VGC's Anonymous/"General" Topic:

[telly]

Where do you make your purchases? Maybe you could have a loved one change your ebay password if you buy a lot of games online.

I also set a budget for myself. I will limit myself to $15-20 a month on games, unless it's a special occasion

EDIT: I also do the rollover thing Deso mentioned. It's a good way to limit your spending without having to sacrifice anything with a higher price tag

[desocietas]

I have been unsuccessful curbing my game purchasing.... does anyone know a method/group that may help me? I fear i'm starting to run that line between collecting and addiction...

Are you buying new? Used? eBay? in person?

Sometimes when I want to reign in my money I try to do things to help myself budget. Like only allow myself a certain amount of money for a week. If I don't spend it all, it can roll over to the next week or go into some sort of piggy bank for something big coming down the line.  Sometimes I'll only allow myself to use a certain amount of cash for a week or longer so that I don't buy things online on a whim.

There are free sites, too, like Mint.com that might help with budgeting.

[gf78]

Yard sales are hit or miss depending on how much effort you want to put into them.

I adore gaming and finding stuff is part of the fun, but the thought of getting up at the asscrack of dawn, speeding around neighborhoods like a maniac and hoping that luck is on my side doesn't sound fun to me. Like, at all.

Oh no, it definitely isn't. I physically can't do it anymore. My body just doesn't work that way now. If I was guaranteed something good, I might? Even then, maybe not. But knowing that I could come away with nothing. I just can't. It's beyond my physical and mental capability at this point. It feels sooo crappy. Even when you come back with something. Ugh, I hate even the thought of it.

This. My back aches too bad when I walk around on pavement too long. I hate sweating too. There is a slim to none chance of finding a nugget in all that shit. Mentally and physically I just can't be bothered.

[turf]

I love flea markets.  I rarely find anything, but I have fun looking.  There's no telling what kind of random shit I'll come home with.  $5 wii?  Sure, I'll take that.  Nerf Crossbow?  I'll give you $3.   

It's fun for me.  It's fun when you have good company with you.  The lady I'm dating or my brother are my tag-a-longs.  They have as much fun as I do.

[rayne315]

I have been unsuccessful curbing my game purchasing.... does anyone know a method/group that may help me? I fear i'm starting to run that line between collecting and addiction...

Are you buying new? Used? eBay? in person?

Sometimes when I want to reign in my money I try to do things to help myself budget. Like only allow myself a certain amount of money for a week. If I don't spend it all, it can roll over to the next week or go into some sort of piggy bank for something big coming down the line.  Sometimes I'll only allow myself to use a certain amount of cash for a week or longer so that I don't buy things online on a whim.

There are free sites, too, like Mint.com that might help with budgeting.

I always buy used unless its a game I cannot live without/am super hyped about, which generally only happen around 4-5 times a year. I also never buy online (unless from you fine folks/limited run games).

budgeting isn't the issue I keep very good track of my money and even save ~$400 a month for house funds/retirement but my video game fund percentage has gone from >5% a year ago to ~20% of my income now (which is ridiculous considering I had a nice raise last year) and I just keep spending more and more.

the problem, to me, seems to be that years of going to the same game stores 2-3 times a week, The above average amount of my RL friends working at game stores/owning gaming stores, and my abundance of burnable income are causing me to keep falling into my ever worsening routines....

Its not a "bad problem" yet but I have been trying to lessen the amount I spend to no avail and its starting to scare me as I am going ever and ever closer to that zero/negative budget.

[telly]

I personally would then use a budget, not so much for saving money, but to better restrain how many games you can buy. That's something you'll have to decide for yourself, but for me $15-20 a month means typically 2, maybe 3 games a month. And maybe setting a limit on the amount of time spent looking for games will help too.

[kashell]

Like others have said, set a budget for yourself. Have someone hold you accountable in the event you try to break the budget.

Personally, I just buy something that I intend to play or replay so I don't drop some coins as soon as I see a random game in a random place.

[Warmsignal]

You might consider making a large purchase, one that''ll keep you drained of all your money and have you living near poverty level. That will get you to stop thinking about games. It worked for me. I recently bought a car and I paid cash for it. Now that my bank account is drained, all I want to do is save money. So I've bought maybe 5 games since May, I honestly don't care at all, and I don't miss having the fever at all. Almost feel like I could full stop.

[burningdoom]

I suggest getting a wife. Mine keeps me in check pretty well, financially. 

[rayne315]

I suggest getting a wife. Mine keeps me in check pretty well, financially. 

Lol my Gf is supposed to stop me making purchases but she doesn't do so well when she likes buying games too.

[gf78]

I suggest getting a wife. Mine keeps me in check pretty well, financially. 

Lol my Gf is supposed to stop me making purchases but she doesn't do so well when she likes buying games too.

Double-lol....my wife is supposed to keep me in check, but she's almost like a pusher.  Every time she sees something Star Wars, she has to point it out to me.  She just ordered me a t-shirt online that has Darth Vader walking his kids with "lightsaber" balloons.  It says something like "Galaxy's best dad."   

Oh...and then she goes and wins me an Xbox One.     Man, I swear...what am I going to do with this woman?!   

[burningdoom]

I'm going to be needing a few handheld games soon because I'm going to be doing a lot of waiting around at work in the near-future.

I was looking at both Gradius: Interstellar Assault and Nemesis for Game Boy.

I don't understand the big price difference between the two. Both games are so similar, yet Gradius: Interstellar Assault was going for $20-$30 for the cartridge only, while I was able to get Nemesis for under $10.

Crazy.

[gf78]

I'm going to be needing a few handheld games soon because I'm going to be doing a lot of waiting around at work in the near-future.

I was looking at both Gradius: Interstellar Assault and Nemesis for Game Boy.

I don't understand the big price difference between the two. Both games are so similar, yet Gradius: Interstellar Assault was going for $20-$30 for the cartridge only, while I was able to get Nemesis for under $10.

Crazy.

In a word, rarity.  It's the same for the Gradius Collection for PSP.  You used to be able to find it for $10 at Value City or any other place with bargain bins, but once collector's realized it had a pretty low print run, it disappeared.  Copies of that game are pretty high dollar now.

[karyann]

Oh...and then she goes and wins me an Xbox One.     Man, I swear...what am I going to do with this woman?!   

Marry her! Oh wait... 

[fighterpilot562]

I have been unsuccessful curbing my game purchasing.... does anyone know a method/group that may help me? I fear i'm starting to run that line between collecting and addiction...

Send me all your money, and ill only give you the money you need to pay for bills and stuff. and once a month, ill give you $10 out of the account for gaming stuff.