How much do you spend a month?

[craigm71]

Hi everyone!

 

When I started collecting retro games (namely all the consoles and Turbo Grapfx/Coleco Vision games), I put my limit of spending at around $100.00 a month (my wife's limit to me). What I really have been spending is around $250.00 a month and that's with me resisting spending more big time. While I can afford this, I always wonder if that's a lot to the average collector here.

 

So my question to everyone is what is your "normal" allowance for retro gaming? I guess I want to see where I am to others with the same hobbie. Thanks!

[goldenegg]

While I'm certain many people here spend more than $250/mth (me included), that doesn't really mean anything. You'd need to know people's total disposable income and see what percentage they're spending. I doubt you'll get many people willing to disclose that information.

 

The key for any spending is that it is not bringing you in to debt (or further in to it) and you are not getting in to a position where you can't afford other needs (i.e. food, saving for the future, etc..).

[the.golden.ax]

I'm the first to admit that my collecting has been, um, unhealthy at times. I can't afford to do it at all. If I can scrape buy with sales of crap to justify the keeping of crap then it was a good month. What I really want to do is collect. Without getting something I can sell, trade, or justify the purchase with, it's hard to just get stuff that goes in to the collection (the goal). I've been better these days. Having allot of stuff (so much that it's hard to imagine doing anything with allot of it in my lifetime) and realizing your mortality really helps you slow it down and weed it out.

[craigm71]

well it's true it's a percent of how much you make...I'm just looking at it spend wise. $250 is not a large percent for me but money is still money and since I am new to collecting I was just trying to gauge myself to others...I suppose just starting its natural to go a little crazy. I am trying to get good deals so that helps. Craigslist is my first place I go...then this site...then finally eBay

[Cebus Capucinis]

I spend all of it, every month, all months.

 

In reality, I probably only spend around $100 every couple months now, and that's only on homebrews. With tuition being paid out-of-pocket and my wife not working full time due to her graduate studies, I just can't afford more than thrift store prices these days. I can occasionally splurge on a homebrew or two now and again though.

[HatefulGravey]

On the average month its around $100 right now. I don't often find something I just have to have anymore, and when I do I buy it at flea markets and such. When I do find something I really want at a good price I will buy it, but that doesn't happen like it used to.

 

I'm still missing enough random common games for most of my systems that I just look for people selling here and try to buy 10+ games at a time from that common list.

 

Now, when I was really buying a lot, and getting a box or two in the mail everyday that spending was around $1500 a month. That was when sales at work were a lot better and the collection was a lot smaller. I can't afford that anymore, and I could use more room for the collection anyway. In those days travel was a big part of this too. I would drive 5 or 6 hours to pick up a new arcade machine or hit a new flea market atleast twice a month back then. These days I stay busy enough with the other things that go along with this hobby that I don't really need to spend time looking for things to buy. They will come to me soon enough and I have boxes of extra to deal with right now anyway .

 

Good luck collecting, and start clearing a room in your house for your game room. You are going to need it sooner or later.

[GKC]

I was spending easily over $100 (probably closer $200) a month for awhile but things settled down. Mainly I had so many games that I hadn't played and I had other things I wanted to spend money on. I have several hobbies, all of which cost money, and I cant afford to spend money on them all at the same time so I have to rotate my hobby spending. In fact I just bought my first game in about 3 months. It was a TG16 game and I think it rotated my retro gaming hobby back to the front of the line and may spark another spending run.

[+boxpressed]

I would say that if $250 is not a large percentage of your disposable income, then you should go ahead and plan for that expense. If you are just getting started, you may see that figure rise, maybe even double. Then, you may have to make a decision: "Do I keep on buying everything I'm interested in, or do I focus my puchases?" A while back, I started a thread about having a collecting plan, and there's a lot of good advice that many people contributed.

 

If you aren't at the point where you can focus your buying to a particular system or systems, my advice is to focus on quality in case you want to resell some of it (and you probably will). Buy only CIB games in good condition and, if you can afford it, don't worry so much about keeping to a strict budget if an ultra rare pops up. If you buy only quality, you can figure out your collecting plan later because you will be able to sell what you no longer want.

[AtariLeaf]

I used to spend about that much ($200 - $250) per month a few years back, in the last while I've been spending A LOT less. the main reason is I'm getting very picky about what I buy instead of buying everything I see. For example, just yesterday a local pawn shop had some decent NES games - Double Dragon II, SMB2, Mario Bros. Arcade, and a couple of others for $5 each, I only bought the Mario Bros. Arcade since it was the only game that really interests me. A couple of years ago I would have scooped them all up to just sit on a shelf. I'm not interested in doing that anymore hence I spend less (making my wife a lot happier in the process)

 

Even when I did spend a lot, I also picked up a lot of lots (make sense?) and I'd keep what I wanted and flip the rest, sometimes breaking even, sometimes losing money, sometimes making money so in the long run I don't look at it as spending $250 a month since I was getting most of it back.

[HatefulGravey]

I used to spend about that much ($200 - $250) per month a few years back, in the last while I've been spending A LOT less. the main reason is I'm getting very picky about what I buy instead of buying everything I see. For example, just yesterday a local pawn shop had some decent NES games - Double Dragon II, SMB2, Mario Bros. Arcade, and a couple of others for $5 each, I only bought the Mario Bros. Arcade since it was the only game that really interests me. A couple of years ago I would have scooped them all up to just sit on a shelf. I'm not interested in doing that anymore hence I spend less (making my wife a lot happier in the process)

 

Even when I did spend a lot, I also picked up a lot of lots (make sense?) and I'd keep what I wanted and flip the rest, sometimes breaking even, sometimes losing money, sometimes making money so in the long run I don't look at it as spending $250 a month since I was getting most of it back.

 

The ability to flip the rest of a lot to get what you want for free or at a reduced cost is a more advanced collecting tactic I think. You have to have your basics covered to use this as a way to collect. Done correctly you could, in theory, collect for free and who wouldn't love that.

 

So, if you are just starting out, either buy lots you want most, if not all, of. The buying in lots thing really should come later of you might burn out too fast.

[the.golden.ax]

I used to spend about that much ($200 - $250) per month a few years back, in the last while I've been spending A LOT less. the main reason is I'm getting very picky about what I buy instead of buying everything I see. For example, just yesterday a local pawn shop had some decent NES games - Double Dragon II, SMB2, Mario Bros. Arcade, and a couple of others for $5 each, I only bought the Mario Bros. Arcade since it was the only game that really interests me. A couple of years ago I would have scooped them all up to just sit on a shelf. I'm not interested in doing that anymore hence I spend less (making my wife a lot happier in the process)

 

Even when I did spend a lot, I also picked up a lot of lots (make sense?) and I'd keep what I wanted and flip the rest, sometimes breaking even, sometimes losing money, sometimes making money so in the long run I don't look at it as spending $250 a month since I was getting most of it back.

 

The ability to flip the rest of a lot to get what you want for free or at a reduced cost is a more advanced collecting tactic I think. You have to have your basics covered to use this as a way to collect. Done correctly you could, in theory, collect for free and who wouldn't love that.

 

So, if you are just starting out, either buy lots you want most, if not all, of. The buying in lots thing really should come later of you might burn out too fast.

 

As you mass a certain gravity it is possible. I can 100% vouch for that.

[sqoon]

Around $130 a month here.

[AtariLeaf]

Actually I started with big lots, not out of some kind of collecting strategy, but simply because years ago, big retro gaming lots were much easier and cheaper to come by. Flipping the rest on ebay was a lot easier and more profitable 12 years ago when I started using it as a way to both make some extra money and

build up my collection.

[craigm71]

Thanks guys, since I am still new collecting (still kicking myself for getting rid of all my Coleco Vision / Atari 2600 and Turbo Grafx stuff when I was younger). I am really focusing on those items to play, not really resale. I do see that happening though as I get duplicates or things. Once I hit a critical mass I guess my costs will lower (or go higher as I buy up all the common items).

[retrorussell]

I really have everything I could possibly want and then some.. if it behooves me in the future I may fork over for a cocktail Galaga and some Namco boards to put in (Ms. Pac, Pac-Man, Super Pac-Man, Bosconian). And maybe a Crazy Climber.

Someday in the future I will probably auction on Ebay for a Blazing Star or Viewpoint for my Neo Geo cabinet. But for right now, too many home improvement projects take precedence.

[fiddlepaddle]

I find virtually all of my stuff via flea markets, thrifts, yard sales, so the limiting factor tends to be time, not money. Ten years ago I was spending quite a bit at Game Stop and Game Crazy, but that's over now.

 

Also, in the early years, there were so many games I didn't have, and they were so cheap that one couldn't really spend that much (second hand). Occassionally, I might buy a new game or a new system and THAT is where the big money went.

 

Another perspective is that when I'm working and making a decent wage, spending a couple of hundred dollars a month on games doesn't bother me at all, but when I've been out of work, even $10 makes me think very carefully.

[BydoEmpire]

I go to Flea World almost every weekend, but I don't always buy something; and when I do, it's usually less than $20. I probably average $10/month on retro games.

[cybercylon]

Varies greatly. First rule of thumb is that it has to be something I want to play sometime while I am alive. That alone rules out many things, so on some months.... $0.00. On a "good month", no more than $100 generally.

 

Circumstances beyond my control have an influence. It can be $0 a month when the check engine light comes on or if I am out of work.

Edited September 4, 2012 by cybercylon

[the.golden.ax]

Varies greatly. First rule of thumb is that it has to be something I want to play sometime while I am alive. That alone rules out many things, so on some months.... $0.00. On a "good month", no more than $100 generally.

 

Circumstances beyond my control have an influence. It can be $0 a month when the check engine light comes on or if I am out of work.

 

Wait, what!? Your "check engine" light means you can't buy games and have to actually get the car serviced?

 

Oops

 

I wouldn't have any games.

 

AX (owner of a car with a "check engine" light that has been on for the past 6 years)

[Cebus Capucinis]

AX (owner of a car with a "check engine" light that has been on for the past 6 years)

 

"Oh, don't worry, it's probably just an oxygen sensor, no big deal", the man said as piston #5 forcefully rammed itself through his hood and ejected itself onto a nearby orphanage's playground, killing 3 children instantly.

 

[the.golden.ax]

AX (owner of a car with a "check engine" light that has been on for the past 6 years)

 

"Oh, don't worry, it's probably just an oxygen sensor, no big deal", the man said as piston #5 forcefully rammed itself through his hood and ejected itself onto a nearby orphanage's playground, killing 3 children instantly.

 

 

Oddly enough I was told it was an oxygen sensor.

 

...at least they were the sons of a motherless goat.

 

[Cebus Capucinis]

If it's been 6 years and you've had no problems, it's definitely an O2 sensor. They're never anything to worry about.

 

I've been in a similar situation perpetually:

 

"Oh, the gas leak is minor, it's probably just a loose fitting near the filter" said the man as the Corvette's resulting fireball engulfed the apartment complex in flames.

 

[Protoplasym]

****.**

 

I've been on a mission the last couple of years....

[+Cobra Kai]

My collecting has been super-unhealthy since I sold my sports car. I've spent around $1,500 on games and dvds in a month. That's admittedly awful and irresponsible and I really feel addicted right now.

[AtariLeaf]

 

AX (owner of a car with a "check engine" light that has been on for the past 6 years)

 

Is your real name "Penny"?