As it relates to money, ‘restraint’ is not a virtue
highly prized by modern, western society. In fact, our consumerist culture does
everything it can to promote spending, even pushing people to spend a lot more
money than they actually have, and sending them into horrible debt spirals. It’s
a trap that I fell into once; though I’m proud to have battled my way back out
of it.
Since then, I have learned a bit of restraint and over
the last year or so, have even gotten a bit ahead of the game. But there are
lean months ahead. With the birth of my daughter, and my wife going on maternity
leave for seven months, times are going to be a bit tight. We will managed, I’m
sure, but I want to be smart about it.
There are still two areas in which my restraint is often
put to the test, miniatures and books.
Miniatures: Over the last couple of years, as part of my
battle out of debt, I have sold off a majority of the unpainted (and even a lot
of the painted) miniatures that I own. Despite that, I still have at least a
couple of hundred unpainted minis down in the troll cave. Before my daughter
was born, if I had painted at my normal rate, and not bought any more minis, I suspect
it would have still taken me well over a year to paint all of those miniatures.
Now that Freya is here, I suspect that it is a 2-3 year supply.
Books: I’m a little better about books, if for no better
reason than I have less space to keep them. That said, with my birthday just
past and several recent purchases, I have at least a dozen on my to-be-read
shelf, a combination of heavy history and science-fiction novels (A few of
those books illustrate this blog). Again, I suspect it’s a 5-6 month supply,
pre-birth, and I have no idea how much now.
So, here is my goal. For the entire month of July, I am
going to try not to buy any books or any miniatures. That may not seem like a
big deal to some, but it will be a real test of willpower for me. Thankfully, I’m
not planning on attending any shows, or going on any trips that often make such
purchases much more likely.
If I make it to August, I will review the situation and
see what progress I have made.
I hear you... our budget has become a challenge since eldest child went to big school, with school fees... It was part of the reason for my rationalising my gaming genres... my only fear now, having focused on LOTR/ Hobbit, is trying to collect what I can before it becomes discontinued...
ReplyDeleteI'm following the path of restraint myself I've cut my miniature and book buying down to a quarter of what it used to be and I've begun selling the miniatures I'm never going to paint. You are not alone.
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