I budget. I set aside a certain amount monthly for game stuff. Most months I don't spend the whole amount, so it adds up to making larger purchases when I want them. Once I hit a certain amount in that budget, I put it into savings and don't think about it. If some rare/valuable/expensive items come for sale I want, I can likely afford it due to the budgeting. If my budget hit zero, I wouldn't even be looking at gaming stuff.
Or better yet, become a wandering bard. With no home or money you'll spend ye days rockin' not gamin' and wouldn't be able to play any games acquired anyways.
Also, while I know some of ye have luck better than the devil clothed in a shirt made of four leaf clovers riding a unicorn carrying a bag of lamps with genies in them, for the rest of us, maybe ye need to re-evaluate what constitutes a deal.
If you're broke because ye keep buying $100 games for $90 because that ten dollars off is such a steal, maybe instead only buy $100 games that sell for $80 or less. Good deals are hard to come by so that alone will limit your buying.
Originally I use to only buy games that were half ebay value or less. A few years ago I would consider finding a game selling for 20% lower than ebay a steal. Now I only find games 95% ebay value or higher so I stopped buying games.
And if ye are buying games at full price, uh, stop?
Also remind yourself that "rare" video games are actually really common. Like, hundreds of thousands to millions common, and that we are in a bubble so unless it is a gold NWC cart or a proto you will be able to buy it easily at any time within the next century unless some catastrophe wipes us all out.
And even if it is more expensive when ye want to buy it later on that is just another reminder to think once again, do I really want this? Is this really worth the money? And if you do want it, what's a couple extra hundred dollars anyways?
Because when I think about what I would be willing to pay for a game on merits alone, I would easily pay $500 for a loose cart of Chrono Trigger or Lufia II if the market was that out of whack.
I keep a running total of my video game fund, and never spend any money that I haven't made off of reselling excess, so my entire video game collection has cost me zero dollars still technically; one big trade in my mind. If my fund ever starts dipping near zero I just cool off on buying for myself and wait for a tasty find to flip and boost up the fund again, or just trade to someone else for something I want, etc.
I am definitely in a buying mood right now, so I am letting myself purchase the things I want without feeling guilty or whatever. Thing is, (drunken eBay bidding aside... ahem), I really don't actually WANT a whole load of stuff, and I certainly am not interested in many big ticket items much at all.
I have 3 main systems I buy for where I will basically just look for cheap stuff or stuff I want. I also have a couple of special interest systems with games and items I am actively after. The rest of the stuff I buy is just cheap stuff that I may or may not really want, but I like it and it's cheap... Living in Taiwan helps with buying cheap trash, lol!
But seriously though guys... do not even so much as OPEN eBay when you are more than one bottle of red wine into a drinking session... Bad things will happen to your bank account!
Just be extremely strict with your budget. I fall victim to this as well, if you EVER feel like you aren't able to maintain the cost of living, then don't buy expensive games. Games are just something fun to buy after paying for all the important stuff.
I'm thankfully not at that part of my life yet, but I still save up for Uni, and setting a budget is key.
Self control. Like others, I don't really look all that often. While it took awhile to break the habit of looking, it is much better in the long run. Also, on the off chance I do look, before I buy anything I ask myself "Do I really need this?" 99% of the time the answer is no, so I leave it there and go about my day.
Self control. Like others, I don't really look all that often. While it took awhile to break the habit of looking, it is much better in the long run. Also, on the off chance I do look, before I buy anything I ask myself "Do I really need this?" 99% of the time the answer is no, so I leave it there and go about my day.
Self control. Like others, I don't really look all that often. While it took awhile to break the habit of looking, it is much better in the long run. Also, on the off chance I do look, before I buy anything I ask myself "Do I really need this?" 99% of the time the answer is no, so I leave it there and go about my day.
You sound like a responsible adult
Exactly what I was going to say! My issue is knowing that I'm rebuilding my collection, so I feel that if I don't look, I could be missing out. It's tough, but I'm getting better at it!
The big problem is being of the mind that "If I don't get it now, it'll cost more later" I've just made peace with that. No sense going bankrupt because I don't want to spend 30 more on a game next year. Most games don't go up that fast, it's just the odd one here or there that jumps.
^This. And if the price does go up a gorillion dollars in a year, I'm quite comfortable giving a shrug and moving on. It wasn't always like that however. When I was fresh into collecting and had a hunger/drive to build up the collection from ground zero I will say the mindset of "If I don't get it now, it'll cost more later" was common practice.
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Or better yet, become a wandering bard. With no home or money you'll spend ye days rockin' not gamin' and wouldn't be able to play any games acquired anyways.
Also, while I know some of ye have luck better than the devil clothed in a shirt made of four leaf clovers riding a unicorn carrying a bag of lamps with genies in them, for the rest of us, maybe ye need to re-evaluate what constitutes a deal.
If you're broke because ye keep buying $100 games for $90 because that ten dollars off is such a steal, maybe instead only buy $100 games that sell for $80 or less. Good deals are hard to come by so that alone will limit your buying.
Originally I use to only buy games that were half ebay value or less. A few years ago I would consider finding a game selling for 20% lower than ebay a steal. Now I only find games 95% ebay value or higher so I stopped buying games.
And if ye are buying games at full price, uh, stop?
Also remind yourself that "rare" video games are actually really common. Like, hundreds of thousands to millions common, and that we are in a bubble so unless it is a gold NWC cart or a proto you will be able to buy it easily at any time within the next century unless some catastrophe wipes us all out.
And even if it is more expensive when ye want to buy it later on that is just another reminder to think once again, do I really want this? Is this really worth the money? And if you do want it, what's a couple extra hundred dollars anyways?
Because when I think about what I would be willing to pay for a game on merits alone, I would easily pay $500 for a loose cart of Chrono Trigger or Lufia II if the market was that out of whack.
When the money is gone, I stay off ebay
This is a TOUGH thing to do for me! I can't quit Ebay!
I have 3 main systems I buy for where I will basically just look for cheap stuff or stuff I want. I also have a couple of special interest systems with games and items I am actively after. The rest of the stuff I buy is just cheap stuff that I may or may not really want, but I like it and it's cheap... Living in Taiwan helps with buying cheap trash, lol!
But seriously though guys... do not even so much as OPEN eBay when you are more than one bottle of red wine into a drinking session... Bad things will happen to your bank account!
I'm thankfully not at that part of my life yet, but I still save up for Uni, and setting a budget is key.
Although ultimately, it depends on your income.
I pretty much bought everything I was looking for. Now I avoid looking for really anything. The less u look the less u want to look after a while.
This. Looking is what gets me in trouble. :-)
I pretty much bought everything I was looking for. Now I avoid looking for really anything. The less u look the less u want to look after a while.
This. Looking is what gets me in trouble. :-)
But it's so hard not to look!
Self control. Like others, I don't really look all that often. While it took awhile to break the habit of looking, it is much better in the long run. Also, on the off chance I do look, before I buy anything I ask myself "Do I really need this?" 99% of the time the answer is no, so I leave it there and go about my day.
You sound like a responsible adult
Self control. Like others, I don't really look all that often. While it took awhile to break the habit of looking, it is much better in the long run. Also, on the off chance I do look, before I buy anything I ask myself "Do I really need this?" 99% of the time the answer is no, so I leave it there and go about my day.
You sound like a responsible adult
Exactly what I was going to say! My issue is knowing that I'm rebuilding my collection, so I feel that if I don't look, I could be missing out. It's tough, but I'm getting better at it!
The big problem is being of the mind that "If I don't get it now, it'll cost more later" I've just made peace with that. No sense going bankrupt because I don't want to spend 30 more on a game next year. Most games don't go up that fast, it's just the odd one here or there that jumps.
^This. And if the price does go up a gorillion dollars in a year, I'm quite comfortable giving a shrug and moving on. It wasn't always like that however. When I was fresh into collecting and had a hunger/drive to build up the collection from ground zero I will say the mindset of "If I don't get it now, it'll cost more later" was common practice.