General Forum

I spend way to dang much! I have slowed way down on purchasing new cards for my PC because they just are not worth the prices to me. As for the older cards, what choice do I have? The cards I don't have from Gwynns active years are just the rare ones that cost a ton. I have yet to do much trading on the site because I really don't have the time to list the other players that are just collecting dust. So other then the few friends I actively trade with off site, buying is really my only option.

That's a good rule, and I may steal it from you. When I got back into card collecting in June 2020, I set a budget, and so far, I've managed to stay in it ... by the skin of my teeth. I've already spent what I set aside as my 2021 budget. Just trades for me. Perhaps if I used your rule and waited until the mail came, I could develop more patience and my budget wouldn't run out three months before the end of the year!

I don't spend much money on cards anymore.  I got back into the hobby in 2016, and for the first couple years I was buying cards pretty much every month.  Nothing too crazy as far as spending, but it was the first time in the hobby with an actual income.  I hadn't collected cards since I was a kid before that point so I was limited back then on what I could get.  Starting around 2018 I started limiting my card purchases to an occasional rack pack or single pack from Target or Walmart every now and then.  But since the craze of the hobby hit I haven't purchased many cards since they are either hard to find or not offered in retail stores.  

When I got back into the hobby, I didn't have any kind of plan.  I collect NBA and MLB cards, but pretty much I collect a little of everything that falls under those categories.  Now that I have a lot more cards then I had as a kid, I think sometimes I have too many.  Or if not too many, I don't have any kind of system or focus.  

In the end all my cards are just neatly organized and placed in boxes that are in the closet.  I just have them organized by year and set like they are here on the TCDB.  

I find that I hardly ever look at my cards, other than looking through them on here.  So sometimes I wonder what I am really even doing in the hobby since I don't seem to even really do anything other than get cards, look at them, sort them, and file them away.  Then come on the TCDB forums and look at my collection digitally.

My son recently got into collecting Pokemon cards (or at least I introduced him to them to see if he would like trading cards).  He is too young to know how to actually play the game, but he likes looking at them and we came up with our own easy game to play with them.  Which is basically just dealing the cards out and turning a card over to see who has a higher health total.  And cards without a health total are automatic wins.  We flip a coin if they match.  

I have been able to get 10 cards for a dollar from the commons box anytime we go to the card shop, and also have found some packs occasionally at Target for him.  The reason I am mentioned that is I think I have been having more fun with those cards and handling them and playing them with my son than I have collecting my NBA and MLB cards recently.

Thanks for the replies and advice everyone. I'll see if I can enact some of it to curb a bit of the habit of collecting too much. I will say that sahal964/Shannon's recent comments reminded me of why I got out of the hobby back in the day and got a little too involved with comic books. Needless to say, whatever hobby I get into I tend to accumulate a lot of it.

I have a pretty tight budget for the most part. I have a self imposed $20 per single item limit but I try not to do that...I'm fact I haven't spent anything more than $10 on a card since February 2019 at a card show. 

I really hate buying single cards. It's not fun for me, to me single card purchasing is for filling in what's missing from a set, not the main way to get them. When I get some money in COMC for example I try to get as many cards as possible. 20 dollars usually translates to 50 to 60 cards. 

My entire hobby budget had been $100 a month for many years, split between 4 hobbies. Now that cards are not generally available, and I'm s little dormant on my other hobbies, I've actually had a lot more to spend than I normally do, and in October 21 I've purchased more scale model decals than I ever have in a single month in my life, and it's my 22nd year in that hobby. 

I won't pay scalper prices for cards, so I'm simply doing without. 

I'm on the Dave Ramsey plan, so that means a budget. I can't justify a sportscard line item in the budget. But since I work from home and in IT, the clothing line usually goes for cards. LOL

When I retired I set an amount I would spend on cards each month.  I had an amount what I woulld spend on commons,  SNed cards, Auto, Mem and others.   Some players were a little high then others.  I stick to it up until 2020.  Then all prices when up and I had to rethink my limits.  (no more cheap commons)  At the end of 2020 I blow my budget big time.  So this year I got very picky on what cards I would buy.   With doing that now I have more dollars then I normal have for Black Friday.   

I normaly buy from COMC but only put in $10 at a time so I do not get carried away.  That way I'm not grabing every thing I see and need.  Which happen at the end of 2020.  

Most of the higher priced cards I have has come in trades.   

I have a job that takes care of the bills. I referee Basketball and coach a travel team that pays year round. I work one on one with kids which I am paid for also. I spend that on cards. In short a side gig to support the habit.

I also have a budget. So much a week on breaks. I only get in on a regular basis. So that works out for me. As for trades I try to just keep it around 5 trades at a time. But once those ship then I can work on the next 5 on my next day off work. Its not a big budget but it helps me keep my sanity. Plus I enjoy waiting for the next trade to come in the mail. Lime a kid in the candy store. As for the breaks half the time I dont even remember what I got coming since I usually only get it shipped every couple of months

I just got back into collecting and have spent way to much time and money on eBay. I love looking for the deals and have found more than my fair share but I just made a big purchase and I am going to chill on my eBay watching. Now that I found this site I hope to start trading more and less spending.