PW Book Club: Anat Talshir’s “About the Night”

17 July 201616 August 2023

Hello everyone.

I hope you enjoyed this month’s book club read. I know I did.

This month’s read, “About the Night,” had us diving into a love affair between an Arab and a Jew right before the wall in Jerusalem went up in 1947. Two newlywed lovers are forced to find ways to secretly see each other, before it is inevitable that they have no choice but to try and move on with their lives behind their respective side of the wall.

Years go by. One continues to hold a flame for the other, the other decides to move on with life, thinking the other will do the same. For both, they share a special kind of love. This is the type of love people search for their entire lives. It’s the kind of love that carries one through to the end of their life, no matter how long they have to live severed from the other.

Questions.

What did you think of the book? Did you like it?
Did you think this story was realistic? If you found the love of your life and were separated from them, would you wait for them or would you move forward with your life?
Have you met the love of your life? Could you relate to that special love these two shared?
Did the historical aspect of this story help you to relate to the issues facing Israel today? Did you get a sense of the racism and cultural differences between Arabs and Jews? Did it help you to understand the struggles facing an Arab and a Jew falling in love?
Lila is a woman with great strength. When life handed her lemons, she did the best she could do with them to keep on shining, even when they were tossed at her door. In her heartbreak, we see Lila rising above to help people, even if it wasn’t the popular opinion of the people in her community. Did you find her character an inspiration?
Did you think Elias made the right decision after he was beaten by the police? Could you do the same?
What were some of your favorite quotes in the book?
Would you recommend this book to others?

Feel free to leave your answers below, on GoodReads (see the link to the PW book club on the right), or on the PW Facebook page.

June Kindle First Book Club Selection

2 June 201616 August 2023

The June Kindle First Book Club Selection is “The Last Woman Standing” by Thelma Adams.

We’re going into the Wild West for this one. Here’s the summary of the book:

Two decades after the Civil War, Josephine Marcus, the teenage daughter of Jewish immigrants, is lured west with the promise of marriage to Johnny Behan, one of Arizona’s famous lawmen. She leaves her San Francisco home to join Behan in Tombstone, Arizona, a magnet for miners (and outlaws) attracted by the silver boom. Though united by the glint of metal, Tombstone is plagued by divided loyalties: between Confederates and Unionists, Lincoln Republicans and Democrats.

But when the silver-tongued Behan proves unreliable, it is legendary frontiersman Wyatt Earp who emerges as Josephine’s match. As the couple’s romance sparks, Behan’s jealousy ignites a rivalry destined for the history books…

At once an epic account of an improbable romance and a retelling of an iconic American tale,The Last Woman Standing recalls the famed gunfight at the O.K. Corral through the eyes of a spunky heroine who sought her happy ending in a lawless outpost—with a fierce will and an unflagging spirit.

We’ll be discussing this book on August 15, 2016. The book is available now for those who are Amazon Prime members. For those who are not Amazon Prime members, the book is available for purchase on July 1, 2016.

Just a reminder that Book Club for “Star Sand” is on June 15, 2016. It’s a very quick read, so you should have it done in a day or two.

“About the Night” will be discussed on July 15, 2016. For those not Prime members, you can now purchase the book (it was just made available to purchase on June 1, 2016).

If you want to join the discussion, sign up for the book club by submitting your email address in the sign up box at the top of the page. Details on the discussion will follow. If you have questions or comments about the book, feel free to leave them in the comments below or on The PW’s Facebook page.

Happy reading!

PW’s April Kindle First Book Club Selection

1 April 201616 August 2023

This month’s Amazon Prime Kindle First selection for the PW Book Club is Roger Pulvers, “Star Sand.”

This book is a war fiction novel that takes place during World War II. Here’s the Amazon blurb:

In 1958, a diary is found in a cave on the small Japanese island of Hatoma. Alongside it are the remains of three people.

The journal reveals the story of Hiromi, a sixteen-year-old girl who’d grown up in the United States before living in Japan in the midst of World War II. One day, while collecting star sand—tiny star-shaped fossils—Hiromi finds two army deserters hiding in the seaside cavern—one American, one Japanese. The soldiers don’t speak the same language, but they’ve reached an agreement based on a shared hope: to cause no more harm and survive. Hiromi resolves to care for the men—feeding them and nursing their ailments—despite the risk that, if caught, she’ll die alongside them as a traitor. But when a fourth person joins in on their secret, they must face a threat from within. The diary abruptly ends, leaving everyone’s fate a mystery.

Decades later, in 2011, a young female university student decides to finally determine who died in that cave and who lived. Her search will lead her to the lone survivor—and bring closure to a gripping tale of heroism at a time when committing to peace was the most dangerous act of all.

For those that are Amazon Prime subscribers, the Kindle First book is FREE. For those that are not Prime members, you’ll have to wait until May 1, 2016 to get your copy. Kindle First is offered exclusively to Amazon Prime members. Kindle First contains a selection of books picked by Amazon editors and made available one month prior to its release for free to Prime members.

Not an Amazon Prime member? You can join by clicking on the ad below.

If you’d like to join the Book Club discussion, you can join by entering your email in the box on the right. Details on the Book Club discussion will be emailed to you later in the month.

For those who are not Amazon Prime members, but would like to join the Book Club, the Book Club will discuss the book on June 15, 2016. This gives Prime members two and a half months to read the book, and non-Prime members a month and a half to read the book.

If you have any thoughts or questions you’d like to post for the discussion, feel free to leave the question/comment below or on the Facebook page.

Happy reading!

PW Book Club: March Kindle First Selection

1 March 201616 August 2023

The first official PW Book Club Kindle First selection is “The Light of the Fireflies” by Paul Pen.

Here’s a synopsis of the book from Amazon.com:

A haunting and hopeful tale of discovering light in even the darkest of places.

For his whole life, the boy has lived underground, in a basement with his parents, grandmother, sister, and brother. Before he was born, his family was disfigured by a fire. His sister wears a white mask to cover her burns.

He spends his hours with his cactus, reading his book on insects, or touching the one ray of sunlight that filters in through a crack in the ceiling. Ever since his sister had a baby, everyone’s been acting very strangely. The boy begins to wonder why they never say who the father is, about what happened before his own birth, about why they’re shut away.

A few days ago, some fireflies arrived in the basement. His grandma said, There’s no creature more amazing than one that can make its own light. That light makes the boy want to escape, to know the outside world. Problem is, all the doors are locked. And he doesn’t know how to get out…

For those who are Amazon Prime members, Kindle First books are part of your membership. You don’t have to pay anything extra. It’s FREE.

What is Kindle First? Amazon Prime members can choose one of six books selected by Amazon editors before they are released to the general public. Even if you don’t finish the book by the end of the month, it’s still yours to keep at no charge (i.e. it’s FREE).

If you are not an Amazon Prime member yet and would like to join in this month with the Book Club selection, you can try the service out for free for the next 30-days. If you take advantage of all Prime has to offer (books, music, movies, photo storage, free 2-day shipping) and want to continue after the 30-days, you are charged for the year up front (about $110 depending on your state’s tax). For those who want to cut back on streaming services, Amazon Prime is like Netflix, Dropbox, and iTunes/Google Play Music all wrapped up into one membership. It figures out to be about $8/month, which is a pretty substantial savings.

For those who want to join the Book Club, we are going to do a LIVE chat at 4PM ET on March 30th.

How can you join the live chat? Sign up using the email link under PW Book Club on the right hand side. I’ll email the details and reminder as we get closer to the date. In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments you want to make while you’re reading, feel free to comment below.

Looking forward to chatting with everyone. Happy reading!

The Reading Challenge: 52+ Books This Year

29 February 201616 August 2023

One of the resolutions I make every year is to read 52 books a year. At the end of last year, as I started following more and more bibliophiles on Instagram, I was shocked to see that some people read over 100 books by the end of the year. I could never imagine doing that feat. 52 books seemed doable, even though that resolution went to the wayside over these last couple of years.

This year, I wanted to make sure I didn’t just read 52 books, but that I read MORE THAN 52 books this year.

My method of attack is this:

Read 50+ pages every day. On the weekends, read 100+ pages.
While you’re at work, walking, doing dishes, getting ready for work, listen to audio books.
Once a month, do a quick read that’s less than 150 pages.
Finish books you started in the past, but never finished.

After seeing all of the different Instagram challenges, I thought I’d do my own to get people to challenge themselves to read more this year.

Here is how the challenge works:

Choose a Reward for Yourself. Pick out an item that you really want, that you could save for along this journey. Be it a vacation, a luxury handbag, a pair of obscenely overpriced shoes, a class you’ve always wanted to take…pick something that would be considered a serious treat for yourself. You should reward yourself for a job well done. Make sure this is something you’re going to enjoy!
Come up with a pricing system. This will depend on the price of the item you are saving for and what you can afford. For instance, I reward myself if I don’t purchase the book. If it was free, a library book, or a gift, I put away $25 after I’ve completed the book. If it’s a classic (a more challenging smart book), I reward myself $100. If it’s a book for Book Club that I purchased, I allow myself $20. If I purchased the book in order to read it, because I just had to have it, only the retail price listed on the book goes into the reward jar, and the amount I actually paid for the book comes out of the reward jar. Taking the money out of the reward jar to pay for the book is my way of making sure I don’t spend money on unnecessary purchases. The only exception to purchasing the book is if it is for the Book Club. If the book is currently in my personal library, because I am making it a challenge to read what’s actually in my personal library this year, I’m rewarding myself $50 per book completed.That’s the reward system I’ve set up for myself. As you can see, the books I really want to challenge myself to read more of, I set the prize at a higher price in order to encourage myself to read more of those books.
Keep track of what you read. I used to keep track in a journal of what I read every year, including the amount I earned. Now, I keep track in my calendar. I keep stickers handy so I can place a sticker on the days where I completed a book. It’s a good way to visually see my progress and if I’m staying on track with a book a week (at the minimum).
Don’t dip into the reward jar until the first day of the year. I’m speaking from experience here. You are doing two things for yourself…you are working hard towards a goal and you need to learn to save for the reward at the end of the journey. It is no fun if you get to the end of the journey and realize there’s no reward money there because you spent it already.For many people (including myself), saving money can be very difficult when we live in a society where we get what we want, when we want it. We don’t save for the future or save for something we want. Since I started the KonMari method, I have stopped the consumer cycle. I was literally overflowing with stuff. I vowed that if I wanted something new, I would have to save for it using the reading challenge. I’m not allowed to buy the item now. I have to work towards earning the right to have that item, so that I would appreciate it more in the end because I would know how hard I worked to earn that item.Keep the money in a safe place. Keep it safe from yourself (if you think you’re going to dip into the jar). Earn some interest off the money while you save. Just keep plugging at that savings and don’t touch it until January 1st.

But It’s March

Ok. I know I started this challenge for you to join in March. If you’re a bibliophile, you’ve probably already read at least 10 books this year already, so you are on track. If you are starting from scratch, we can go at this in 2 different ways. You can either: 1) fast track (and over the months I’ll tell you how) or 2) do this as a full 52-week challenge, let the challenge run through 2017 and you can access that cash on March 1, 2017.

Whichever method you decide to do, I’ll be helping you along.

For those who are Amazon Prime members, I’ll be making recommendations from the Kindle First collection. If you choose the same book that month, I’ll have a Book Club sign up where we can discuss the book at the end of the month. [Amazon Prime members can choose one book each month from the Kindle First collection. These are books selected by the Amazon editors to read prior to the book’s release date. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, this is part of your membership, no extra charge.]

For those who need to get their extra books in via audio books, I highly recommend Kindle Unlimited. It’s around $10/month to access many books on your Kindle device or app. Just make sure when you select the book to borrow that it says Read and Listen For Free on the tab. If it doesn’t, you may have to pay extra for the Whispersync/Audible audio recordings. What about Audible membership? Audible is $14.95/month and that’s just for one audio book a month. Kindle Unlimited with Whispersync/Audible allows you to read the book and if you need to put the book down, you can switch it to audio and listen until you can read the book again. Audible doesn’t allow that. It’s just the audio book.

The only reason you should have Audible is if you want a book that is not audio available on Kindle Unlimited. I used Audible for Book Club selections when I was having problems getting back into the swing of reading books again after my surgery. 2016 is actually the first time I’ve actively been reading a lot of books since my surgery in 2013. I didn’t want to give up Book Club, so I listened to the books until I got comfortable with reading books again. So if you’re concerned about not being able to read as much, seriously consider audio books. You can listen to them wherever you go when you can’t pick up the physical book.

The March Challenge

So here’s the March challenge. We essentially have five weeks this month. Your focus is going to read/listen to no less than five books. Here are the five books I’ll be reading.

Kindle First [TBD]
Book Club Selection – A Confederacy of Dunces (falls into the Classic category)
A book about the Circus – Water for Elephants: A Novel (this book is available with audio for Kindle Unlimited members, remember to look for the ‘Read and Listen for Free’ option)
A short book [TBD]
A book about Time Travel – Time’s Divide (The Chronos Files) (next book in the Chronos Files series, also a Kindle Unlimited book)

Anything beyond five books is a free for all.

For those not in a book club, I highly recommend joining a book club. You can find these at your local library or bookstore. It’s a great way for you to meet other bibliophiles such as yourself. It gives great insight into the book that you may not have even realized while you were reading. It’s also a good way to meet new people and make new friends. Books are meant to be shared.

If you don’t want to join a book club, since our book club is reading a classic, you can substitute option #2 with a classic or read what we’re reading.

For the Amazon Prime members that choose the same Kindle First book as I do and want to join in our own book club, please comment below, tweet me (@MichelleDoPW or @MichelleKenneth), ping me on Facebook, or tag me on Instagram (@diaryofaperfectionistwannabe). I’ll share the additional details in an upcoming post.

For those taking the March Challenge, ping me on social media using the hashtag #PWMarchBooks so that we can all find each other and share what we’re reading this month. I’ll Repost/Retweet, etc. so we can all connect to each other.

* For those playing catch-up, include a short book of poetry and choose at least 2 books this month that are less than 150 pages. If you can, try to boost your reading by listening to a couple of audio books. You can listen to these in the car, at work, while you’re working out, walking, etc.

How to Declutter Your Life Part Two: Tackling Your Entertainment

19 February 2016

As part of a new series this year, I wanted to share with you how I am decluttering my life. This is a five month series. For those who want to take the steps to begin decluttering your life, count on this being a six month life plan to commit to this year. You’ll need the extra month to truly put this plan into effect.

ESSENTIAL MATERIALS: Make sure to pick up a copy of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. This is one of the most important books in understanding the points we’ll be covering over these next five months. Also make sure to have a journal to record your progress.

Step 2. Tackle Your Entertainment

For those who have a rather large entertainment collection (videos, CDs, records, games, books, etc.), today we’re going to focus on how you can downsize your collection.

We are fortunate that we live in an age where we can get rid of our clutter and go digital with almost all of our entertainment needs. For those who have BluRay players, Smart TVs, XBox Ones and PS4s, (i.e. technology you can connect to the internet) utilize what these devices offer by putting everything up online to access your content through streaming and cloud services.

Take Advantage of Cloud Services – Movies

PART ONE. You know those pieces of paper you get inside your DVDs and BluRay Discs with a special digital code? Go online and enter in the codes. Most use services like Flixster or Ultraviolet. Those are the two movie cloud services you want to have an account with. It’s FREE.

What’s great about getting an account with both of these services is that they interlink with each other, so no matter which service you use based on the movie company’s choice provider(s), you can luckily interlink all of the accounts together. You can do that through the settings on both accounts.

On your Smart TV, Xbox, etc., download a movie app that allows you to access your movie collection. For me, that app is Cinema Now.

Using that app, link all of your upload libraries (Flixster and Ultraviolet) to the movie app (you can also do this online). You should be able to access your library of all digital content you entered in codes for through the various upload services. Movie companies usually decide which service they will use as a digital content service. You just have to enter in the code, pick which account you have from the list, and then it automatically is added to your cloud library.

When you open up your movie app on your TV, all of the digital content through the various services will be all in one spot to access no matter which TV or device you use.

Going Forward. Resolve to only purchase all future movies through the streaming service. You don’t need the actual physical copy to clutter up your home. By purchasing through the streaming service, you will have access to that movie on any of your devices. It also saves you a trip to the store or wait time to get it in the mail.

PART TWO. If you use streaming services like Netflix or Amazon Prime, consider matching your current library with theirs. If it’s part of their service, consider ditching your actual copy of the movie.

Most people don’t know that part of their Amazon Prime service is a streaming movie service just like Netflix. It’s part of the Prime membership. You don’t have to pay extra for it. All of the videos you order (or have ordered over the years prior to Prime) are available in the Amazon Cloud for you to access, too. They also have their own shows like Netflix does.

Netflix and Amazon Prime have a lot of the same movies and TV shows. The only major difference is their own original content like Orange is the New Black (Netflix) and The Man in the High Castle (Amazon Prime).

For your Smart TVs, video consoles and BluRay players…just download the Netflix and Amazon Prime apps to your TV to access the streaming services.

After you’ve completed PART ONE and PART TWO, you can get rid of the physical DVD/BluRay discs. They are available to you digitally. You can make a few bucks off that collection by going to a local retailer that buys used DVDs/BluRays.

PART THREE. After you have entered in all of the codes you found, matched your collection to Netflix or Amazon Prime, sold your collection (or donated it), now you need to focus on maintenance.

Check every now and again to see if there are any movies popping up on Netflix or Amazon Prime that you already own. If it’s new to their catalog, you can let go of your copy. Netflix makes it easy by showing what new movies they’ve added. Amazon Prime is a bit more laborious to check. Netflix is the easiest to go through and search. It’s much faster if you search the collection via your computer.

For the new movies you want to purchase, instead of buying a physical copy of it, you can now buy a digital copy through the movie app (Cinema Now) or even through Amazon. You can even rent movies if you don’t feel like buying. The prices to purchase are comparable to the actual physical copy. What’s also nice is that when you purchase, it downloads immediately. You don’t have to go to the store or wait for it to be delivered. It saves time and shipping costs.

Keep in mind that if you rent, check the prices between your cable provider, Amazon and the movie app. One may be cheaper than the other. Also, if you can wait, most of the popular movies are out on the movie channels a month after it’s released on DVD. I DVR it if I want to keep it. It saves from purchasing the movie itself.

Take Advantage of Streaming Services – Music

I use two streaming music services: Amazon Prime and Google Play. Of the two, I prefer Google Play. Amazon Prime Music is part of the Amazon Prime membership. You don’t pay extra for it. Google Play is a little less than $11 per month (depending on your state taxes).

I prefer Google Play because I am able to access their extremely large music library. The selling point for me is the classical collection. There are certain albums I like and Google Play has it. Amazon Prime does not. Not everything on Prime is part of the service. You have to pay for some of the music. Google Play, on the other hand, has everything. To me, that’s worth the $10+ each month: access to unlimited music and stations.

I don’t own any CDs thanks to streaming services. I can download every single album or song I’ve loved throughout my entire life and not pay anything extra beyond that monthly fee.

Keep in mind though that some artists will force you to purchase their music. If that’s the case, you’ll need Amazon Prime or iTunes to get their music. They won’t always be available on streaming services.

Either way, it keeps it digital. It’s less stuff you have to physically take care of.

Less clutter and less stuff to take care of is our mission!

Take Advantage of Reading Apps – Books

There is an ongoing debate among book lovers. Hard copy or digital? Most book lovers do both. For advanced copies of books, I have to have the physical copies. They don’t send digital copies (although they should…it would save so much in shipping costs).

PART ONE. For books I have to have now, or something to read while I’m traveling, I order it through my Nook app or Amazon Kindle app. I try to order all new books that are available digitally through one of the two apps, depending on who is selling the book cheaper or if I want narration added to it.

One service I do love is Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited. It’s a monthly service ($9.99/month). If you think about how much you pay per month for one book…and you read a lot…this service may be best for you. What I love the most about this service is that most of the books have narration. If I have to stop reading and walk somewhere, then I switch to narration so I can continue the book while I’m walking. It’s also great if you’re at work and need something to listen to. I listen to books while I’m working to help kick out my New Year’s Resolution of reading 52+ Books a year.

There is also the Audible service, but for the same price, you get one credit per month for an audio book. You also can’t switch back and forth between reading and listening to the narration. I prefer the Kindle Unlimited because like it says…unlimited books from their library. That includes the books you can switch back and forth between reading and narration.

So for those times you find that incredible book you just can’t put down but you have to because you have to go from point A to B or you are at work…consider the Kindle Unlimited service. You can listen to the book when you can’t read it. The narration picks up right where you left off reading. That’s why I love this service so much.

PART TWO. For those who have libraries at home…finding a way to declutter your books (when you are a bibliophile) is just impossible. So I want to focus on storage. If you’re looking for the perfect library system, try the Billy cases from Ikea. They are pretty high and can accommodate a rather large book collection.

I keep all of my books in the library. Unless I am reading that book, it’s the only time a book is allowed out of that room. People go on and on about styling their bookcases to look pretty. All of my books are alphabetized by author. They are all standing up, none are on its side (a KonMari must, everything must be standing up). If there are more books than shelf space, that means I have to weed out books to get rid of.

For the books I’ve already read, I only keep the books that were so good that I know I may need a passage from it later. These are the type of books that moved me. All the rest are either donated or sold at a resale bookstore.

Because I receive a lot of advanced copies, I have to weed every year to make room for the new review copies. Out of the advanced copies group, I only keep the books that were personally autographed to me. All the rest are donated after I review them. You can’t really resell advanced copies of books.

The key thing about having a library is that all of the books be in ONE PLACE. Do not scatter them throughout your home (with the exception of coffee table books). Have them all in one place so that when you are looking for a particular book, you will find it in that one room sitting on the shelf where it is supposed to be. Come up with a system that works for you. Alphabetizing by author works for me.

I also keep the review copies separate from the main books in the library. They have their own book shelf so I know which books I’m supposed to review.

The KonMari method teaches that we should stand everything up on its side (folded clothing, books, etc.). Keep that in mind as you place the books in an order that works for you.

The method of going through the collection and asking yourself if the book ‘sparks joy’ is a bit fruitless to ask of bibliophiles. All of the books spark joy.

In order to declutter from an overflowing collection, start with the books you’ve already read. If you have no intention of reading or referencing it again…let it go. If there are books that were given to you that you have no intention of ever reading because it’s not something that interests you…let it go. Books that are too damaged to read, recycle them. College books…come on, you are never going to read them again…let it go.

The most important thing in this process is to make sure you have the correct storage space for your library. If it’s overflowing, or you can’t stand all the books up on the shelves, you need to pare down or get a book shelf that will work for your budding collection. Start paring down the groups I mentioned above. Give those books another chance to let someone else enjoy them. It served its purpose in your life. By letting it go, it’s one less thing you have to take care of.

PART THREE. Maintaining order in your reading apps is very important. You can order up a storm of books and they will all sit there in your queue waiting to be read. This is where YOU STOP doing that. In a way, you are overwhelming yourself by creating a clutter of books you need to read on an app. Resolve from here on out to buy the book when you plan on reading it.

For books you’ve read, make sure you archive it, return it (Amazon Kindle), or remove it from your active library. You can always recall the book whenever you need it (if you purchased it). This clears up your visual library when you open up the device/app. Your goal is to be a minimalist in this decluttering journey.

If you really want to start decluttering your devices/apps, consider putting most of the books into the archive and leaving only the next 3-5 books you want to read in the queue. As you finish and archive each book, you can go through the archive and add the next book to the queue or purchase a new book.

Your goal is to declutter your reading apps. Maybe someday they’ll create reading lists (like they do music playlists) where you can easily drop and categorize your books. So if you’re in the mood to read a teen book, you can just go to your TEEN BOOKS list you created and pick one from your archived list. I guess I should email them and request this?

For the Gamers

Gamers technically already know that if they have an internet based game console, they can just order the new game through the console and it is uploaded immediately. No need to purchase the physical copy.

Buying a physical copy means you have to use that disc each time you want to play the game. It’s better to just download the game. This is great especially if you’re at someone else’s house and want to play a game you downloaded. Just switch to your profile on the other person’s game console and you can play.

You can take games/consoles you no longer want to places like Game Stop to resell.

When you pare down your games, you want to ask yourself if this game brings you joy or not. If it doesn’t, let it go. If you are not going to play it again, let it go. If you beat the game already, let it go. If you have the next version of the game (like most sports games) and it’s better than the older version, let the older version go.

I know there are collectors out there, so with the older game consoles and games, if they still function properly, keep and maintain them. I know how it feels to be nostalgic and want to play Atari or Nintendo 64.

For current and new games, consider downloading the games from here on out. Or use a game renting service like Gamefly.

Keep in mind that the less stuff you have, the less things you have to take care of. Your goal here is to declutter and get rid of everything that does not bring you joy. The only things you want to keep in your home are the things that bring you joy.

Does it Spark Joy?

Remember that throughout this whole process of decluttering your entertainment, your first question is “Does this spark joy?” If it doesn’t, let it go. The whole purpose of decluttering the KonMari way is to only keep the things in your home that brings you joy. You only want to surround yourself with the things that bring you joy.

After you have used this method to pare down everything (sometimes it can take a few tries to declutter one category), what you want to have left from your collection are ‘just enough.’ In other words, you have enough and you don’t need anymore. You’ve minimized your collection down to where things are not overflowing. You are content with the amount you have. For some people it may be nothing. For others 25, 75, 100, or 500. Just as long as you have adequate storage and things are not overflowing, you can have as many as you want…but the whole idea to decluttering is to have less things so you can do the things you’d rather be doing without being burdened down by stuff that will suck the energy out of you.

Money Matters

13 March 201519 February 2016

Over these past few months I’ve been shifting my financial house in a new direction. I’ve paid off 60% of my debt, maximized savings, maximized my 401k and started budgeting (living by the envelope method). But even though I’m doing what’s best to push my financial dream in a new direction, I’m constantly revising what I’m doing to see if there are better ways of doing things.

So why talk about this on “Diary of a Perfectionist Wannabe?” Well, it has more to do with becoming a little bit better at making financial dreams come true. Here are a few things I’ve come across recently that has saved me time, money, and hassles. It’s made my life more convenient and helped me to reach my goals. It’s also helped me to find new places to get a better deal for the things I love most.

BUDGETING

After all the bills are paid, I set aside a certain amount to spend on food, laundry, dry cleaning, eating out and other miscellaneous expenses. It’s from this budget, I have to figure out the best way to get more bang for my buck.

I joined Amazon Prime this year. I am actually grateful that I did because I’m seeing that there are a lot of benefits to this membership. First, I don’t shop in stores often. I shop online. What’s great about Amazon Prime is that I can order the monthly items (like cat food, treats and litter) for a much lower price than I would find at Target. I don’t even have to pay for shipping, because technically, I already did. It cost me $105.93 for a year long membership, but if you divide it up by 12, that’s $8.83/month. If you think about how much it would cost to ship a 20 pound bag of litter plus 2-3 cases of of cat food every month…you’re actually getting a severe bout of savings.

Normally, I’d have to take a cab or an Uber car to/from Target. That’s $30-$40 round trip. If I have it delivered by a grocery delivery service, that’s a $20 delivery fee, plus another $4.95 service charge. If I pick it up at KMart by Madison Square Garden, I’d have to do all the schlepping plus the cost of using public transit to go from Point A to Point B and go up and down a lot of stairs. Amazon has saved me a lot of money, time and hassle just to get these items to my home.

For those who drive, factor in your car payment, insurance and cost for gas for the entire month. Divide the total to how many times you use your car during that month to get a better idea of how much each trip costs you (not to mention the amount of time you spend in the store and traveling to these places).

Prime customers also get access to Prime Pantry where you can fill up a box of groceries for a flat rate of $5.99. I’ve used Prime Pantry for the 20 lb bags of litter and then added in some additional items on the side (they separate the stuff up into 2 internal boxes inside of 1 big box). I also plan on using this to order and ship boxes out to my brother’s platoon. It saves so much time at all of the stores, going to the post office, etc. and it saves me $10 in shipping costs to ship to an APO. Once again, another cost savings.

Another amazing benefit to Prime is that members get access to Prime Instant Video, Prime Music, Prime Photos and 1 Kindle Book a month.

For those who like streaming movies and TV shows at home or on your devices, you’ll have access to hundreds of thousands of movies and programs. It’s unlimited. Netflix and Hulu Plus both start at $7.99/month…and you don’t get access to free shipping on stuff you’re probably ordering from Amazon already.

I also added Kindle Unlimited and Audible memberships to my entertainment budget. I am addicted to the Books with Narration from Kindle Unlimited. You can read the book, but when you have to stop and bookmark it because you have to walk from one place to the next, just switch it to the narration and you can listen to the book while you’re moving. For those who commute, this is an incredible feature. I was able to get through a 246 page book in 2 days. I usually do 1/2 of that just sitting down to read because I have to keep putting the book down. Being able to switch to narration while I’m walking around keeps the book going.

My goal of getting through 52 books this year is more feasible now.

I added Audible as well because it gives me access to more audio books that Kindle Unlimited doesn’t offer. For me, this is mainly for those Book Club books that haven’t become available on Kindle Unlimited yet (or when I want a book that just came out).

I took the suggestion from a fireman friend who suggested I start listening to audio books, especially since I’m having problems getting back into reading. Audio books have been a godsend because I can actually listen to “War and Peace” instead of forcing myself to sit down to read a chapter. Now, I can just listen to it while I’m walking around.

Another great feature from Kindle Unlimited are the reference and self-help books available to customers. While I’m at the office and have some down time, I’ll read books that help with my job. Like this week, I read “Math Made Easy” (which is basically a cheat sheet on how to do math in your head very quickly), and I read a book on Passive Income. Today, I plan on reading a book on organization. Truthfully, these aren’t books I’d spend money on or take time to take out of the library, but make them available to read online and I’m more apt to read them to better myself.

All in all, by using these new services from Amazon, I’m saving a lot of money and time by simplifying my life in many aspects. Sure, I can get library books and DVDs from the library for free, but the convenience of downloading the book I need where I can both read and listen to it? I’ll stick to these two services. [Note: Audible is only for Audio Books. Kindle Unlimited offers the book/narration option, but not all books offer narration.]

For Movie Going Lovers

Another part of my entertainment budget I keep in is Going to the Movies. These days, it’s about $15 a pop. Even more if you want to go to IMAX. There is a solution to this. MoviePass offers a membership for movie going lovers. It’s $34.99/month. You can see 1 movie per day.

Before signing up, I strongly urge you to see if the movie theater you go to takes this membership. For me, I can use it at every movie theater I go to, including the artsy community one across the street from me. These days, it pays for itself in 2 movies a month. I recommend waiting until the summer months to really take advantage (technically May starts the hot Hollywood films of the summer).

In order to get more bang for your buck, sign up for the movie theater’s membership club as well. Those tickets you’re purchasing through Movie Pass can be turned into points which can be turned into money you can use at the movie theater for concessions and even movie tickets (like if you want to see an IMAX film or use the extra ticket for a friend who isn’t a Movie Pass member).

The downside? You can see 1 movie every 24 hours. They are strict on the 24 hours. It used to be that it just reset itself every night (which was perfect)…and then it went strictly 24 hours down to the very last second. Another downside for some is that you can only watch the movie once. You can’t go see the same movie more than once while it is still in the movie theater and use the Movie Pass card.

How does it work? First, you need a smartphone in order to download the app. They’ll send you a Movie Pass credit card that is activated only after you check in to the movie through the app. You can only use it to purchase that 1 movie ticket.

If you go to movies frequently, I highly recommend this. It seriously cuts down the cost for movie lovers who love to go to the movies but don’t go because it’s just ridiculously too expensive these days. If you go to just three movies a month…the membership is more than paid for. If you went to one movie every day, each movie would cost a little over $1 each. It’s $34.99 for me because I’m in NYC. It will be less for people not living in major metropolitan areas.

FOR THE DESIGNER ADDICTS

I have a confession. I’m a bit of an addict when it comes to buying designer accessories. I have a rather large designer handbag collection. A couple of years ago, I decluttered the handbags down to only major designers, getting rid of all of the lesser names. Now, I just buy what I like to add to the handbag collection.

Currently on my radar is the Fendi fur bag bugs (aka Monster) collection. In my search, I came across a site called Tradesy. I took a look around and let’s just say I went on a bit of a spending spree.

I netted a Chanel, Hermes and Dior bag and purchased a pair of Louboutin and Fendi shoes. My friend did a delayed double take when I said, “So I bought an Hermes bag.” She couldn’t believe it, so I showed her my cart and lo and behold, my closet said I purchased an Hermes bag. No, I didn’t spend $20,000 on a birkin. I found a Herbag for $500. That’s half off what you’ll find at other consignment places.

Luckily, they were having a friends and family event, so I was able to take additional money off. You can get $25 off your purchase of $100 or more by using my special link: TRADESY.

P.S. As of right now, The Outnet is having their semi-annual clearance sale. This is a great time for fashionistas to stock up on all their favorite designers for up to 80% off the retail price. [My major score were a pair of Adidas by Stella McCartney ballet flats for $18. After all was said and done, I’d saved $2,286.75 on my entire order. That’s some serious savings.]

Also, for designer addicts that frequent Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom…trust me when I say you can get your coveted designer accessory for less. For instance, the Fendi monster tote bag is $1500 at Saks. That same bag is $999 at Overstock.com. The exact same bag. {Also, if you’re a Club O member, you can earn rewards from your purchases. I’ve been able to score free Fendi sunglasses thanks to all of the reward dollars I earned from shopping at Overstock.com.}

Other places you should look: Century 21 shops (they have an online store), TJMaxx (yes, they are finally online), Loehmann’s (they may have closed all of their stores, but that’s because they went e-commerce) and Modnique. I’ve found that a lot of these shops have the same merchandise, but you never know if they’ll have a special sale on top of their already discounted prices.

THE FIVE ACCOUNTS

I was reading in “The Little Secrets of Passive Income: How You Can Create Passive Income With Little Or No Money At All” by Raiden Steven that everyone should have five accounts. 1. Financial Dream; 2. Basic Savings; 3. Education; 4. Basic Necessities; and 5. Other.

The book is a quick read, so I highly recommend taking a look at it just to get your brain moving in a direction of earning passive income (I don’t recommend doing what he suggests, but it’s worth a read to understand what you can do to grow passive income) [it’s a free read with Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited].

I want to touch on the Education part. This is why I recommend Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited…he suggests putting away 10% of your income to the education fund. I never put 10% away to an education fund mainly because I already had my schooling and frankly don’t have time to do continuing education courses. I also don’t have kids, so really, this was an account I could do without.

I started to think about it and then realized just how much money I’m saving by using the Kindle Unlimited membership, especially if I take the membership fee from the Education account. During the day, I’m pulling up books that will better myself. I even have books written by scientists discussing their various theories. There are even books on Photoshop, photography, etc. that I can read during the day. In other words, Kindle Unlimited has opened the door to a world filled with resources where I can better educate myself.

I spent a lot of time on Wednesday doing math problems just to jog my memory of how to do math in my head. I’m glad I did, because it forced me to re-memorize addition and multiplication tables (something that I had forgotten post-op). By really diving into complex math equations I started looking at the equations and answering them in my head in half the ‘short steps’ the author was suggesting. To me, this meant that math was back in my head again.

In other words, sometimes you just have to challenge yourself, especially when it comes to forgetting how to do things that are as important as math.

There are so many things out there to learn. That was the point of the Education account. You have to constantly challenge and better yourself. If you don’t, you won’t be able to command good salaries or keep working. After all, I’ve seen what happens to people that didn’t learn how to use a computer. They’re barely making it. You never want to be left behind, so continuously better yourself through education. It doesn’t have to cost you a fortune.

Who knows? By all the money I save in the Education account, maybe I can just use it towards an educational trip or an archaeological dig somewhere.

Just something to think about…but I highly recommend reading the Passive Income book. It will give you a new idea on how to budget yourself in order to earn income, and take a hard look at how you’re living. Re-doing the way you do your budget is interesting. It’s the 50-30-20 lifestyle, but that 30-20 is changed to 30% savings and 20% doing whatever you want with the money. Previously, it was vice versa. You’d save 20% and use 30% to do whatever. Personally, I like this new take on budgeting. What he shows you is how to use 10% of that 30% towards increasing your passive income…that’s what makes it worth the read.