[Serious] Help, I'm addicted to buying RPG books!

[AeroDm]

Here is a simple solution-

don't buy another book until you've _read_ all of your other ones. If you are buying books that you aren't even reading, much less using, then perhaps you have a problem. Likewise, talk to your group. Maybe you just need to have all of the latest stuff at your finger tips and thus they could start sharing the burden a bit.

 

[Alaric_Prympax]

I too have a problem with buying too many books but luckly I now have someone in my life that is much more important to me then this and even NFL football (if you knew me in person you would know exactly what that means!). Everytime I buy something now I have to ask these questions: 1. Is it essential to my game? 2. Can I afford it in my budget? and 3. Will she kill me if I buy it?

Seriously though, I do have way too many books that I haven't read or used yet and I am trying to get my debt down. So far I have been pretty successful since Thanksgiving 2003.

 

[Henry]

The thing about training your brain to recognize these "automatic" choices is spot-on.

SERIOUS problems (like you consistently spend the rent money in RPG sales) you need to talk to a councillor. Bad habit (like "I never save any money despite my intentions to") is part of growing up (trust me, you can be 50 years old, and STILL have growing to do.)

What does it for me is when I realize that I'm making do with a busted piece of equipment (TV, phone, microwave, etc.) when all I had to do was NOT buy 8 RPG books, or not eat meagerly about 12 times, and I'd be able to afford a brand new one. That usually does it for me.

I had a friend who was once contemplating his poor finances. I asked him how much he and his GF ate out instead of at home, and he told me they pretty much eat out every single meal. When I reminded him that he was spending somewhere around $50.00 per day on food, and that was minimum $1500.00 in food per month we were talking about, it really made him think!

Most of us waste money all the time (impulse buys, poor item purchases first time around, etc.) The trick is how good are our finances to the point that we can afford the waste we DO have. College students have less of a "waste margin" than both teenagers and adults in the work force.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

Just don't do what I did, and sell off all your RPG books. Now I'm trying to buy back the books I want (but, surprisingly, not every book that I had). So it worked, but I still took a huge loss on the transaction. And some of the books I had and want are out-of-print and impossible to get...

 

[jester47]

Somtimes I look at my shelf and think, wow, Thats x ammount in camping gear, dates, and other stuff. But the thing is, I realise that it has been gathered over months and years. So a $3000 over 4 years breaks down to 750 a year, and that's about $60 a month. Now, I know how many times I have had the opportunity to go camping (with the whacked out retail schedule and a demanding rowing schedule, pretty much 0). And I rarely have the cash to cover the costs of camping gear all at once and when I do I buy it. Retail and a regular rowing schedule pretty much put the kaibash on dating anyone other than rowers ("sorry babe, I gotta jet, its 8:30 and its almost my bedtime"). And so when I think about how I would have spent the money otherwise (which I would have) I figure that the fact I can still hold on to what I bought might be a good thing. (meaning I could have spent it on shows, going out to bars, and other activities).

Aaron.

 

[Taelorn76]

My problem is I binge and purge. I will go a few months without buying anything RPG related then I walk into FLGS and drop like $100 or more on books I probably won't use.

And don't get me started on the minis.

 

[fba827]

My problem is I binge and purge. I will go a few months without buying anything RPG related then I walk into FLGS and drop like $100 or more on books I probably won't use.

And don't get me started on the minis.

binge and purge implies that you sell them all during your "off time". I think feast or famine would be a more appropriate term

I'm much the same way in that regard.

 

[Lord Rasputin]

Dude, you're gonna need to sell off some of your books. I was where you were at about a dozen years ago, and it's the only way.

Take the books back to the store and sell them. Actually, if you can, sell some of them on eBay, especially the recent stuff. Yeah, you'll take a hit, but you'll recoup some of the money, and you'll have a strong, anti-buy feeling. But if you won't use them, sell them off, so someone who really wants it and is short on cash buys the book for less than he would spend at the gaming store.

 

[Golem2176]

Is it considered an addiction if you haven't played a (full) session in well over 4 years? Is it considered addiction if you own more scanned books than you do actual hard/softbacks? Is it considered an addiction if you will go to any length to get your d20/DnD (book) fix? Yep. And damn proud of my addiction.

 

[Ace]

I've had a problem this problem for some time, but I've never realized the extent of it. It seems like I have to continously purchase the newest rpg books. Being a college student, my only real source of income is my campus job. Yesterday, when I walked into the local gaming store I ended up spending $65 on Unearthed Arcana and D20 Modern Weapons locker. I then got to thinking. I've spend several hundred dollars on the latest d20 stuff in the last couple of year. Altogether, I've probably spent nearly $1000 on rpg books. (Not including miniature, dice, screens, etc) Even worse is the fact that I know I'll never use half the books that I have, but I have them anyway. I swore that I would quit buying RPG books after 3.5e came out, but lo and behold several months later I'm buying them again. I feel that this is a serious addiction. I feel like I should get rid of many of the books that I'll never use, but I can't bring myself to part with them! Am I addicted to rpg books?

You might be addicted to buying books but I wouldn't recomend selling them if I were you

You will lose money on them and will regret it later--
I once went through a bad patch and dumped all my RPGs

I only ended up buying them again later

If you feel you have a problem-- just quit buying for a while. If it is a take it or leave it thing than you are OK

If not than it might be time to find a new hobby for a while -- If you are a game book junky than avoiding exposing yourself to more games is a good idea--

If it is just a money issue -- i.e you are spending more than you can afford I suggest buying some of the "probably won't use" books used-- They have a forum here-- on rpg.net anf a few other places for this purpose. There is also E Bay. With care you can get 3 times the value from your $