Beckett Message Boards
Looking for advice... - Printable Version

+- Beckett Message Boards (https://www.beckett.com/forums)
+-- Forum: Hobby Talk (https://www.beckett.com/forums/forum-1.html)
+--- Forum: Basketball (https://www.beckett.com/forums/forum-4.html)
+--- Thread: Looking for advice... (/thread-1488349.html)

Pages: 1 2

Looking for advice... - marquettewade3 - 02-23-2012

So, I'm married and have a baby due in May. My wife is going to be going part time. We both make good money and I am picking up some extra hours so it's not like we are strapped financially but sometimes I look at what I spend on cards and think, man, I could be saving this for a new house, retirement, etc. That being said, I just would like to say we have 401k, life insurance, blah, blah, blah. I've been thinking about selling my cards from the standpoint that I feel I coudl probably make a few thousand back on them, but then I think...I've put so much time and effort into getting them I would probably regret selling them, and besides, then what would I do with my free time. Has anyone had this conversation with themselves? Basically, I want you guys to convince me to stick around Smile. Bur seriously, any thoughts? Do you guys set spending limits for yourselves? If so, what are they? Sorry this is kind of weird post but who better to ask than all of you?

RE: Looking for advice... - buckunteer - 02-23-2012

(02-23-2012, 12:23 PM)marquettewade3 Wrote: So, I'm married and have a baby due in May. My wife is going to be going part time. We both make good money and I am picking up some extra hours so it's not like we are strapped financially but sometimes I look at what I spend on cards and think, man, I could be saving this for a new house, retirement, etc. That being said, I just would like to say we have 401k, life insurance, blah, blah, blah. I've been thinking about selling my cards from the standpoint that I feel I coudl probably make a few thousand back on them, but then I think...I've put so much time and effort into getting them I would probably regret selling them, and besides, then what would I do with my free time. Has anyone had this conversation with themselves? Basically, I want you guys to convince me to stick around Smile. Bur seriously, any thoughts? Do you guys set spending limits for yourselves? If so, what are they? Sorry this is kind of weird post but who better to ask than all of you?

I completely agree that selling an entire collection feels almost blasphemous after the time, energy and money we have put into it. I'm also in a transitional phase in my life as I'll be getting married this July and hopefully finishing my Ph.D. in the next 2 years. What I've found is whenever I get an "influx" of money, like Christmastime, tax refund, etc. I do the 80/20 rule. I will save/put back 80% of it (or use that portion for bills, rent, etc.) and allow myself to splurge w/ the remaining 20%. Other than that I generally like to stay under $150/month as far as acquiring cards, though I probably go over that a bit with shipping costs for trades and whatnot.

My fiancee is supportive too which helps. She thinks it's weird that I collect stuff b/c she's not the type of person to have the patience for something like that, but she knows that the stuff I collect (cards and coins mainly) does actually have some value and could be sold off if we were ever in a real bind. She even busts packs with me occasionally. First pack she ever busted for me had a $15 MJ parallel I needed for my PC, so I try to get her to break with me all the time now! Smile

I say if you ever need the money, sell it, but until that day comes (hopefully never) enjoy what you've obtained!

RE: Looking for advice... - robd5811 - 02-23-2012

If you sell it your gunna regret it..and you will come back and have to start from scratch..keep collecting

RE: Looking for advice... - nickm1123 - 02-23-2012

My wife and I just had a baby in November so I have already had this conversation with myself several times. What I concluded is downsizing and decreasing what I spend each month. I originally collected MJ, Ray Allen, Durant and Kyle Weaver. Instead of attempting to collect all, I decided to keep the collections that had the most meaning to me. Since I have collected MJ since I was like 12 or 13 I decided to sell most of my other collections. I found it very easy to sell most of my other collections because they were started as a side project and really didnt mean a lot to me. The thought of selling my MJ collection sort of makes me sick to my stomach ahah! So I will sell everything else before I touch that or consider touching that. So far I have sold 5-6 Ray Allen autos and this literally has not bothered me. I still have a couple stashed away and I am content with this. But the thought of even selling one of my Jordan refractors or jersey cards or anything else really gets to me. So as someone said, do not sell the cards you are most attached to because you will regret it. If you collect one person, keep those cards but cut back. If you collect multiple players, decide who you really want to collect and who you are collecting simply to collect. For me I started collecting Ray Allen to get cards of him that I could never get of MJ. Once I realized this, it was easy to get rid of his cards. Eventually I would like to get them back, but as of now, I am not concerned with it. If I am not missing them now, I probably will not miss them in the future either.

Since I have sold a lot of my other collections, I have money in my Paypal account. Since I have money there, I am not spending the money my wife and I make. I would typically spend about $200 a month of our earned money on cards, so since I am no longer doing this, it is saving us 200 or more per month. I am also thinking about getting out of collecting for a while simply because I do not have time. When you have a baby things change and so do priorites. Instead of wanting to sit on the computer and look at cards, I wnat to be with my family. Then even when my baby is sleeping I want to be sleeping too because I am exhausted. So I find that my interest of cards is still there and will always be there, but is slowly becoming less of a priority. Hope this helps. This is what I have done to help out. You will find that once the baby is born they are not expensive really. To get ready and prepared for the baby, that is another topic (getting clothes, crib, etc). So the money I am not spending on cards each month literally covers the babies typical monthy expenses of food and diapers and such. So it is nice because it all levels out. Hope this helps.

RE: Looking for advice... - libs021 - 02-23-2012

Yeah you don't want to get out of the hobby completlly, just cut back on how much you spend, whats the point of going to work everyday if you can't spend your own money on stuff you want. Or mabye just take a break from collecting like me and than slowly get back into it once you have saved up a little bit of extra money

RE: Looking for advice... - xstreaminsanity - 02-23-2012

You ask if any of us have ever posed this question to ourselves.................EVERY COLLECTOR HAS!!!!!!! Smile Mind you, when I say collector, I don't mean someone who buys cards to flip and that's it. Every person that collects for sentimental value at some point steps back and looks around at their collection and goes, "Hmmm, do you know I could have done with all of that time and money?" But, if you get rid of it, then you stand in the same spot and ask, "Hmmm, what do I do with all of my time and money?" lol. I suggest, as others have, keep it and only sell if you REALLY need the money. They aren't hurting anyone, they aren't decaying, they'll be fun to look at from time to time, and you won't have to start from scratch when prices might be higher (or they could be lower, who knows). Good luck on your decision.

RE: Looking for advice... - filamuraireborn - 02-23-2012

(02-23-2012, 01:22 PM)xstreaminsanity Wrote: You ask if any of us have ever posed this question to ourselves.................EVERY COLLECTOR HAS!!!!!!! Smile Mind you, when I say collector, I don't mean someone who buys cards to flip and that's it. Every person that collects for sentimental value at some point steps back and looks around at their collection and goes, "Hmmm, do you know I could have done with all of that time and money?" But, if you get rid of it, then you stand in the same spot and ask, "Hmmm, what do I do with all of my time and money?" lol. I suggest, as others have, keep it and only sell if you REALLY need the money. They aren't hurting anyone, they aren't decaying, they'll be fun to look at from time to time, and you won't have to start from scratch when prices might be higher (or they could be lower, who knows). Good luck on your decision.

well said.

i posted a thread before about me taking a break. yea, sometimes we have to. right now, i'm just here to stay in-touch with the basketball community. anyways, that thread was deleted and i don't know why.

back on topic... Smile

RE: Looking for advice... - marquettewade3 - 02-24-2012

Thanks all!

RE: Looking for advice... - mrhurtado17 - 02-24-2012

i think everyone has given you some great things to think about. i would just add that its a hobby or something you enjoy and i bet the wife spends about the same amount of $ on her hobbies-makeup, clothes, girlfriend dates, etc where we spend less in those categories usually as dudes!

RE: Looking for advice... - marquettewade3 - 02-25-2012

Lol. Thanks mrhurtado17. I think you are right!