To think this a huge sum to spend on books?!

[KeiraKnightley2]

My boyfriend is moving into a new place soon (it's early days, so not living together yet). He loves books and so do I.

Anyway he said he's getting a big bookcase and has given himself a max budget of 1k to spend on books of his choice!

I said I thought this was a huge budget (great if he can do it) but he reacted with surprise, as though this is normal spending money. It isn't, is it?

Then again, you might spend thousands on a laptop, so maybe I'm wrong.

If he can afford it and wants to do it , I can think of worse hobbies to spend money on but are these books for reading or just for filling the bookshelf?

I use the library buy them one at a time as I wanted to read them.

I guess it depends on if he can afford it. I'm a huge reader and if I had 1k that I could justifiably spend on books without it impacting me financially in any way - I would! I would gladly spend that on special editions and pretty hardbacks lol. But I couldn't afford to so I don't. I guess as you say it's no different to saving up and buying an expensive price of tech 🤷🏻‍♀️

If I had a spare £1000 I would happily spend it on books!

Wonderful if he can afford it! Why not?!

It’s a lot of money, but plenty would spend it on a TV without a blink. (Not me, our tv is 15 years old 😆)

It's a HUGE amount to spend on books in one go. Nothing wrong with it if he can afford it, but pretty unusual. It seems very different to someone amassing a book collection over time, which after a while might add up to £1000 or more spent.

I've always brought books as and when, spending all that in one go seems very strange as it will take ages to read them and your tastes change. Sounds like he just wants to buy them to look impressive.

We had books at uni that cost several hundred pounds so if it's a specific technical subject i could easily spend that. if it's just regular fiction then it's probably a bit much for me but it's his money and he can spend it how he likes

I recently got 8ish books for £100 and they don't fill even half a bookshelf shelf so I don't think £1000 will go very far.

I've spent thousands of pounds on books over the years, but never that much in one go. I'm with @Daisypod , presumably it'll take him a while to get through them all and your tastes change. If they're non-fiction/reference books then it's not such a big a deal. If he wants to buy a special or first edition then he should be able to.

I am flipping through the latest Folio Society catalogue as we speak, spending my imaginary £1k

I initially agreed with you and was like that’s crazy. Then I roughly counted the books on my bookshelves and it’s about £600 so I guess that’s not too crazy to go to £1000. However the difference is we have built these up over the years.

I’m now thinking about what a great day out going to charity shops and old book shops to stock up would be!

One of my ex boyfriends said to me once "what's money for, if not to be enjoyed".

Really brought home how different our worlds were. He had had a private education, first car and driving lessons, a gap year of travelling, financial help whilst at university and while doing a masters degree, so didn't need to take out a student loan or have a part time job. He got his first job when he was 23. He also had help with a substantial house deposit so had manageable mortgage repayments.

So to him, money was for having fun with, not about surviving.

He would have easily spent a grand on something if he wanted it.

Doesn't he already have any books to put on the shelves? It's nothing to do with you, though - he's free to spend his money as he wants. I would just look at how he spends, whether he wastes money generally, or whether he goes into debt. If he doesn't, then it's fine, isn't it?

As a big treat I could see that as not a completely unusual amount. Most people know someone who has likely spent that on a phone, TV or laptop.

Many people spend multiple times that every single year on a holiday.

A few nice meals out and that's £1K gone.

I guess it just feels odd in this context as books are often seen as low value or even disposable. But they'd last a lot longer than the holiday (and probably much longer than the tech too!).

It sounds like he's living the dream tbh, I'd love to have a grand to spend on books all at once.

Unless he has always desired a full set of the Wizard of Oz books in fancy hardback with colour illustrations or something then it's a lot to spend in one go.
Bizarre way of buying books. The joy of a new bookcase is filling it over time.

I find buying £1,00 worth of books in one go unusual. I’d wonder if he just wanted to fill the bookshelf rather than actually read them. Tastes change, new books are released, someone lends you a couple of books and your TBR pile becomes massive, and a dust gatherer. Assuming 50 books per year (which is more than most) that’s two years worth of books, before any new books are acquired. But it’s his money and he can spend it on what he wants.

I have walls of books in almost every room, and I have definitely spend a LOT more than £1000 collecting them, but I would feel very strange about spending that amount all at once just to have a full bookshelf.

If he means he's going to set aside the money to dip into when he sees a book he wants, that's totally understandable. If he's planning to spend it in one go, I'd think it was a bit odd, but fair enough if he can afford it.

That's like 100-150 books, give or take? Less if he is buying hardback. It's not that many if you are filling up a bookshelf.
I mean, it is a bit weird to buy that many books all at once. I would want to buy in batches otherwise I would be oppressed by the sheer number of books I had to read! Also you might change your mind.
However if you are starting a book collection from scratch, or have had to limit the number of books you own through lack of space and now have the chance to buy what you want, fine

I think its unusual to bulk buy books (don't people tend to collect books one by one as they go through life?) But not a bad use of money if he can afford it.....my husband is an avid reader and I find it a very attractive quality.

If its just earmarked as leisure money, not money that should go on the bills...

Would you object to a holiday for £1k?
Or jewellery?
Hobbies like watersports, cycling, warhamner, lego...
Games consoles?
A fancier car?
Designer clothes?

Everyone likes different luxury items.

Does he already own books? I have a lot of books but I’ve built a collection over time rather than just bulk buying.

The more I think about this the odder it seems.

Surely you wait until you have books stacked in double rows on the shelves, and some piled on the floor, and then you buy another Billy bookcase to instantly fill?

Owning no books, buying a bookcase, and then buying more books than you can possibly read in a year to fill the shelves seems completely backwards.

It's not so much the value on books - certainly many readers' collections will have exceeded that cost.

It does feel odd to have a set budget to fill a bookcase and buy all at once.

Is he just going to waterstones and buying whatever he fancies...and its mostly for a reader "aesthetic", when he doesn't already own a lot of books. That I'd find slightly weirder than if he was already a voracious reader with a long list of books he wanted to read, but hadn't bought - and so its almost like a big stock up.

Likewise, is it a replacement of existing, loved books - buying all new matching hardcover versions, or first editions - that could add up quickly! Personally there are very few books that I'd love a "decorative" or first edition version of...but for some its just another aspect of reading they enjoy.