I've just finished going through my paperwork and stuff ready for the new year (you know - great intentions and all that
).
I do a bit of reselling in order to get the stuff I want without hitting the household budget and I've just worked out exactly what I've done this year.
Collecting and reading gaming stuff is just about my only, selfish, personal expense - 3 kids kind of precludes any social life involving getting pissed every night and I stopped smoking at the millennium(I heard a rumour it's bad for you?)
I'm quite a half-hearted ebayer, so perhaps I could sell more if I tried but to cut to the chase in the last year I have spent the grand total of £79.18 (or about 13 packs of cigarettes!)(or 22p a day)
For this princely sum I have managed to get loads of stuff that I want (and loads that I didn't know I wanted until I got it to resell and then couldn't bear to part with it!) - including about half a dozen HB
3E Forgotten Realms books which retail at £15+ each, as well as loads of traveller and car wars, most Imagine magazines, lots of Dungeon, Dragon and Polyhedrons, a decent Rules Cyclopedia (that I have promised myself I won't sell),another
OCE set and a couple of supplements, some Mystara stuff and some Spelljammer, and loads of Wargames rulesbooks.
When I look at the stacks of books and box sets in the loft(my wife can't get up there!) I can't help but feel how much I'd have if I didn't have to sell stuff to get more - the amount of books that I have briefly in my possession is astounding - gone are the days when I even try to read everything - I could probably go through 2007 without buying anything and I still wouldn't have caught up with my reading.
It's also nice to manage to sell bits and bobs to fellow enthusiasts - I feel quite proud when I sell a book to someone on these boards - like confirmation that I'm not the only saddo hoarding a load of old junk
So - to 2007 - My intention (what did I say about great intentions?!) is to do more of the same, just be a bit more professional about it, and to get me something rare to keep - an R series module would be ideal, rare enough to be special but not so rare as to be out of my reach financially(I'm also lucky that item condition in my collection is not a major worry to me, just so long as I can read it!)
So - A Happy New Year to all - may it bring everything you deserve!!
Carl
