Your Collecting Budget?

[JesseVader08]

I see myself spending a similar amount each month compared to last year, but I want to knock down the "actual" amount spent by selling off some stuff I don't want anymore.  I've got a couple boxes full of stuff that I'm going to try my luck with on eBay (non-SW that I'll never have room to display).  I've never sold anything on eBay before, so we'll see how well it helps me "save" some money.

[Brian]

Kind of an older thread - and maybe it isn't as relevant with the "collector's challenge" thread now - but I was wondering if anyone tries to stick to a monthly "budget" these days with their collecting.  When I first started collecting, in the POTF2/Episode I days, I did pretty much stick to a budget of about $30 a month.  The first line I really collected the majority of was the POTJ line, and it seemed easy enough to keep up with things this way (aside from a single Spidey figure, I had stayed away from any "other" lines at that point).  I was just getting out of college around that time, and my wife was still going, so there wasn't a lot of collecting money there really.

As the years went out, I got to more of a loose budget (not monthly) and it seemed to really balloon with the release of ROTS in 2005 (and the pattern of having 60-70 figures a year, plus all the other stuff - and other lines).  Anyways, with recent employment changes and a drastically reduced "miscellaneous" budget, I'm starting to try to go back to a monthly budget again.  With the prices of vehicles and some other things these days, it sometimes has to be "floating" because one ship could eat up one month's budget pretty quickly.  I'm not sure where it will land yet, but I'm hoping to stick to $100 a month or less (if possible).  It makes it a little more difficult when Hasbro releases 3/4 of their product in the last four months, but hopefully I can keep up.  Anyways, does anyone out there stick to a collecting budget these days? 

[iFett]

Anyways, does anyone out there stick to a collecting budget these days? 

I've never had one, but it would be nice to sort of have a financial plan I suppose when it comes to buying this junk.  As long as the bills are paid and there's a savings plan then it's all just fair game in my book.  Would be nice if I only collected Star Wars stuff I suppose.  Had no clue that I'd be this "hardcore" into toys when I first got back into collecting back in 01.   

[Brian]

I've never had one, but it would be nice to sort of have a financial plan I suppose when it comes to buying this junk.  As long as the bills are paid and there's a savings plan then it's all just fair game in my book.  Would be nice if I only collected Star Wars stuff I suppose.  Had no clue that I'd be this "hardcore" into toys when I first got back into collecting back in 01.   

Same here.  I think it would be much easier (and cheaper) to just stick to Star Wars, but that is easier said than done (at least for me).  I keep telling myself that I'm almost done with these other lines, as many I've been interested in have either wrapped up (Lord of the Rings, Indy), are winding down (Marvel Legends, possibly 25th Joes), or are pretty slow with the releases (MOTU Classics).  The main "big" one to me now is DCU Classics, where I originally planned to stick to Gotham characters and the "big guns", but that seems to have gone out the window.  When I first started collecting again, I never dreamed I would have this much Star Wars stuff, let alone things from at least half a dozen other lines.  I know my wife would be much happier if I just stuck to Star Wars.  I agree with you, I never thought I'd be this hardcore into it at this point either, and there are times where I question some of it now as well.

[Phrubruh]

Since loosing my star wars room to my daughter's bedroom, my collecting habbits have changed. Now there is no where to display anything new. It just doesn't make alot of sense to buy something to instantly stuff in a box in garage.

[Rob]

Still no firm budget.  But I do spend less on Star Wars compared to a few years ago.  Very little army building, no carded collecting, fewer vehicles... no 12", unleashed, or lego...

[Darth_Anton]

My budget has been modest in recent years since I've cut back, at max $200 a month. However, my wife and I hit the big 40 soon. We've been in formed from our health insurance carrier to look for a huge premium increase in addition to this years. The writing is on the wall.

[Chris M]

I gotta say I have no collecting budget.  But then again, I haven't bought anything SW related in a year and half.  I just haven't had any interest in collecting.  Plus, I've been doing work on the house and playing lots of softball, so that, and my daughter, is where any extra cash has been going.  I'm not really missing collecting either.

[efranks]

Till now my collecting budget has been if I could afford the item when I found it.  I will let some pre-orders ride on a CC and then just save up the cash till the item arrives so I can pay it off.  Otherwise, I usually have the extra cash for when I come across the latest wave of figures or a new comic pack or vehicle and I just pick it up.

Hasbro doesn't make that easy by cramming 8 month's worth of stuff into the last 3 months of the year...again and again and again... 

It's now to the point that I'm going to start budgeting for certain items, however.   The huge bumps in prices that some things have taken (mostly on Hasbro items) in the last year make it harder to impulse buy things.  In the last week I've found myself passing on a couple things because I had to make a choice to buy the stuff I've found now or hold onto my cash because there's a bigger item coming that I'm more interested in.  Like, I just passed on the Tank Droid because I'm waiting on the new TRU Republic Gunship which has a steep price increase over all previous releases.

   E...

[GrandMoffNick]

I've never had a budget before. I've had different levels of what I allowed myself to buy at different times. But with so many things coming out at a time lately I really start to wonder if I shouldn't come up with a budget soon.

[Brian]

That is a lot of the reason I'm looking more at a budget again as well.  Like many of you, I haven't really had a strict one over the past few years either.  I started out with one when I first started collecting, but in the years since I pretty much bought things when I saw them for the most part - as long as we had the money.  After getting laid off at the beginning of this year, and having the budget cut considerably, I've had to really think over each purchase again.  Plus, like it has been mentioned, with so much stuff coming out at the end of the year like this, it makes pacing yourself and budgeting things more of a priority.  I mean, I've always had to "save up" and budget for any larger items (big ships or higher end stuff), but with all the figure releases and exclusives that are released between September and December anymore, it becomes a lot to keep up with as well (not to mention the price increases).

[jedi_master_sal]

I've been very good about my budget. I came up with a plan in 2007 that I'd add up how much I spent that year, then in 2008 cut that number in half to make my budget, then cut the 2008 number in half again. Once 2010 rols aorund I'll make my budget only 10% of what my 2007 budget was.

For the record I spent right around $6K for SW alone in 2007.
So 2008's budget was $3K. I ended up spending about $2700, so I actually came under budget. However I started collecting Halo action figures, so I did go over my total toy budget, just not the SW specific budget.
The SW budget for 2009 is a paltry $1,500. So far I'm doing very well in that area with about $600 spent so far. I do expect a large rush towards the end of the year, so that number will definitely climb. Other than SW I primarily only collect Halo toys and Transformer Movie toys (with some scant exceptions). All told I've spent about $1200 between SW, Halo and TF. Not too bad for me.

In 2010, I'm hoping to spend no more than $600 on SW. That may be tough depending on the big vehicle of the year. Thankfully I'm all but cured of large army building, only building squads of 4-6 figures. One exception I'll make this year is the Gungan warrior of which I want 40 of them. So that will be a significant chunk of my budget for this year (2009).

Halo is fairly cheap, but for the exclusives and even then not all that bad. There is a wave of figures every 3 months or so. I preorder the mass retail ones and "hunt" for the exclusives.

TF is insanely easy to collect and I can see myself dropping this collection soon. I'll keep what I have, but when the 3rd movie comes out, I'll be much more discerning about what I collect from it, rather than getting all of the Hasbro figures.

I have a huge storage unit, that while filling up, still affords me to buy the big items knowing I have the space for them.

The eventual plan is to build dioramas for my SW stuff. Large ones. I've discussed this before, so I won't bore with the details yet again. Not sure how I'll eventually display the Halo stuff, though I have a couple of ideas floating around. TF stuff will likely just be in bookshelves displayed in a vague movie scene sequence.

I've enjoyed collecting most of the time over the last 15+ years of modern collecting. Having just turned 40 this past Friday though has me thinking yet again that it's edging ever so closer to the day I'll just stop collecting altogether. That thought has been in my mind for the past few years, now I see it as more and more a reality. The time for the torch to be passed is near at hand, so to speak, with regards to me anyway.

[JediJman]

Budget?  Budget?  HahahahHAHAHhahaha!.   

[Hemish]

Budget?  Budget?  HahahahHAHAHhahaha!.   

What he said!!!

Although i am very selective with what i buy now

[Phrubruh]

I don't think I ever really had a dollar amount budget. It started as every ship, figure and playset. Then it became, collect each figure loose and maybe an occasional ship. Now I've set it to just certain unique or first creation legacy/EU figures in hopes to create grand displays again someday.