
    Dismiss Notice
    Dismiss Notice
    Dismiss Notice

Budgeting and Collecting

Discussion in 'Star Wars: Collecting' started by Phil J, Feb 14, 2020.

  1. Phil J

    Phil J Guest

    +0 / 0 / -0
    I have just gone back into collecting Star Wars books after having been away from this hobby for a while and I find it is too easy to get caught up in the buzz of the whole thing and overspend. As a result, I thought it would be wise to share some financial advice and encourage others to do the same.

    Personally, what I try to do is to:
    1. Identify income
    2. Produce a list of financial priorities- food, utilities, clothing, etc.
    3. Allocate percentages of income to those priorities that have been established.
    4. Gather and retain all those receipts and invoices- though this may seem to be a laborious process, it may be worth visualising yourself as a detective like Maigret or Poirot chasing those pennies
    5. Keep a book of expenditure either in the form of a paper book or spreadsheet. Also, if doing this, work to ensure that the layout is clear, any information is accurate and the potential to re-enter the same information twice is mitigated.
    6. My grandfather used the rule of thumb to save around a third just in case of a rainy day.
    Other advice I can provide is to:
    • Use the envelope method of budgeting: put the money that you budget for per week or month in envelopes that have been labelled. If you have any money left over, simply add it to the next envelope.
    • If you are struggling with debt or other financial problems, it may be worth going to your local branch of Citizen's Advice Bureau (I live in Britain and I am not sure whether there is an equivalent abroad) or a related charity and request advice and assistance as any debts and liabilities should be prioritised over what are to be brutally honest non-essential items.
    • Set a limit of how much to spend that week or month and if overspend, deduct the proportion by which you overspent from that of the following week or month.
    • Do not feel like there is any pressure to amass a large collection as people have different incomes. Collect what makes you happy.
    • Use the SMART method to set realistic short term and long term financial goals.
    • Consider purchasing books and other material secondhand.
    • Consider selling old books to supplement income.
    Useful links:

    I am sure most of this is well known but I have not seen any articles on budgeting in these forums and I just thought this would be useful.

    If you have any advice from your own personal experience, please share it.
    • Like Like x 1
  2. Messi

    Messi G.O.A.T.

    Jul 14, 2015
    Likes Received:
    Trophy Points:
    +10,183 / 195 / -29
    I have a excel list with all the funkos and their prices. These are the only toys that I collect. I dont put books in this list.

    I must be spent more than 2.500 euros on my funkos, but my collection now worth more than 4.000 euros I guess, if I sell it later....you never know.
    • Like Like x 2
  3. radiohare

    radiohare Clone

    Jul 22, 2020
    Likes Received:
    Trophy Points:
    +37 / 0 / -0
    I really appreciate the links and mention of Citizens Advice here! They are a little specific to the UK but hopefully a lot of that advice is universal. Collecting can easily become a kind of addiction, like gambling.
  4. Matsemitsu

    Matsemitsu Clone Commander

    Sep 30, 2018
    Likes Received:
    Trophy Points:
    +166 / 1 / -0
    True. What I find helpful is asking myself the simple question before a purchase: "Do I find this item exciting?" (That may be a kind of Marie Kondo way of looking at it "Does it spark joy?" :)) Not just because of sheer finances, but simply because adding stuff thoughtlessly can easily diminish the joy you get from your collection. I've had a lot of overstuffed shelves that just looked... gray to me, you know? Too many details, too many things to look at at once. No negative space. At that is the thing that I imagine a museum curator will tell you is essential. If things are grouped too closely together, they lose all impact.

    So long years of collecting (action figures mostly) have taught me: buying simply everything because it's "the latest wave" or because it's been a while since you last added to the collection? Bad advice. Getting something because you can picture where it will go and you know that you will indeed be looking at it frequently (because IT'S SO COOL!)? That's the way I've been looking at it for a while, and the collection looks better for it. And perhaps it's also made the hobby less of a strain on the credit card.
    • Like Like x 1

Share This Page