C-Mart

So I've gotten to that point in my life where I've accepted that I can't afford to buy each and every DVD that I think I might want. Also, I'm on a $5/day budget which I can use for food or whatever. most of the time I take my lunch and save the money for DVDs. Right now I'm crazy backlogged since I didn't buy much before Christmas, and didn't get many DVDs for Christmas either... only 2 compared to the usual 4-6 plus GCs. Its quite difficult to balance what I want to buy, what I have on my Netflix, etc... What triggered my desire to write this is the Blue Harvest release this week. I want to get it, and I would like to get the SE... but the single disk is so much cheaper, AND I have so many other dvds I want right now it seems a waste to spend that extra money, basically for a shirt... which is the only reason I want the SE. I suppose I could trade for what I want... but it always seems that I'll think of something to watch, then go try to find the DVD and it won't be there... "Oh yeah, I traded that" or "oh yeah, I ebayed that".

I just have to put together a nice list of what I want and the priority in which I want it, and go from there.

riotinmyskull

how old are you? 12?

SterlingBen

I'm a Toys R' Us kid

nemein

On the flip side, if you grow up and get a real job you can afford the buy the DVDs you want Of course you'll probably have less time to actually watch them though


Mod note: For now I'll leave this here since it is somewhat about DVDs/buying habits/our common addiction If it strays too far though it'll get moved to the Other forum.

Snowmaker

Sounds like the same boat I'm in this week. I've decided I'm just going to get the regular DVD. I normally wear an XL shirt, but I've heard this one is running a bit small. Plus then you have the big empty spot in the box and the box itself is HUGE.

Or I might just wait a few months when everyone will have the box as cheap as the regular DVD is this week.

Yakuza Bengoshi

Yikes!

Snowmaker

In my case, with my wife currently unemployed and a 5-month-old daughter at home, I have to budget myself.

Yakuza Bengoshi

Sounds reasonable. DVDs are clearly a luxury. If I were under any financial pressure, I'd cut out retail DVDs altogether and just go with Netflix (and review discs). On the other hand, having only $5 a day of mad money that I could spend on "food or whatever" would definitely bum me out. I think I'd feel compelled to change jobs or at least get a second job.

dcrw6

Don't worry, man. Things will get better. There was a period of about three years where money and life in general just sucked for me, and I was only able to buy like 25 dvds in that whole time. But now I'm in a good spot and I'm able to buy way more than I can even watch. I'm sure everyone here goes through times like that. The early twenties are especially hard on collectors.

Snowmaker

I tried that, but the headaches, cold sweats and shakes were too unbearable.

I just pace myself and put a few up on ebay here and there that I no longer think I'll ever watch.

Numes

"Shop Smart! Shop C-Mart!"










Sorry... couldn't resist.

Doc MacGyver

You speak the truth. I was tending bar during and after college and I lived at home when not at school and I would blow through dvds like cocaine and as a result I have 12 binders (each holding 82 discs) full of movies and tv shows (I know that may pale in comparison to many here, but in my circle of friends this is considered unhealthy). Now that I have a "real job", rent, student loan payments, car payments, food expenses, gym membership, etc. etc. etc.... I'm lucky if I buy one a month.

Here's the thing, though. I'm finding that with the budgetary restraints, I have a lot less "fat" in the dvd collection, and even with the high-end, cream-of-the-crop stuff, I don't have time to watch them! I used some Christmas gift cards and splurged, getting 310 to Yuma, Sunshine and The Bourne Ultimatum (3 movies I missed theatrically) and in the past three weeks, I've managed to only watch Bourne.

I'm 25, and DCRW6, you are not alone in saying things get better, and I'm sure they will (christ, they HAVE to), but I agree with the OP that the REAL world is highly overrated, and this generation of American Idiots (to which I openly admit belonging) is having a real "adult-shock" at the process of adapting.

All that being said, I'm sure that when and if I start making actual money I'll pick up that DVD habit and fall right back off the wagon just like so many coke fiends and junkies before me.


-Doc

JJE-187

Well im 27 and am married with 2 kids and make about $2300 a month, I usually allocate about $300 a month for DVDs, but i've kinda grown bored with DVDs so I am starting the switch to Blu-Ray since they seem to be the winner in the HD war, I had a rough patch right after I got married where I couldn't buy much but now that both kids ar potty trained and bottle broke that saves on Diapers/Formula.

Subgeniusguy

You have a Wii code and access to the internet. Doesn't sound like your too underprivileged. Part of growing up is delaying gratification. Spend your early adulthood planning a career and chasing tail and just rent or borrow what you want to see.

FusionX

How can he chase tail with $5 per day expendable? He'd have to save for six months to buy her drinks.

mike2

Go do yourself a favor and become "Army Strong."

visitor Q

Don't sweat it, C. Don't listen to these "elitist" bastards! DVDs aren't everything. And they should never become a trade off to necessities ... food, gas, women. Just prioritize, as you already mentioned, and be done with it.

But then again, $5 a day won't even cover my coffee and cigarettes.

Some of us actually do go through rough patches, but if any are prolonged then yeah, it might be time for another source of income ... or a Netflix account.

uncle-frank

you just gotta learn to stop. its hard, beleive me i no. i use to go out every tuesday and spend a lot of money.

now what i do is every 2 weeks go to the used stores and flea markets and limit myself to only 75 dollars. unless there is a really good buy.

plus, if your collection is over 1000 than you should really just watch the ones you have and stop spending

rw2516

My problem is that I've reached the age I can afford pretty much what I want(50), and buy an obscene amount of dvds, but wonder if I'll live long enough to watch them.

BuckNaked2k

Thank God in my early post-collegiate years there were no DVDs! Then again, if there were, I might have spent less money on beer.

Subgeniusguy

You should buy a red convertible sports car instead.

uncle-frank

and maybe a sexy 20 year old model wife

Dane Marvin

You can always leave them to me in your will.

PS - Upgrade to Blu-ray before you kick the bucket. Thanks!

dcrw6

Oh, I know. It's amazing. So many damn kids of my generation are used to being coddled because their parents decided to try to be their best friend instead of an actual parent, and now none of them can keep any kind of responsibility. They'll get an apartment and end up moving right back in with their parents within just a few months, and these guys are 25. I hear about it alot. Christ, when on my 21st birthday, I was in the middle of working full time, paying for my apartment and bills, and single handedly supporting and taking care of my girlfriend at the time who had stage 4 lymphoma, completely on my own with no help. I made it out okay. Granted, I'm 25 and already losing my hair prematurely and feel like an old bitter man most of the time, but I feel good about how I was a man and took care of what I had to. I just don't the kids whose only responsibilities are paying their share of the rent and having beer money and still can't make it on their own. You don't even need a full time job for that.


The best tip for buying dvds on a low income: Used dvds are your best friend. I very very rarely pay full price for a new dvd. The only exceptions I make are for older catalog titles and if Best Buy has some great exclusive or something. Probably about 75% of my 2000+ collection was bought second hand, alot being between 2-5 bucks. Also check out the used flicks at Hollywood and Blockbuster for great deals. For instance, just using some titles brought up here as an example, if you wait about three or four months, you'll be able to get 3:10 To Yuma, Sunshine, Bourne Ultimatum, and some other newer movie for $20. And you'll find some rare ones sometimes as well. In the last few months, I've gotten a few Criterions, some OOP Midnite Movies, and Teenage Catgirls in Heat which sells for about $70 all for about 5 bucks. Never had a problem with a disc skipping either.

C-Mart

And the real kicker is that I'm 31. I just took longer to grow up I guess. Now I am married, have a mortgage, etc... In reality $5 a day is perfectly fine for me. I've never made this effort before and it isn't that easy. But in the end what matters is what I have do and what I want to do comes in second. I make decent money, and I wouldn't have any problems if I did buy the movies that I wanted. The budget is self inflicted.