Best Laid Plans

[Tnerb]

Hiatus.... What Hiatus?

 

Best Laid Plans

 

My budget is complete up till the end of June. I even have three miscellaneous categories just in case there's something extra I wish to purchase. Of course the unexpected does occur. May is the month I have my annual car inspection and as I budget for everything I did so for this, just not enough.

 

I had plans to send CGC some of my own books. I wanted to send in three sets of 10, one in June, one in July, and one in August. I might just opt to wait till the beginning of August and send in 50. Thirty for me and 20 to sell, provided I attain a high enough grade but that is only the plan.

 

I would like to pick up a few more shifts but I am already at a 53 hour work week, not to mention playing pool two times a week, writing for Comicbooked.com and I also like to add my journals right here on the registry. I am closing in on 150 journals and it feels good. My first journal to reach 500 views happened on the 11th of May (CGC Vs PGX) and I'm rather proud of that achievement. It's humorous that the Journal after that one only has 90 views. Once that gets to over hundred they will all be except with the newest ones.

 

I already budget well, but gas prices are climbing, health insurance is climbing, and car repairs are constantly at risk. Soon I hope to be looking for a higher class restaurant than where I am working right now. It is amazing how you either are over experienced or not enough.

 

I am also hitting another milestone I almost have two hundred CGC books registered and yet I still want more. I am hoping to have 300 by the end of 2011. This will take stricter budgeting and a break from purchasing already graded books. I have two more on the way, and another two more I promised to purchase and at least three more before my original plan is complete. Then I have to reevaluate everything after Wizard World 2011.

 

Recently since I have not been able to collect I have been living through the journals. I love seeing others being able to get what they want. I know eventually I will be back on track, if not sooner than later. How do you do it, how do you budget and scarier to ask how do you pass on that one book you truly desire? Of Course I am having the unexplained difficulties pop up from time to time, which lays waste to my best laid plans.

 

Thanks for reading

 

Tnerb

 

See more journals by Tnerb

[Triskelion]

Great post tnerb. I'm also glad you've set the 'discuss on chatboards' option this time, as I always found your journal posts very thought-provoking. Loved your comicbooked.com posts too!

 

I suspect most everyone of us in the hobby is faced with similar budgetting issues. I personally have a weekly maximum spend budgetted for collectibles, a fixed amount covering trade/hardcover purchases, raw/CGC books, blu-ray discs which I also like purchasing and others, and where I always make trade-offs e.g. do I spend the remaining $$$ I have to buy a 9.8 slab or two, or the next Avengers hardcover, or the upcoming Lord of the Rings extended version blu-ray set. This in turn was derived from a longer term spend plan which I'd put together incorporating reasonably conservative estimates on retirement age, large one time spending say for my two boys going off to college, investment interest rates, emergency funding etc which I refresh every year.

 

On one hand I find spending easier to control as I'm able to meet my CGC collecting goals (i.e. complete key sets etc), and the urgency to complete is no longer as pressing. On the other hand there's always the temptation to 'high grade' some of the sets I've managed to complete, and at the moment there's a particular 'highest in grade' #1 issue I'd really want to get which is now available in Ebay but is extremely way out of my budget/ will probably take several months to save up for, so I'm fighting the urge at the moment and in the meantime carving out a portion of my monthly spend to save up for this (hoping thats it will still be available, or made available at the time I'm ready).

 

Always a challenge, but then again always fun and utlimately fulfilling!