I'm a terrible person to say, considering I overspend ALL the time. I do try to keep in check what I have bought though.

I normally - unless looking for something specific - only shop during sales, as stuff is just too pricey otherwise. I hadn't bought any new anime for quite a while due to how expensive it was, then stocked up at Best Buy when it went half off.

I do this a lot with manga too, as when Borders has their buy 3 get one free I usually partake.

To keep everything in order I have quite the nerdy system. I keep an Access document of every video game I have, and Word documents (probably will soon switch it to Access) of all my manga and anime. That way when I'm on the go I can have printed copies of what I've got so that nothing gets duplicated.

I 100% tier what I buy, and generally only go for things that I know that I'll like when I'm having to pay for it. I'm not opposed to try new series, but if it's gonna cost a lot I'm going to do a lot more looking into it first. If it's something from Slayers, it's mine.. like.. right now.

I have the problem of always comparing one purchase to another regardless of how unrelated the items are.

i.e.
Man... I could have bought 5 DVD's for the price of that video game.
Or - That dinner was like buying 2 volumes of manga...
And more recently - I could have bought the licensing and distribution rights to Bamboo Blade instead of buying my house.

For organization tool, I use Libra to track my R1 DVDs. It's been pretty helpful.

http://www.getlibra.com/

Getting organized is the first step to figure out how much crap you are spending on this stuff and how much less you oughta be. But maybe that's just me. Beats a spreadsheet though.

What? Pay for anime and manga? Who does that?


JK



I cant really afford to buy anime and manga these days, but when I do buy anime manga, it has to be something that I really love and "different from the rest".

I often take advantage of special offers and sales to soften the blow itll have on my wallet. So now Im just waiting for another volume of Honey and Clover to come out so I can take advantage of the "Buy 3, get 1 free" deal at my Borders.

I actually started keeping a small notebook I named "Finances".



I use it to document my spending on non-essential items, such as video games, anime dvds, manga, and everything in between. So far in 2009 I have spent 2,316 dollars(rough estimate) on my hobby. Is it too much? Very. Will I stop spending so much? Never.

I keep my receipts with the little cash I save to know where my money went and how it's being spent... I usually sell off stuff on ebay and keep money in a paypal account so I know if I can buy anything else with the turn around, resale.
I do over spend, mainly on shit like Supercell CD+DVD+BOOK, I bought 2 copies which was like $100+ from Tokyo (anyone wants to buy a copy, I have one used and one new), I pre-ordered Sunday X Magazine; Taison Fighter PSP which I know I will be like WTF did I do after it gets here. That's gonna cost me like $60 for the import.
I try to stay with legal purchases like Netflix and Crunchyroll account. It gets expensive, I also pay for domains for my films and comic book projects I do. I try to buy legal software which ranges in the 100s of dollars, CRAPPPPP!!!!!!
I go to a limited amount of Cons, AnimeNEXT and NYAF if ever. I don't cosplay so that saves me money but I do Interview cosplayers and take their photos.
And my Macbook Pro just upped and died on me with no money to fix her. FYI Dont use your mac as a wireless router, bad idea, your harddrive or worse will die, I learned the hard way.
It's def. is an addiction this "hobby" and I don't know how to shake it or if I want too. If I made more money I'd end up spending it on the fun stuff.
I save money by not eating food from outside, not so much take out, not so much deliveries nor diner food. I cook at home, I eat and play at home for the most part.
Unfortunately they keep releasing this product called a Blu-ray and it got me by the sack. Damn you Sony a.k.a. Umbrella Corp. mix that with the PSN and it's pretty much over.
We could all save our money and buy something awesome together but then we'd probably all die before we get the chance to enjoy it.

Have fun people, remember tomorrow is never promised.

It is common for me to find someone in a bookstore deciding between getting this manga book and eating. What is wrong with us?

To be honest, it wasn't until the Best Buy sale that I actually bought anime on DVDs. To me, I rather spend my money on other things and DVDs are just something I don't want to spend my money on, no matter how much I have them. For manga, yeah, I usually attack the deals or don't buy manga for a long time and then just buy a bulk at once. I wanted to try doing one book a week but didn't lol.

I'm pretty good at saving money. I always plan ahead of how much money I'll most likely have at a certain time. I got this habit because of my trips to Japan and needing to save ahead of time.

I've been meaning to write a list of the manga I own because I tend to forget when I go to the stores. But I have one for my video games, which I remember more easily. D'oh.

I mean "no matter how much I want them." Excuse my tired brain, I'm passing out right this second.

I'm really, really conscious about my money, especially now, with no stable income and a lot of tuition bills to pay. I try very hard not to browse online for deals, and generally tell myself that I will look for things at conventions and that's it -- doing that really limits my choice, and really, at MomoCon last week, I didn't even go into the Dealer's Room because I was working so hard tabling in the Artist Alley. I'm also thankful there are actually fairly few things I want, and a lot of them are figures I currently don't have room for, and won't have room for until I get a more stable living situation. ;\

@Samurai Will: I am interested on one of your Supercell copies (prererably the new copy). What is the best way to contact you via e-mail so we can negotiate? Should I use the @animerelated address linked on your site?

@moderators: sorry for the off-topic post; I didn't find a private message feature.

Meh, I say ignorance is bliss. I have a slight tiering system (for example, Fate/Stay Night manga = ABSOLUTE FIRST PRIORITY), but for the most part it's pretty much whatever I feel like getting at the time. Usually I try to stick with series I've already started, but I don't mind collecting new series randomly if I feel like it. Granted, what I consider an "impulse buy" most others would probably consider at least a fairly thought out buy, but whenever I have money and am at a Borders, usually I'll just say screw it and just get whatever I like. Surprisingly its worked pretty well for me and I don't really have any random volumes or tons of incomplete collections actually.

So where (oh where???) do i get a set of sliding book cases like that??? I tired googling it and could not come up with it. Anyone?? Please???

my main rule is to only buy something if I have at least twice as much money as it costs. So if I see a manga that costs 9 dollars, I'll only buy it if I have at least 18 dollars in my wallet.

I really need to come up with some sort of system. I'm also a horrible impulse buyer. Last night, I went to Books-a-Million to hang out with friends, and I walked out with Black Jack 3 and 4. A couple of days before, I picked up some Tsubasa volumes, Kraven's Last Hunt hardback and Grave of the Fireflies. Luckily, both times, I didn't pay full price (former - friend with discount, latter - gift card).

And at the same time, I'm placing an order on HLJ for Kamen Rider Decade's belt and a Kamen Rider 1 figure. That's over $90 right there -_-'

Usually, I'm pretty good at waiting on sales or getting things used to help lower the cost. Plus, there's the added restraint of occasionally being broke, but then that tax refund came in and I was screwed.

Yesterday I was at the public library outlet (where they sell books that are going out of circulation). I picked up Iron Wok Jan vol. 1, Star Trek the manga Vol. 2, and a selection of vol.1's of several series, all for $1.25 each. That is where I buy most of my manga.

With being unemployed it's kinda hard to restart any type of buying. Thank heavens for chrunchyroll and anime freak to be able to watch my favs. Been out of work since last sept. Can only wish for a better future.

It started out small: my first ever manga, after having been an anime fan for 5 years, was Death Note about two years ago. And after having bought all 12 plus the light novel and the how to read, I realize all that cost somewhere in the ballpark of $130 or more, not including tax. Which leads me to wonder: if I were into a more time intensive franchise, say...Naruto or Bleach or Inuyasha, how much would I have paid? Considering I tend to buy figurines and shirts and goofy little knick-knacks to go with it all, too much.

But, both to my advantage and disadvantage, I find myself literally unable to buy a new series sometimes. I am the type of person who needs to... catch 'em all, if you will. I can't buy one new manga without the impusle to buy every single book in the series! I have about 3 completed series and two in the works, which seems like nothing compared to my friends. One has a WALL of manga and anime. I look at my bookshelf and see only one small space, mildy dissheveled, strewn with comics and a few light novels.

So instead I tend to spend my money on figurines and shirts and goofy little knick-knacks. *sigh*


woah, this is a bit tl:dr