I'm interested to find out if anybody else has found that price increases over the last few years (OK maybe a bit longer than that now) have impacted the way they value cash? I am starting to feel like it has happened to me a bit. It seems ridiculous that I feel hard done by paying a couple of hundred quid for an energy bill, or £80 for a tank of fuel in my car, yet paying hundreds of pounds for a toy is fine.
I have always justified collecting to myself by saying that it's an investment, I can get the money back if I sell so it's not like pissing all my money away on booze and clothes. But is that really a good reason to spend what is, let's face it, obscene amounts of money on collecting?
I would like to point out a couple of things - firstly, this has crept up on me. I have been collecting for over 20 years, and for many of those years I stuck to a limit of £100 per item. I only paid over £1000 for a single item for the first time a couple of years ago. But recently, spending hundreds of pounds on individual items has become more frequent, it just seems the norm now (when was the last time you saw somebody price a MOC in tens of pounds instead of hundreds?)
Secondly, I'm not rich but I can afford it. I don't get in to debt collecting, have reasonable savings, and don't feel like my family misses out on anything. But could all this money be put to better use? Holidays, the house, a nicer car etc.
So for the last few weeks, I have tried to really cut back on collecting and try to appreciate the value of money again. Today I bought something for my video game collection for £6, and it felt great. I feel like I have become too comfortable spending huge amounts of money on collecting, which to many people would seem crazy and frankly indulgent.
Obviously the huge price rises since TFA haven't helped, nor have all the celebrity collectors on Facebook who seem to buy prototypes every week. But I feel like I have to take some responsibility for it myself, so am going to try and cut down my spending for a while at least.
I have always justified collecting to myself by saying that it's an investment, I can get the money back if I sell so it's not like pissing all my money away on booze and clothes. But is that really a good reason to spend what is, let's face it, obscene amounts of money on collecting?
I would like to point out a couple of things - firstly, this has crept up on me. I have been collecting for over 20 years, and for many of those years I stuck to a limit of £100 per item. I only paid over £1000 for a single item for the first time a couple of years ago. But recently, spending hundreds of pounds on individual items has become more frequent, it just seems the norm now (when was the last time you saw somebody price a MOC in tens of pounds instead of hundreds?)
Secondly, I'm not rich but I can afford it. I don't get in to debt collecting, have reasonable savings, and don't feel like my family misses out on anything. But could all this money be put to better use? Holidays, the house, a nicer car etc.
So for the last few weeks, I have tried to really cut back on collecting and try to appreciate the value of money again. Today I bought something for my video game collection for £6, and it felt great. I feel like I have become too comfortable spending huge amounts of money on collecting, which to many people would seem crazy and frankly indulgent.
Obviously the huge price rises since TFA haven't helped, nor have all the celebrity collectors on Facebook who seem to buy prototypes every week. But I feel like I have to take some responsibility for it myself, so am going to try and cut down my spending for a while at least.