Help me figure out if i have a problem

Cyphilissb · January 9, 2003 4:59AM

I just want to compare my card spending to everyone elses. so my question to the board is what percent of your net monthly income do you spend on cards per month? Looking for an avg. here of course. I think i need that link to the cardoholics thread.

Fabfrank · January 9, 2003 5:01AM

I have peaks and valleys, but on average 10%. That scared me once I saw the number. I'm going to have to do more selling to offset that.

BobS · January 9, 2003 5:11AM

I'm at around 18% right now. Not a big deal. I'm single, no kids, have a good solid job, put 12% in my 401K, have a really cheap house payment, and would rather have cards than a one followed by a bunch of zero's in the bank.

JH · January 9, 2003 5:43AM

I try to budget it at about 10%. Of course, I've currently spent my budget through the end of 2005.

wolfbear · January 9, 2003 6:16AM

JH - good one !

I don't "spend" anything on cards.
However, I do "invest" a healthy sum each month.

If you've done your homework on what you collect, it's not like the money is going down the drain.

Cyphilissb · January 9, 2003 6:19AM

while that is true you can't pay your electric bill with a 1960's semi-star psa 9 (for some reason they always want money instead) I forgot to tell you guys what i spend which is about 10%. I thought that was a lot, but it looks to be about average.

rw2win · January 9, 2003 6:22AM

50% of whatever my wife can make from her 3 jobs.

gameusedhoop · January 9, 2003 7:06AM

I may have to run the #s again, but I spend about 135% of my income each month.

Just ran the #'s again, 10% looks about right.

Tipem · January 9, 2003 8:17AM

If you think that you might have a problem,you probably have a problem.But I think that there are many different types of problems and card collecting is one of the best problems to have.I am sure that you will get a biased opinion here because almost everyone on this board is infected with the most infectious of problems or a disease as I like to call it,CAD"cardaholicsdisease".Ain't it great!!!

Just remember,You can buy em,admire em,trade em,sell em, but you can't eat em!!

Vic

Oh, By the way,I spend about 20%

riccaboni · January 9, 2003 11:51AM

This may not sound so crazy once you consider I only bring in about $150, but I spend about about 50% each month on cards

Ian

1420sports · January 9, 2003 7:39PM

This has been a topic in my house for a few months. I "agreed" to this contract: $100 per month, $250 per Fort Washington show (4 times per year), and $250 for my birthday gift to me - I know that sounds "whipped", but she is pretty cool about it, and loves to see me collect.

Of course, I cannot follow this as a card "I need" comes up on eBay or a dealer will email and say "I see that you collect Pete Rose and I got a (insert card here) for 300 delivered." I then convince myself that I can do this, purchase it, and then like a knucklehead show her the card and say "I got an unbelievable deal from a friend on the boards, so I had to buy it." If I get a card (and she knows) it is always for 45-50% of what I paid.

I just hope there are not any card shops in Aruba. I am going there for the honeymoon in June ....

Cubfan · January 9, 2003 10:40PM

1420 - The discounted price explanation is a good start.

My favorites are either 1) Oh, Ive had that one for a while, or 2) (if she saw a box in the mail) I traded some junk for that.

But, come to think of it, I have heard my wife use the first one to explain some unfamiliar clothes in her closet. Hmmmmmmm.

Cyphil - You definitely have a problem. Join the crowd

.

thegemmintman · January 9, 2003 10:47PM

What a bunch of wimps here. Haven't you people ever heard of loans?

JasP24 · January 9, 2003 11:11PM

Being that I am active duty military, my monthly pay isn't all that great. That being said, I average anywhere between 10%-25% of my net income. I do also sell quite a bit, usually for a descent profit which keeps the wife from questioning too much.

I am not on a budget, and buy anything I can afford at that given time. PayPal is my "play" money..Thank goodness the wife doesnt have the password..LOL

FB · January 9, 2003 11:39PM

I try to cap spending out about $500 per month - offset by whatever I can sell. So If I sell $2000 worth of cards for the month, then $2500 is the magic number. I can sometimes go deeper as long as two things occur...

- the mortgages get paid
- our plan to add money to Schwab each month is adhered to

And, I also tried to explain that these cards are an asset. The day that she plants me in the ground, she can start loading them back on eBay and they all turn back into money!

LJB17 · January 10, 2003 12:24AM

How is the explaining it is an asset going Frank? I try the same thing, but it never really seems like I get my point across.

The last few months I have tried to only spend what I sell, but still end up dropping an additional $100-$200. The task for the coming year is to actually start turning a profit. I think my collection will deplete somewhat, but if I do this right I may be able to start buying again next year. We have 2 children under the age of 2 and my wife wants to stay home for a year, so with her income gone my collection is expected to subsidize that. I guess this is where I prove the cards are truly an asset.

FB · January 10, 2003 12:34AM

LJB,

The asset explanantion generally gets me "the look"... But, its my story and I'm sticking to it.

And since we're a two income family with no kids, as long as I don't sacrifice the long term financial goals - I generally don't get much hassle. Plus, I've gotten to the point where I submit most of my cards myself. It keeps the costs down and if I can turn a profit on some of it, it helps offset what I keep.

gtbeaker · January 10, 2003 1:23AM

I generally spend between $600-$800 a month among all my hobbies (sportscards, McFarlane SportsPicks, comic books, etc.). Thankfully I don't have a significant other to explain my purchases to, but I suppose I should start hoarding my pennies in order to buy a house (so that I can have more rooms to store my stuff).

Wayne8348 · January 10, 2003 1:29AM

My wife just can't believe that I have to spends upwards of $10 to buy some of these star cards.

The reality of it is probably closer to 10% but since I own a business I never really know what my income will be year to year. It doesn't deter me from buying my cards though.

Wayne

gemint · January 10, 2003 1:42AM

My spending varies greatly depending on whether I send in a bulk submission or whether I find a "must have" item. I would say my average is $500 per month. The most I ever spent in one month was $6,000 for a run of vintage wax.

Frank - Have you tallied what you have into your '72 set so far? If so, care to share it with us? I started tracking my '69 set mid last year and have dropped about $1500 just on the low pop commons and minor stars. Fortunately most of the set was built pre-PSA era and I bought them raw for Beckett or lower. So I'm still well above water on it.

FB · January 10, 2003 2:09AM

gemint,

No... I decided early on that if I was going to do all of the accounting for the 72 set, that it would lose its "magic" pretty quickly. I do know that of the 520+ PSA 9's in the set that roughly half (267 to be exact) have come from my own submissions as well as 80% of the remaining PSA 8's.

But, based on Carlos' set price on Superior - I'm betting that its worth almost $10,000!

1420sports · January 10, 2003 5:17AM

My favorites are either 1) Oh, Ive had that one for a while, or 2) (if she saw a box in the mail) I traded some junk for that.

Cubfan - I use those one as well .... almost too much, I think she is catching on

Help me figure out if i have a problem

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