What should I do next?

[dirtydistance]

So in the past few months I stopped buying boxes and shifted to just singles. Figured it would be a good way to save cash and not have a million cards lying around. Of course, aside from collecting my favorite teams, SP Authentic rookie patches caught my attention and I've been trying to get as many of them as I could. It's going well, I've got an impressive collection going.


But at the same time, my bank account's taking a hit. I'm doing alright financially, but I look at my bank statements, and some months I'm blowing a solid grand on cards. It's actually pretty sickening as I think about it, how I could be making better use of the money. Especially since I am going to be buying a new car anyday now.

So I have a dilemma on my hands. I love my cards, and I definitely feel I need to curtail my spending. I need to look at the future. Do I keep this stuff and collect at a slower pace? Or do I sell stuff off. I know the SP's will give the most bang for the buck. I'd appreciate some constructive suggestions. Thanks.

[cbooker]

it used to be the same way for me, but now i just cut back to buying a few cards for the pc here and there. It wasn't really as hard as i thought it would be

[dirtydistance]

it used to be the same way for me, but now i just cut back to buying a few cards for the pc here and there. It wasn't really as hard as i thought it would be

Yeah, that's what I need to do. Did you sell stuff off or did you just curtail the spending? I'm debating selling most of my trade bait, but worried about the lowballers if I sell it as a lot because I know there is some good stuff in there.

Also does anyone know if you could set paypal account limits? That might be a good thing to do, haha. Either that or just write down every purchase I make, that way maybe once I get nauseus looking at my spending totals, I'll know it's time to quit for the month..

[gmoney168]

I think you sell anything that you don't 100% want to keep. For you, it sounds like selling all of your cards except the SP Rookie and favorite teams stuff would be good. I would sell all of the valuable cards individually and sell base/inserts and stuff in team, player, year, or set lots. It makes it fun because you make money back, you clear space, and you get to start over and don't stare at the same cards anymore.

[cbooker]

i sold alot of the stuff i really didn't want to keep, and put the money towards something i could really use

[tutall]

What i do is put money in my paypal account from my budget each month. I know when it is up it is up and no more. Usually i end the month with money left over in it and start over again. Seems to work well for me and i can plan out exactly how much i am spending per month.

[sportzking]

Yeah definitely put yourself on a budget. I used to overspend all the time. Either transfer only a certain amount of funds into your paypal account or just limit yourself to spending. Now I limit myself to a number of cards a month and that's it.

[marhjan]

What i do is put money in my paypal account from my budget each month. I know when it is up it is up and no more. Usually i end the month with money left over in it and start over again. Seems to work well for me and i can plan out exactly how much i am spending per month.

EXACTLY - the way to limit/control your spending is to have a Paypal balance - and NEVER make an exception. When the Paypal account is too low you don't buy the card PERIOD. That's the only way I can keep myself under wraps... lol... and as for your question about selling - that's how you increase your Paypal balance. ;-) Good luck, but once you decide you really want to control spending it really isn't as hard as you might expect.

ps - at the moment my balance is $1.98, time to sell ;-)

[dirtydistance]

excellent suggestions, guys. I'm kinda nervous about putting a set amount into my paypal account and having it sit there as I've heard some horror stories about people's accounts being shut down in the past or having other issues.

However, I am keeping track of my spending on a sheet of paper on my desk, and in 2 days I spent about 50 bucks on what didn't seem like too much, a few PC singles, but it does add up..

[nebboy]

Thats with I never crack open boxs anymore. For the price of one box I can buy the best single RC/AU/GU cards from that product. But I wait untill a couple more new products come out and the prices go down. Sometimes a full year behind. Know that I get what I want and doing that every month (about $100) over a couple of years gave me a great collection. Also do the same for vintage which I love and holds value much better.