE Kindle download or by lending me a book, I would be very grateful.

I think my Kindle will be getting a much needed rest, though, while I reacquaint myself with 'normal' books again!

Want / Need

Money is very tight, yes, everyone is telling the same story. We are having to cut back on lots of the things we would like to have as well as some of the things we need. But, where do you draw the line between want and need?

Having put down a £60 deposit and paid another £55 deposit on Little Z's school trip, I am loathed to lose what we've paid already and tell her she can't go because we can't really afford to pay the other £165 (yes, the 5 day trip to IOW really is costing £280 not including all the kit she will need!).

Both of the children do one activity outside of school. Big J does karate, which is having a huge positive impact on his confidence, behaviour and attitude. That costs £4 a week, but then he goes to grading every 2 months, which costs £19 plus £4 for the new belt. He is doing so well, it would be a real shame to stop it, but is this a need or a want?

Then there's ballet. Little Z has been doing that for 6 years and it has helped her immensely with her coordination and balance, things she naturally finds difficult. That costs about £54 a term (£4.20 / week) on top of all the kit. Our recent trip to the dance shop, purely for things she had to have for ballet (ballet shoes, character shoes and a new tailored character skirt) cost £42. So, again I ask, 'need or want'?

I guess it comes down to how desperately tight money gets. I speak to some people who say, " ooh, money is really tight. we'll be lucky if we get to go on holiday more than twice this year!"

That is so far from my world, I think they might actually be on another planet! Then there are people, who say, "I can't afford to go on holiday this year." Well, that's more like it, I think, until the follow that up with, "I think I'll have to get the money from my mum to pay for my holiday." Unbelieveable!

In my world, 'being tight for money' means it's hard to pay the bills and buy the weekly food shopping with the money we have coming in. Holidays? If you can even consider affording holiday, you are not 'struggling' quite like some of us are!