| Sunday, April 09, 2006 |
| Review - Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping |
 A few weeks ago I was contacted by the publisher of Judith Levine's new book Not Buying It : My Year Without Shopping and asked if I would review it. I agreed and a few days later the complimentary copy arrived on my doorstep. This is my first time reviewing a book. I apologize upfront for the length of the post.
Judith and Paul, a 50-something couple who are in a 13 year relationship and live part-time in Brooklyn, New York and part-time in Hardwick, Vermont have decided to engage in a consumerism experiment. For one year they are "Not Buying It", at least not if it is considered non-essential.We take the vow. Starting January 1, 2004, Paul and I will purchase only necessities for sustenance, health, and business-groceries, insulin for our diabetic cat, toilet paper, internet access. I am not primarily out to save money, though I'll be delighted if that happens. I won't preach the gospel of the Simple Life or dispense advice on how to live it. While Judith may not want to dispense advice on simple living, she has no problem expressing her political and social views. Unfortunately it is threaded throughout the book. This is a bit like reading a diary since the book is structured with monthly chapters (December 2003 - December 2004) and individual daily entries within each chapter. If you don't like the diary writer or how she expresses her views, you are not going to like this book. However, if you can push through (skim) all that it will make the reading of this book just that much quicker.
When finished I found myself very concerned for Judith and Paul. While Judith did not intent for this book to be about her personal finances, some facts do slip out. As mentioned before she is 50-something. A self-employed writer and states her income to be $45,000 per year (a benefit of her occupation appears to be the ability to write off just about everything as a business expense, a big reason she appears to survive on this income). She has a roughly $50,000 nest egg. Half-way through her year of "Not Buying It" she was able to pay off her $7,956.21 credit card debt. She owns her own apartment in Brooklyn and seems to rent it out during those times she is in Vermont.My basic nut, including mortgage, utilities, health insurance, and the like, consumes about three-quarters of my gross income [...] But the remaining one quarter, discretionary expenditures, have seen a noticeable drop. On her recent Oprah appearance she states she saved $13,000 during her year of "Not Buying It" ($8,000 went to pay off credit card debt and $5,000 extra in savings). Looking at her numbers I feel like Judith and Paul should be subjects of a future retirement diet show instead of just profiled for the debt diet. When the two discuss their net worth Paul says that if both sold their homes in ten years they would have one million dollars. Judith then points out they would be homeless millionaires. I felt like pointing out "And you will probably be married since neither of you can afford to take the full brunt capital gains tax if you sell, and you need $1.25 million according to that Ben Stein article". Talk about having your nest egg all in one basket! These two better pray the real estate market does not tank and Judith's book does well.
In fact that is my big beef with this whole book. Judith states she and Paul are in this experiment together. But are their finances commingled? Is that $45,000 per year just her salary or does it include Paul's as well? Whether she intended it or not her consumerism experiment has saved her from credit card debt and hopefully started her thinking seriously about her retirement. I can't help thinking this book should be titled "Buy Me: How writing a book saved this baby boomer from a bleak old age", maybe the publisher will rename it for the paperback edition?
OK, now after all that - would I recommend this book? I am going to say yes. Judith can write well and I did find myself reading to the end to find out how she would finish her year (however I did not read this in one sitting, I abandoned the book numerous times, to me it was NOT a page turner). I did find myself thinking about people I know who would enjoy this book (mostly for the sections about the author's experience with libraries). If I am willing to recommend it to a friend, then I am willing to recommend it to my readers.Labels: Book Review |
| posted by Boston Gal @ 11:00 AM *
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| 6 Comments: |
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This is off topic, but did you ever get that $5.00 Amazon coupon for taking the poll? I haven't, and it's been well over 72 hours!
Julie
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Hi Julie,
No, my $5 never arrived this time. When I contacted the person who administered the poll he indicated that a lot of people took the poll using multiple email addresses. At the time he seemed pretty disgruntled that he had to manually weed out so many. I only took it once and have not received a payout. So maybe he just invalidated all results? Who knows, but for me lesson learned. I won't post about survey's anymore. I try to stick to posting things that are pretty guaranteed for everyone (like the big company free samples or sales I come across). Sorry this one did not work out.
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haha! Great new title for the book!
--CollegeGrad
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Thanks CollegeGrad,
I have a feeling that little joke is going to cost me any future free books and review offers :(
Oh well, I had to be honest!
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No offense, but I feel like your post is more like reviewing the author than the book.
My 2 cents
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True, but it is hard not to do that (review the author) since it is very much about her.
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This is off topic, but did you ever get that $5.00 Amazon coupon for taking the poll? I haven't, and it's been well over 72 hours!
Julie