Author Topic: Your Collecting Budget?  (Read 4998 times)

Offline Brian

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Your Collecting Budget?
« on: September 14, 2005, 12:03 PM »
I posted this in the "Collector's Challenge" thread as well, but thought maybe it should have its own thread for those who don't participate in the challenge.  Anyways, do any of you have a general "collecting budget" in mind from month to month.  Obviously, it averages out, but is there a target amount you attempt to stick to on a monthly basis?  It always depends on what is available, sometimes a lot of stuff hits at once...and sometimes its a dry spell like you've never seen...and then there are years like this where there is all kinds of stuff hitting in a 2-3 month span.  Anyways, when I first started collecting Star Wars, I pretty much kept to a $30ish/month budget or so, and that worked pretty well.  Then more and more Star Wars stuff came out, and my interests also branched off into other lines (Marvel, LOTR, DC), so I unfortunately waved bye-bye to that budget awhile ago.  This year has been especially bad (basically 3 to 4 times that), and I'm hoping to return to a more $30-$50 range from here on out.  My wife would rather me go to $10-$15/month, but I told her I thought that was too low .  Anyways, does anyone else here set a rough budget for themselves...or thinking about it?

Offline jokabofe

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Re: Your Collecting Budget?
« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2005, 12:32 PM »
Anyways, do any of you have a general "collecting budget" in mind from month to month.

Yeah... $0 - but I never make it. I pretty much just go with the flow, so to speak. When I have some money I go out shopping. When I have no money, I don't. When I find people selling stuff on the forums that I need/want, I usually buy it regardless and then try to figure out how I'm gonna pay for it  :P

Online Rob

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Re: Your Collecting Budget?
« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2005, 12:46 PM »
I generally try to keep SW purchases around $100-$150 per month - but I don't really stick to it.  There are lots of months were a bunch of stuff comes out, or I find a bunch of army builders I want, or a clearance Mini Bust etc... it's not uncommon for me to spend $200 or $300

I don't set a firm amount.

Offline DoctorPadawan

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Re: Your Collecting Budget?
« Reply #3 on: September 14, 2005, 12:47 PM »
I'm pretty much in the same boat as you, jokabofe, in that I fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to collecting.  Sticking to one of each item kind of helps me know approximately how much I'm going to be spending, but given the hit-or-miss situation at retail these days, I never know when I'm going to actually be spending it.

In the months leading up to all three of the prequel merchandise launches, I began putting aside money (often times up to six months in advance) so the onslaught of new stuff wouldn't be as big a financial hit for me.  I think it's all about knowing what is coming in advance and planning for that as far as I go, instead of setting a concrete amount from one month to the next.

Offline JoshEEE

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Re: Your Collecting Budget?
« Reply #4 on: September 14, 2005, 02:36 PM »
Yeah. I had a budget. Had being a past tense sort of thing.

 I set it for myself in the "Collectors Challenge" thread, and I figured that this year (I'm saving for a wedding) it would be important that I spend under 300 a month.  I did fine for the first month or two and then April hit.

I'm WAY over my budget for the year already and it's not even October.  I'm so lame. :-)
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Offline Jim

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Re: Your Collecting Budget?
« Reply #5 on: September 14, 2005, 08:13 PM »
I was spending about $25-30 a week.  I sadly will have to drop to like $25-30 a month and be more selective.  Just single carded figs and exclusive figs from here on out.  A ship here and there.  No more pack-ins, dlx, beast or multi-packs.

Offline Brian

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Re: Your Collecting Budget?
« Reply #6 on: September 15, 2005, 09:22 AM »
I guess a lot of us might not have an exact "set" budget, or if we do it is probably tough to stick to it.  If you don't have a budget...and don't mind sharing...what is your average spending/month on collecting stuff?  Like I mentioned earlier, this has been by far my most expensive year, and I think I'm averaging around $100-$120 a month for the year.  When I started, it was closer to $30 (wasn't nearly as much then, and no "other" stuff).  I'm hoping to cut back to more of a $30 to $50 range (per month).  It makes more sense, I need to streamline things anyways, and I know it would make my wife happy :).

Offline TheBlackDog65

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Re: Your Collecting Budget?
« Reply #7 on: September 17, 2005, 01:46 AM »
I have an exact budget. $100 a month for personal spending (wife gets the same). When the $100 is out, I'm done. This has worked extremely well, forcing me to decide what I really want, and what I don't want. So it made the transition from carded and opener, to opener and non-completist several months ago. Works well with the wife and no more arguments etc. I usually end up with abou $50-$75 on heavy collecting months on the collection, and about $40 on non heavy months being spent on me; rest goes to either my kids or I spend on the wife.

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Offline Darth Broem

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Re: Your Collecting Budget?
« Reply #8 on: September 17, 2005, 04:45 PM »
I have a budget now which means spending just about nothing on Star Wars items right now.  It sucks but that is the way it's going right now. Basically if there is some clonetrooper I do not have and see it I will most likely buy it. 

Offline JediMAC

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Re: Your Collecting Budget?
« Reply #9 on: September 17, 2005, 06:19 PM »
Budget?  What's that?!  :P

As a completist who never passes up something he needs, I buy stuff when I see it, no hesitation and no questions asked.  I never want to risk missing out on something, even if money's running a little tight.  Better to pay retail now, than twice retail later for something I passed up on (provided I can still pay the credit card off in full at month's end obviously, since I ain't about to start paying any finance charges).  So I'll buy now, and deal with the finances later.  If we're gonna come up short, I'll just tell the wife to go put in some extra hours at her consulting job!  :-X

But yeah, there are months where I start to delve deeply into some of the "Other Collectibles" type of stuff, so occasionally I need to monitor myself in that respect to make sure I'm spacing that out evenly, and can still get the credit card paid off in full at month's end.  Easier said than done, as far as trying to lay off of stuff though.  Especially when there's some good deals flowing through eBay, or elsewhere.

Damned hobby is like a drug, I tells ya'!

Online Rob

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Re: Your Collecting Budget?
« Reply #10 on: September 17, 2005, 06:30 PM »
It's times like these that I'm glad I don't stick to a budget...



 :-X

Offline Taminar

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Re: Your Collecting Budget?
« Reply #11 on: September 25, 2005, 01:09 AM »
Hmmmm.. Depends on how much stuff I find that I want and whether or not my husband is with me at the time. <G>

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Offline Brian

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Re: Your Collecting Budget?
« Reply #12 on: January 16, 2007, 10:41 AM »
Just bumping this up after discussing spending in the "Collector's Challenge" threads.  With more and more stuff out there all the time (licenses, lines, individual items, etc.), and with fairly large releases even in non-movie years now (like last year and this year), have any of you started thinking about a loose budget or a limit for the year?  Like I've mentioned before, I think at one time I pretty easily stuck to a $30/month or less budget (back in the POTJ days and earlier), but that has gone out the window the past few years.  I think that with Star Wars collecting, if you do use a budget, it has to be an "average per month" type of budget.  At least that's what I tell my wife :).  Because with Star Wars, you never know when things are coming out (or many times, what is coming out) for the majority of the year.  There could be months where you find a good amount of stuff, and some where you don't find anything.

Anyways, its hard to keep the budget in that $20-$30/month range anymore just with Star Wars - let alone if you collect anything else.  I'd like to get back in that range, but would be happy with $40-$50/month.  Just curious if anyone has a budget, or has thought about it?

Offline Morgbug

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Re: Your Collecting Budget?
« Reply #13 on: January 16, 2007, 11:02 AM »
No.

 ;D

Well, not really that is.  But the rationale is I don't always know what's coming from a particular line and when it will show.  I also don't know relatively speaking how much something will cost.  A figure in Canada will run just under $12 after taxes, but if I manage to work a deal with a US friend I can often drive that cost down (taxes, shipping, customs fees) to under $8 CAD per figure if not less, so it's difficult to calculate. 

I do think this year will be better than many for me.  There's little from Master Replicas I really want (though a few of those helmets are tempting :P) so that drives the budget down, particularly now that I have all the FX sabers I want.  My interest in Hasbro (Star Wars, Marvel Legends) is waning as time goes on, either due to quality, rehashes or sheer overload, so that should save some money. 

The real fly in the ointment is Gentle Giant.  I dig their busts and animated maquettes, so it depends what gets announced in a year.  I'm also a fan of the bustups, so it depends on the chase figures available and what comes out in particular waves. 

I'm really just trying to spend less and obviously the diversity and pricey-ness of some of what I collect means my budget is higher than most.  But it's just a see-what-comes-out attitude for me.  Had ML 1 from Hasbro been interesting, that would have been $60 out the door.  As it is, I'm spending nothing.  Never know, just never know.
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Offline Madcow

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Re: Your Collecting Budget?
« Reply #14 on: January 16, 2007, 01:54 PM »
The word "budget" is not in my vocabulary.  ;D

I just buy as I go. More and more I find myself cutting back a limiting it all but there are those times where I just HAVE to have it...