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Well, the way I usually justify spending so much on wargaming is firstly, by throwing all my receipts away and forgetting they ever existed, and simply by conveniently forgetting how much I've actually spent.....which of course I have no idea how much that is.

How I justify it... "It's my money and I'll spend it on what I want to spend it on."

That said, I pay my bills on time and give myself an "allowance" outta my salary for games and fun stuff. I'll spend it on models or video games or dvds or whatever I want.

My GF doesn't have any interest in any of my nerd hobbies but she knows it's something I enjoy and as long as I can afford it, she could care less what models I buy, just like I could care less what shoes and handbags she buys. Her money is hers just like my money is mine

I could see it being more of an issue with parents though if you're younger, and if you are having trouble there, just be responsible and make sure your bills if any are paid before you buy your toys and learn how to budget your money

It's really not that hard to justify, she actually does it for me most of the time.

'So, these are all painted. You need some more right?'

'I don't know...can we afford it?'

'It's alot cheaper than if you went out and got pissed.'

And as usual, she's right.

---

All hobbies involve the spending of money, some just moreso than others, and all are going to seem like a waste to someone, but we all need our ways to relax. While for what they are, GW products are rather expensive, compared to going out for the day every Sunday and all the extra time painting etc., you would likely spend much more on other hobbies, you just don't really think about it that way.

Found out the other day that simply buying take-out for two here can easily become the price of a scout squad....matter of perspective.

Well, so long as it's money and you're not paying things like groceries and gas with a credit card you're not an addict. Remember, if you have to put it on a credit card it's either an emergency or not needed. And really, do you need that tank now, or can you buy it next pay period?

Be fiscally responsible and support LGS and not credit companies

I do in largely the same way as Necros. It's my expendable income, everything's paid for and this is what's left for me to use as I wish.

Though I did have to go into detail sometimes when my girlfriend and I got together, before she started playing. That it might seem like an incredibly expensive hobby, but look at it compared to other people's time killers. Some people buy video games at 60.00 a pop, play them for a month or less and buy more. Some go out drinking every weekend, and blow more than I would in a month on my mini's in one night. Some do card games, and there's no need to explain how expensive they are to keep on the keen edge with your decks. I allocate roughly 30.00 a month to my hobby. Some months I spend nothing, and on rare occasions up to 100. If I ever spend more at once, it's aided by ebay sales and no more than that comes out of pocket. I don't smoke, drink, gamble, and rarely do games, so if that's the extent of what I spend per month to keep myself entertained, it's really not bad.

mattyboy22 wrote:I point at the two dozen pairs of shoes she has.

Good point.

By the way, I never thought about this, my wife does... but I don't care...

mattyboy22 wrote:I point at the two dozen pairs of shoes she has.

Only two dozen?

My girlfriend has significantly more than that, and likes designer stuff. I can easily show her that her purse and wallet are worth more than my entire army.

Ghiest1 wrote:

chaos0xomega wrote:This thread makes me want to go out and buy more minis so bad... but I have so many already, most of which I haven't used, a lot of which are in stages of half assembly, very very few (I can count the number on one hand) are actually fully painted....

help me, I'm addicted :(

Hello,
As a painter and concerned modeller I would like to help you, I will get rid of that nasty collection of half painted and assembled models for you. It will just cost shipping to my addy.

Regards,
Carl

But then I'll have less stuff... this is unacceptable.

It's all within reason. If you are spending a reasonable amount vs. your income, i.e, you aren't renting a 1 room basement apartment when you could afford to buy a townhouse/condo solely due to mini-habits, you should be ok.

IF you are within reasonable expenditures, and IF you actually use what you buy, you shouldn't have to justify yourself to anyone. Especially if you aren't married

Heffling wrote:Show me a hobby that's not expensive.

origami. running. drawing. there's probably a few hundred others.

however, you can make any hobby expensive--if you want. a vast amount of people live beyond their means, and mostly through consumer debt.

I have a disposable income, so it's all ok.I like to wargame, and I find the price I pay to play is justified by the satisfaction I get from the hobby.

rodt777 wrote:Whether it's to your uninterested spouse, or your parents who don't understand, how do you justify spending alot of money on what seems like a piece of plastic to everybody else?

lots of people spend lots of money on things made out of plastic...

In fact many things today are plastic.

Also i don't buy seven dollar coffees at trendy coffee shops nor do I waste money on copious amounts of alcohol on a regular basis as many do.

People waste money in a variety of ways. I choose to do so through wargaming.

To each his own.

I've got a mother who gives me alot of money [for example, I got $500 AUD for christmas.] She has a rule that whatever I make, I save 50%. The rest I spend on whatever I feel like.

I don't buy models willy-nilly. When I started Bretts, I tried making lists before I got into it, and even then I only bought the models that could be made into a number of things [in example, knights of the realm could be used as errants or grail knights.]

still, I reckon I've spent around 1.5k on marines, and 500 on bretonnians. both armies are 300 pt now.

I spend my money as I wish. I've been working since I was 12. [not real work, but I was paid for it all the same.] and have saved 60% of my income.

the fact is, if you can strike a balance between 'money for necesity' and 'money for wants' then you should be fine.

it'll also help if you factor in how much money you will make after tax. that way, you can't become short of money because of taxes.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

mrwhoop wrote:Well, so long as it's money and you're not paying things like groceries and gas with a credit card you're not an addict. Remember, if you have to put it on a credit card it's either an emergency or not needed. And really, do you need that tank now, or can you buy it next pay period?

Be fiscally responsible and support LGS and not credit companies

Also, if you keep the money saved away so you can pay for the credit card.

I've a credit card signed in my name - it's all of 1000$. I keep it for everything, because carrying a peice of plastic is alot better then carrying 20 $50 notes. and a tonne of change.

even though I have the credit card, I have money saved away so I can pay for the whole thing asap, avoiding too much intrest.

maybe it's just me. it seems logical.

I don't spend large portions of my money wargaming.

No need to justify anything.

i usually say that i love modelling, and GW makes the best models that also have a game that can be played with them (intentionally leaving out the other wargames in the industry)

battle Brother Lucifer wrote:Its my money and/or ' would you rather me using it on drugs?!?'

i tried that once, my mom said she would rather see me spend it on mary jane...

One useful thing about 40k is that it introduces you to an entirely new social element of like minded people. At my local gaming club, the majority of people are not simply nice, but all "nerds" (making them generally enjoyable company). Thus, the hobby offers me hours of enjoyment painting and modelling, but additional happiness from socializing and working out campaigns with other players. Not only that, I've been able to keep the price for my armies very low (much lower than my neighbor's sports gear, which likely surpasses $5,000 in value) For a total of about $300, I have enough to field roughly 3500pts of space marines and 2500pts of orks (I know people who spent even less on similarly sized armies).

jordanis wrote:i usually say that i love modelling, and GW makes the best models that also have a game that can be played with them (intentionally leaving out the other wargames in the industry)

battle Brother Lucifer wrote:Its my money and/or ' would you rather me using it on drugs?!?'

i tried that once, my mom said she would rather see me spend it on mary jane...

That's only because you're in Cali. .......I jest of course

Most of my hobbies are expensive but I look at it this way. The money I spend on my hobbies is money that could have gone towards drugs or something etc. So the way i look at it is that there are worse things I could be spending it on.

Stormrider wrote:

jordanis wrote:i usually say that i love modelling, and GW makes the best models that also have a game that can be played with them (intentionally leaving out the other wargames in the industry)

battle Brother Lucifer wrote:Its my money and/or ' would you rather me using it on drugs?!?'

i tried that once, my mom said she would rather see me spend it on mary jane...

That's only because you're in Cali. .......I jest of course

naw, make fun of cali all you want, i hate this liberal, tree hugging state...but lets not get into politics

jordanis wrote:

Stormrider wrote:

jordanis wrote:i usually say that i love modelling, and GW makes the best models that also have a game that can be played with them (intentionally leaving out the other wargames in the industry)

battle Brother Lucifer wrote:Its my money and/or ' would you rather me using it on drugs?!?'

i tried that once, my mom said she would rather see me spend it on mary jane...

That's only because you're in Cali. .......I jest of course

naw, make fun of cali all you want, i hate this liberal, tree hugging state...but lets not get into politics

It's kind of sad too, my Grandparent's live in Orange County.

I used to spend lots but never what I considered a large amount.

The problem can be the much mentioned lead mountains, where you buy minis for the sake of it, It's one of the few hobbies where you can spend £10 or so and the item in question never sees the light of day. It's like me asking why my wife needs so many shoes.

Now I just make tactical purchases, getting something if I cannot trade, beg, borrow, steal or bodge together.

Basically, I don't have to justify my spending, even being married.

I have a part time job with decent income, and most of my friends spend as much on video games. And i always make sure I have £100 reserve cash to hand.

mattyboy22 wrote:I point at the two dozen pairs of shoes she has.

Epically true, man. One pare of nice shoes can cost anywhere from $100-$300 bucks. For that amount of money, I could get a whole WH40k army.

Otherwise, I have no need to justify spending large amounts of money on the hobby. I am a freaky little miser that cannot stand spending more then $30 on any given purchase. Must be an OCD thing.

_Tim?

It's easy, however I am now getting told I need to buy my GF's hobby needs too.

Came in yesterday with a fiend blister. She looks, glares, and get asked "where's my knights?" in a jesting manner. Seriously I just got her the engagement ring, and she told me she doesn't want any mini's for Christmas, however her birthday is 1/6.....

She took 4 months to paint one Pegasus knight, so I think a box of Knights of the Realm will take a good year. Easy.Cheap and Easy.

Initially, I bought what I could for cheap by trolling through ebay actions. Now that I've got enough unpainted plastic and collected scraps and gubbins of cardboard, plastic, and electronic doodads to last most hobbyists a few years, my meager wages go where they're needed most: bills. When I buy hobby stuff now, it's limited to the occasional tool or some paint, but even that is pretty rare, as money is tight, these days.

Tools I can justify, as I tinker. Anything I get is multipurpose, as the sculpting/cutting/painting/grinding tools can be used for models, terrain, sculpture, jewelry, armoring, and/or general metal-/woodwork, all of which I dabble in.

Hi all,
I dont spend large amounts of money on wargaming, it NOT necissary.Its TIME spent NOT money spent thats important!(IMO.)

Only people buying GW products seem to throw large sums of cash at GW!

TTFN

Lanrak wrote:Hi all,
I dont spend large amounts of money on wargaming, it NOT necissary.Its TIME spent NOT money spent thats important!(IMO.)

Only people buying GW products seem to throw large sums of cash at GW!

TTFN

Jeaulous because you can't afford them?) Start playing GW games again, it will turn you from a bitter troll into a gibbering fanboy. The difference being that you'll get a better job because of the smile on your face, and with tons of cash rolling in from the new job, be able to buy all the GW goodness that you want!

It's how I escape from reality, and it's cheaper than getting wasted every weekend.

I only have to justify it to myself, which goes as follows:

I used to be into photography (film and digital) - this is cheap by comparison.

I used to (well, still am) into motorcycling - road riding, trackdays, off road riding and racing - this is cheap by comparison.

jordanis wrote:i usually say that i love modelling, and GW makes the best models that also have a game that can be played with them (intentionally leaving out the other wargames in the industry)

battle Brother Lucifer wrote:Its my money and/or ' would you rather me using it on drugs?!?'

i tried that once, my mom said she would rather see me spend it on mary jane...

Tell her its the Gateway drug, and right after you will try Crystal Meth.
Tell her a tv show showed you how easy it was to get, and you should totally try it.