I'm quite happy with the results.
August - 23 in (16 series mystery, 5 fiction, 2 NF) and 84 out
Started at -52, ended at -113!
September - 17 in (3 series mystery, 7 fiction, 7 NF) and 6 out
Started at -113, ended -102
October - 12 in (7 series mystery, 3 fiction, 2 NF) and 13 out
Started at -102, ended -103
November - 16 in (3 series mystery, 9 fiction, 4 NF) and 9 out
Started at -103, ended at -96
December - 16 in (6 series mystery, 5 fiction, 5 NF) and 1 out
Started at -96, ended at -80
End of Year total is minus 80, and since I started the year at minus 7, that means I have 73 fewer of my keeper books in the house today than I did at the end of the year! I thought I might actually be over, and would have to look for something to get rid of to be at zero.
Now, I'm pretty sure I missed a few books coming in, I try to account for them all but it wouldn't surprise me if a few slipped past. I was trying to decide if I should just zero out the year and start fresh, but I don't think I want to do that. I might subtract 10 or so books from that total, in case I missed some. I think I would be far more likely to miss a book coming in rather than going out, because I'm mentally tuned to giving myself credit for everything going out.
So, instead of starting the year at -80, I might start at -70, just to be safe. I might also try harder to make each month more equal, unlike December, which only saw one of my books going out.
I did feel comfortable with the number of books I started with, so I would be happy if I could just stay on the minus side. Especially if I can continue to get rid of the trading books, etc. this year, that will free up some room.
Anyway, I will definitely continue to keep track of this, this was SO HELPFUL to me. If anyone had told me 10 years ago I could do this, I would have said, NO WAY.
I highly recommend this method to anyone trying to contain their purchasing or acquiring--it made me think hard about every book I got, and stopped a lot of thoughtless acquiring.
Diane