The Confessional, "Cheating on my Book Budget", Episode 1

One of the things I resolved to do better this year, over last, is to acquire fewer books. Last year, I read so many ARCs for review that I didn't make much (if any) of a dent in my personal TBR. One of my goals this year is to cut that TBR pile down to size. I love buying new books, I especially love receiving books through the mail (mail me books!), but if they're just taking up space on my shelves, unread, unloved...
wss
Not cool.

My plan for this year was to tie my book budget to my weight loss success. Thirty-five dollars to spend on books for every five pounds I lose.  I'm aiming for thirty-five pounds lost, so I'm budgeting $245 for the year for books. Which is... let's just say, significantly less than I spent last year. I'd guess I spent closer to $100 a month last year on books, most months (not all).

Anyways, I had this plan set in my mind starting early last week. And what did I do when I went to Walmart on December 31st?  Grabbed six books (two of them cookbooks) out of the bargain bin.

So that was my haul last week. Four books.

And that's my confession. I feel like I cheated on that last grab of books, because I knew that the long drought of book buying was about to begin.

The four books I picked up were:

Anyone else have a book budget for the year?

Anyone feeling more optimistic about sticking to it than I am?