How do you finance your hobbies?
Wed 2010/11/24 12:24 JST
I was just wondering what you guys do when you realize you spend too much.
How do you react?
How do you make up for it?
I actually over did it. It's the first time I went broke, and surprisingly it's due to anime.
I was telling my girlfriend that it's official.. she's dating an otaku ._. ... she laughed but, I digress.
I'm trying to unload everything I don't watch, listen, play, or enjoy any more on eBay and CD stores and stuff, but I was just wondering how you guys manage?
i work. haha. its pretty bad, im trying to be more than just a customer in the otaku market though...with a little bit of help and determination, i might pull it off become part of the market and make money of you guys XDXDXD
Yup, I know exactly where the money is going and how much I have spent on ( figure collection, airsoft, paintball, and my soon to be hobby guns ).
I work as a hotel engineer, and a reservist in the army.
LiLninja
For the past three years I have fed my addiction the old fashioned way: I have a job where I earn three times my monthly bills, and I have no debt.
I'm about to return to Texas for graduate school (only a year and a half, then back to Japan, I maintain my residency here), so the gravy train is sorta going to stop. However, I wasn't stupid, so I've got a pretty substantial savings (no school loans for me, yay), so I probably will still purchase really hard to find items, which is usually the case with KOR. I am going to curtail impulse buys, however.
In addition, I periodically dig through non-KOR stuff and ebay it or sell it here and there, especially when I want to buy some massively expensive KOR item and don't want to take a hit to my savings. There's a lot of stuff at my place in Texas I did not bring with me to Japan, and if I haven't needed it in three years, I probably don't need it at all. I'll be ebaying an entire closet of stuff, I bet...
I have a job!
I work at a theme park as a performer. So I make a lot to do a little. Shit is so cash. Literally!
I know it's hard, I have experienced the same situation before and I only work during summer... =(
At the end of each year, I'm broke because I spent too much on figures, posters, books, etc... I hope this time, I can spend less by making a budget >_<;;
People need to learn to prioritise. Learn from the Japanese. Do ONE thing and do it WELL.
Anytime I deviate from my priority (KOR), invariably months or years later, I end up just selling the item. Learn to budget, make decisions about where your focus is, and stick to it.
I'm sorry, but what's KOR?
Kimagure Orange Road. Typically called KOR by US fans, and called KimeOre by Japanese fans. You can check out my posts here or on my blog (or just google the wikipedia page, I wrote half of it).
I'm considered the number one KOR fan in the world, and have over $5000 spent just on KOR alone.
I tried budgeting but it's always "just one more thing" or "well, it's not that expensive" or "maybe this time I will find a job"
I'm going to apply everywhere once january comes around, but it's so hard to find a job without experience. it's such a tough catch 22
That's true!
I always ended by buying figures in the "bargains" and "new release" section
How I went broke was the Ritsu figma for 50% off and a Dengeki Festival deluxe 65% off, and a sexy pillowcase (not a daki, just a regular pillow case) which was 40%. All from hobbysearch. Shipping killed though.
I leech off the government and provincial grants. :P
Haha, I do too, but paying $450 a month for my apt and $40-$70 every two weeks on groceries makes it hard to manage even on that. ._.
Pimp'in
Agree'd.
Ha ^_^.
I fund it off of luck; when my parents give me funds, I spend it on otaku stuff. (God help me, no one is hiring around where I live >.< )
But for more expensive stuff (i.e. Japanese Xbox 360. Curse region-lock), I have to wait until I have work, myself. Having some sort of income (if not work, try selling commissions in art or selling some sort of thing you can create or do) is really the only way to go about it, especially if you (like me) enjoy buying this stuff a lot XD
I no longer receive money from my parents, since I moved out on my own.
At the same time I wouldn't be able to own half the stuff I own if I had stayed.
My mom would not have liked my dakimakuras or oppai mousepads.
It was a trade off.
I need to find a skill I can profit off of. :P
Sounds like a good trade-off XD I know my parents aren't fond of my fixation with Japanese games (The iDOLM@STER, in particular, which is what I need the Xbox for). Luckily for me, I can "hide" the game on my shelf and they don't notice it XDD
and yeah, so do I. I want to be able to draw well enough to do commissions, so I don't have to commute to do work XDD Or something along the lines of being able to work from home :P
It was definitely a good trade off! I love my daki and mousepad. I have trouble sleeping without the daki now :P. So comfy.
Fix computers, barter/sell collectibles, sell figures that I no longer want, compare prices. It's a job on it's own. If it wasn't for hobbies, I'd go insane.
Also helps I get a free 'clock-out lunch' everyday I work, so that saves on meals lol.
It's definitely hard. I find myself having to always consider buying something for a long time. Basically, unless I really really want something, I'm not going to buy it.
never too much for anime~or....k-on rather~
how do I finance? dun't know, I haven't taken Finance class yet~
Lol smart ass! :p
I half expected you to say "money grows on trees" like always.
And no, definitely never too much anime or k-on. Just bought the first issue of the manga... to send me deeper into debt :p
I bought volume 1-3~ but they are Taiwan Licensed version :P practically identical but much cheaper :P
NT$109 per issue x 3 = NT327 ~ $11
versus 980yen per issue x 3 = 2940yen ~ $35
plus, I have someone taking it over to me from there~ so no shipping for me either :P
magnets are like $1.25 stickers are like $2, tshirt is like $13
and all licensed (for sale and distribution in Taiwan only)~~
Unless they are in english (and maybe spanish) they are useless to me!
I do want a manget though. :P
lol I assume you got it for $8 on amazon? :P
yeah magnets are only $43NT/$1.25 :P
pretty cool too~
....
._. $11 at borders.
Get me a magnet :p
lol borders :P
They sometimes offer 33% off coupon thou :P
next time I get loots from Taiwan will probably be in like 2years lol :P
relative plans to come again then xD they just left like 4 months ago~
That's cool I can wait :P
jkjk...
and oh wait.. it wasnt borders it was barnes and nobles.. i actually do get coupons for borders ._. but it was an impulse buy.. oh well
I have a monthly income thanks to my Dad's workplace. I'll have my income as long as I've got a good GPA every semester. But then again, I spent my money very rarely since I love to save :p They say that more money you have in hand, then the more you'll spend them.
I didn't have many purchases for my hobbies. From the beginning of this year, I managed to get a PS3, an extra controller, 4 games, a nendoroid, and also an artbook. I tend to only buy the things I really like. So in the end, it's the matter of self-management.
Currently trying to have more income by trading in stock market :p.
In high school I took a class where we played with the Stock Market.
Started with $100,000 for stocks.
...
I ended up losing $30,000.
So since them I'm traumatized about investing in stocks. :P
I play Wall street survivor game and it's hard :P
started with 1,000,000 now I got 862,000 left :( in like two weeks.
It is!
Yeah, I know how you feel XD happened to me sometimes too, lol. We must have a stable emotion for sure ^^ and don't be greedy XD
=p -cashier at a grocery store...
I've definitely cut back a lot when I needed too (in the realm of gunpla b/c seriously, I have no time to finish them all)
i do 2 task work..hard to earn money just for some things.20/7 is worth to get money isn't it?
With the little money I have, I save up and have it laid out on a spreadsheet.
Haven't been able to find a job for awhile, still trying though.
I think I may start doing this instead of checking my bank account every other week. :p
i work... i´d have to adopt a couple of daughters every month to be broke
I work and keep a budget. I'd love to buy figures that represent shows I like, but the shows are either too old like Galaxy Express 999 or, I suppose, weren't super popular (Maria-sama ga Miteru). K-ON though...I've got a ton of K-ON stuff.
Work? What's that?
That's what I'm wondering
From part time job.
Online freelancing service, paid post review on my blog, and also TLA.
Not much but at least no one scold me by spending my own earned money.
Then, always get the item one by one.
Once the amount of money enough to get that particular item. Buy.
Then collect fund again to buy next item.
Like this it is very easy to achieve.... for me...
I think that makes your purchases all the more valuable. Since you can buy them all at once, only one at a time....
I agree with you.
Like we always said, easy come easy go.
So, when it's hard to earn and buy... then you will take more care on them. :D
Careful budgeting of my student loan. As soon as the money arrives I plan out my finances for the next few months (living expenses, birthdays, emergency money, etc) and what's left over goes on manga/games/anime goods. Better spent on that rather than on booze every other night like some people I know.
Never had much luck getting summer work, I'm too busy during term time to get part time work then and holiday temp work isn't an option since I go home over the holidays and that's around 200 miles from where I go to uni...
I am very agree with you statement;
All the money we spend to buy manga or anime goods, we can get back by reselling.
But all the money goes to clubs, night parties etc every night... is just a spend...
I also work.
Giving yourself a limit and a budget often works quite well, at least for me. I try to buy only 1 figure per month, so that I can save up a bit.
The problem are my amazon-buying-sprees, I often order way too much stuff like books, manga and games - right now I am trying to "work" myself through my unplayed Xbox stuff xD
Purchasing used games or waiting until they are cheaper (I don't have the time to play all that stufff I want anyway^^) also helps your wallet a lot.
I haven't even started collecting that many figures to be honest. :p
Just buying anime dvds, and other merch. Like pillow cases and such.
Only bought two figures in the past few months. One was from a user here so I got it for $15 and the other was a figma that's 50%. :P
I'm just bad with money. x_x
Still in HS and save money by selling stuff I have (which isn't working well.... T-T) and saving every bit of money I get ( I don't get allowance....)
I used to love saving, but my hobby kindof made me spend a lot of what I saved the moment I went to my first convention -.- and now i'm online and my urge to getgetget is much worse. BUT I have learned to curb impulse buys and reason out why I would want something and if I'd keep it for a lonnngggg time. Right now, I'm just bent on SOME nendoroids and male figures in particular (that have to be in good quality though and not too much)
First scaled figure is Alter's Natsume =D (well first guy one, third overall. The other two i bought on an impulse at a convention cause they were cheap and didn't seem bad in quality. But D= I didn't even know the characters I bought. I do now though... Now I'm trying to sell one and don't see any buyers.)
Full time work as a Software Engineer. I earn several times my monthly expenses, so instead of saving all responsible-like, I spend what's left on dollfies and figures. To be fair, I did save a fair bit in the last few months for the trip to Tokyo that I'm currently on :).
You and I think alike! XD
I used to finance my collecting with my job. Though, I quit back in March. I had been there for almost 11 years and had enough of the same BS. I do have a fairly large collection and while I was still working, would buy quite a bit fairly regularly. Though, I haven't spent enough to be broke for quite some time. Speaking of being broke... It's about time I find another job. Not working for 9 months kinda eats at the savings.
Oh crap! I'm in the same boat as well. Though I don't even have enough savings for 9 months, maybe for about 2~4 months at most....
Usually spend around 50% off the monthly salary per month for hobbies :P But since I didn't frequently buy other things like clothes or gadgets, still can survive with the remaining 50%. Though if I'm really overspend for the particular month, I just switch the menu of my dinner to instant noodle :P
aside of having a job, some self-control is needed.
restraint myself from impulse buying and plan ahead on things that i want. space restriction also plays a part in the planning as its impossible to display or store so much figures and stuffs in a room.
This picture just made my day :)
As for financing my Otakudom I have a job, and most of the money goes towards my Otaku funds and my phone contract, i try to save! But it just dosent work :P
Hahaha when I first saw it I couldn't stop laughing. I hadn't seen that episode yet and was like WTF IS THIS HAHAHAHA.... now that I've seen the episode... I still don't get why she wanted that :P
Because it's Yui! She never makes much sense :P
It's probably one of my favourite Yui moments, other than the sumo voices from season 1 :D
Well... I am not sure how I fund my hobbies! I will soon get a job then my loot postings will be insane. ^_^ just kidding.
How do you react? %^#$F$#@ <---- I grumble then I go play with my daughters.
How do you make up for it? Eat at my mom's house.
Don't have any problem with funding my hobbies since I make more than enough money for supporting the basic necessities (food, transport and whatnot).
Then again, when it comes to my hobbies (figures and gunplas), I can be VERY picky, which is why I ends up spending less than what I've intended.
just go shake that money tree at ur backyard lol...
Apartments don't have backyards D:
well i work =) and im a BIG Otaku ... atm now i havent spend a single cents on anime for the passss 6M .. bc im trying to save for next year holiz (japan) thn ill start spending =)
in ur case u would have to think how much do u need for this week n how much can u spend, i know is hard... but i manage to do it n so can u..
Thanks for the advice and encouragement
Well for now I can't spend anything. Won't get more money til January, so I just have to make due with what I got and hope I have enough for my expenses.
Full Time Job, part time study in the evening to get a job with an increased salary.
The only way i've coped is to just totally sacrifice any social life i have that involves spending money :P
full time job. remove all expenses and my mandatory savings deposit (you know, for emergency), i got some money left for whatever i want.
Cut down my food of course!
Freelance + part time job. The more you work the more you moe!! Still money is getting a little too tight lately ^_^;
Part time job funded my hobby through college. Full time job now which makes it easy, don't even really need to think. Just get into a habit of thinking, okay what do I really need now? Is it still going to be here for sale around the same price in 2 months? Will I still be able to get it? IF you can answer yes, then skip it!
I am 16 so im living with my parents, so basicly all my money I get basicly goes to that, unfortunatly when i move out...i wont be so lucky :P also i dont buy ofline, i cant, i have no paypal :P my parents are old fachshoned lol though i tend to find better deals when i go to toronto or ottawa, (they are far away but i save up around 200ish so i can get a few) and there is no duty charges or shipping fees if you buy from a local store :)