How do you control your DVD spending?
06-26-04 | 10:31 PM
#77
DVD Talk Hero
Today, I learned self-control. I went to Best Buy and Borders (just before their Buy3Get1Free Sale is over) and I didn't pick up one darn thing! Plus the weekends are pretty spendy for me because that is when I'm more likely to hit the used DVD places.
Of course, I've made 3 orders with DDD in the past week or so and I paid $230 to get the car fixed today... and I'm trying to save for the San Diego Comic-Con next month.
But I'm proud of myself... now if I can just get by tomorrow
Of course, I've made 3 orders with DDD in the past week or so and I paid $230 to get the car fixed today... and I'm trying to save for the San Diego Comic-Con next month.
But I'm proud of myself... now if I can just get by tomorrow
06-26-04 | 10:35 PM
#78
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Since I'm about to hit the 2,000 DVD mark, I'd have to answer....not well! 
On the other hand, I'm extremely rigorous in planning my purchases and looking for discounts and great deals -- using most of the techniques described in this thread -- and I'm confident that if I had to sell my entire collection today, I could get more than I paid for it, or at least break even. I'm happy to have built a library that has a lot of value -- not just the monetary kind, but other kinds, as well. It's something I look forward to sharing with others and passing on to family or some institution eventually. And, whatever mood I'm in, whatever whim or film craving hits me in my limited free time, I know I can have a disc that (approximately) fits that description in the player in seconds, rather than waiting for it to arrive from Netflix or going out to rent it. And this is just me, but when you rent, you don't own anything at the end of the day but the memory.
BTW, great post, pezboy (and others!). There's not much advice I have left to add or reinforce, after that. The only things I can think of are:
1) Re: Credit Cards. Since I mainly buy online -- except for BestBuy Reward Zone, price-matching other B&M's whenever BB doesn't have the lowest price -- naturally I use some kind of plastic. American Express is my card of choice (except at DVD Soon, which doesn't accept it. Grrrr.....), because they require you to pay it off every month. (Don't go for the "extended payment option"! 23+% interest!!) Also, you can earn Membership Rewards points, which in a way, discounts your purchase even further.
2) DVDPriceSearch is your friend. Building a shopping cart and then using the "Compare Prices" feature at DVDPriceSearch is your friend. But seriously, in the last ~3 years, I can hardly think of a time I bought a disc without first adding it to my shopping cart on that site. It's also great for planning/projecting pre-orders and their cost.
I visit the bargain forum on HTF daily and the one on DVDTalk at least twice/day, because of the more frequent updates. One interesting trend for me in the last year has been how much I've started using Share the Love at Amazon. I'd say at least 30-50% of my preorders are bought that way now, compared with < 5
5 a year ago. Get to know how to use that system, and you could save significant $$$.
I've been experimenting with buying used discs recently, and have been very pleased with SecondSpin.com. Great quality and reasonable prices, especially when you can catch a sale. I may be doing more of my purchasing that way in the future.
Lastly, I think I've finally reached the point where I'm content to wait to buy many new releases until the price drops, even if it takes a year (or more, in some cases). I've just seen too many instances of drastic price reductions, or of special editions superceding bare-bones releases. It's not always easy to predict which titles will have big price cuts, but you get better with practice, and if you guess right, you can save another 30-40 percent, especially if you wait for a price drop and then buy the lower-priced disc on sale or with a coupon at DDD or elsewhere.
Hope these thoughts are helpful, and thanks for a fun thread. Good hunting!
- Bob
On the other hand, I'm extremely rigorous in planning my purchases and looking for discounts and great deals -- using most of the techniques described in this thread -- and I'm confident that if I had to sell my entire collection today, I could get more than I paid for it, or at least break even. I'm happy to have built a library that has a lot of value -- not just the monetary kind, but other kinds, as well. It's something I look forward to sharing with others and passing on to family or some institution eventually. And, whatever mood I'm in, whatever whim or film craving hits me in my limited free time, I know I can have a disc that (approximately) fits that description in the player in seconds, rather than waiting for it to arrive from Netflix or going out to rent it. And this is just me, but when you rent, you don't own anything at the end of the day but the memory.
BTW, great post, pezboy (and others!). There's not much advice I have left to add or reinforce, after that. The only things I can think of are:
1) Re: Credit Cards. Since I mainly buy online -- except for BestBuy Reward Zone, price-matching other B&M's whenever BB doesn't have the lowest price -- naturally I use some kind of plastic. American Express is my card of choice (except at DVD Soon, which doesn't accept it. Grrrr.....), because they require you to pay it off every month. (Don't go for the "extended payment option"! 23+% interest!!) Also, you can earn Membership Rewards points, which in a way, discounts your purchase even further.
2) DVDPriceSearch is your friend. Building a shopping cart and then using the "Compare Prices" feature at DVDPriceSearch is your friend.
But seriously, in the last ~3 years, I can hardly think of a time I bought a disc without first adding it to my shopping cart on that site. It's also great for planning/projecting pre-orders and their cost. I visit the bargain forum on HTF daily and the one on DVDTalk at least twice/day, because of the more frequent updates. One interesting trend for me in the last year has been how much I've started using Share the Love at Amazon. I'd say at least 30-50% of my preorders are bought that way now, compared with < 5
5 a year ago. Get to know how to use that system, and you could save significant $$$.
I've been experimenting with buying used discs recently, and have been very pleased with SecondSpin.com. Great quality and reasonable prices, especially when you can catch a sale. I may be doing more of my purchasing that way in the future.
Lastly, I think I've finally reached the point where I'm content to wait to buy many new releases until the price drops, even if it takes a year (or more, in some cases). I've just seen too many instances of drastic price reductions, or of special editions superceding bare-bones releases. It's not always easy to predict which titles will have big price cuts, but you get better with practice, and if you guess right, you can save another 30-40 percent, especially if you wait for a price drop and then buy the lower-priced disc on sale or with a coupon at DDD or elsewhere.
Hope these thoughts are helpful, and thanks for a fun thread. Good hunting!
- Bob
06-26-04 | 11:01 PM
#79
DVD Talk Legend
Originally posted by gutwrencher
since cash tips feed 100% of my library....any type of control is out of the question. I just pull in good tips, add them up(usually $100 to $200 a week), and then go nuts.
I never have used credit for building my library...cash only.
my wife could care less as long as bills are paid and we keep saving and putting away at the same time. she knows I bust my ass 50+ hours a week and I deserve my "hobby". she flips out though, every damn time I jump out of a plane. just like a twist.
looking forward to tomorrow. more dvds.
since cash tips feed 100% of my library....any type of control is out of the question. I just pull in good tips, add them up(usually $100 to $200 a week), and then go nuts.
I never have used credit for building my library...cash only.
my wife could care less as long as bills are paid and we keep saving and putting away at the same time. she knows I bust my ass 50+ hours a week and I deserve my "hobby". she flips out though, every damn time I jump out of a plane. just like a twist.
looking forward to tomorrow. more dvds.
06-27-04 | 12:20 PM
#80
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I do a few things.
1) If you haven't set up a budget, do it. This is helpful for many reasons and helps you track your spending; you can set a realistic and reasonable limit on your DVD spending as well.
2) Limit yourself to what you REALLY want -- or if you want something that is strongly rumored to go out of print (and it's not to make way for an SE or the change of rights to a new studio, thus no clear reissue path) you may want to pick it up. But, of course, exercise restraint.
3) Take advantage of coupons, first-week discounts, free shipping, etc. I've found that if I order two DVDs from Amazon, it's cheaper than running to Best Buy once all factors have been figured in. Remember, gas is an expense. ($2.33 a gallon, ugh.)
4) Go through your existing collection and watch *everything*. I mean, all commentaries, special features, etc. I started doing this to have something to watch and restrain the spend impulse. It's been great and I feel like I get more value for my money in the process. Obviously, you shouldn't make yourself sit through features that drive you nuts (I couldn't do the Three Colors commentary because the lady's voice is like nails on a blackboard to me; the Taubin mini-commentary on Reservoir Dogs was just maddeningly annoying as well.)
5. You may want to go nuts with an Amazon list. I've done that in the past and recently added back to mine. Put everything you possibly would want on there. If you're kind of addicted to the idea of shopping, you're getting to browse and mark stuff away, which is some satisfaction. Plus, you can print it out and keep yourself to that list when you're out. That way you don't go for the impulse of something ridiculous that you don't *really* want. "Oh, hey, I had been dying for the 4-disc boxset of Squirm with the Norwegian home video cut and alternate soundtrack by Sugar Loaf!"
etc. Just be very strict with yourself if you need to be -- better to be able to cover vital expenses than buy a DVD whenever you're out. You may pick up on trends in your buying that you didn't even know. (I was eating out way too much, I found out. Curtailed that, have a few more free bucks for DVDs and have even lost weight! Can't complain about that.)
1) If you haven't set up a budget, do it. This is helpful for many reasons and helps you track your spending; you can set a realistic and reasonable limit on your DVD spending as well.
2) Limit yourself to what you REALLY want -- or if you want something that is strongly rumored to go out of print (and it's not to make way for an SE or the change of rights to a new studio, thus no clear reissue path) you may want to pick it up. But, of course, exercise restraint.
3) Take advantage of coupons, first-week discounts, free shipping, etc. I've found that if I order two DVDs from Amazon, it's cheaper than running to Best Buy once all factors have been figured in. Remember, gas is an expense. ($2.33 a gallon, ugh.)
4) Go through your existing collection and watch *everything*. I mean, all commentaries, special features, etc. I started doing this to have something to watch and restrain the spend impulse. It's been great and I feel like I get more value for my money in the process. Obviously, you shouldn't make yourself sit through features that drive you nuts (I couldn't do the Three Colors commentary because the lady's voice is like nails on a blackboard to me; the Taubin mini-commentary on Reservoir Dogs was just maddeningly annoying as well.)
5. You may want to go nuts with an Amazon list. I've done that in the past and recently added back to mine. Put everything you possibly would want on there. If you're kind of addicted to the idea of shopping, you're getting to browse and mark stuff away, which is some satisfaction. Plus, you can print it out and keep yourself to that list when you're out. That way you don't go for the impulse of something ridiculous that you don't *really* want. "Oh, hey, I had been dying for the 4-disc boxset of Squirm with the Norwegian home video cut and alternate soundtrack by Sugar Loaf!"
etc. Just be very strict with yourself if you need to be -- better to be able to cover vital expenses than buy a DVD whenever you're out. You may pick up on trends in your buying that you didn't even know. (I was eating out way too much, I found out. Curtailed that, have a few more free bucks for DVDs and have even lost weight! Can't complain about that.)
06-27-04 | 12:38 PM
#81
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I saved this from a thread run about 4 years ago and read it now and then. Some comments are dated but others are still appropriate. Those of us from the dot.com years will remember.
YOU KNOW YOU’RE A CERTIFIED DVD ADDICT WHEN:
1. You check DVDTalk forum for bargains every hour like it was stock market.
2. You measure everything that costs money in how many DVDs you can buy. Like gosh if I don’t take the wife out to dinner I save 50 bucks and buy 4 DVD’s.
3. You have book marked every DVD sale and coupon site on Internet.
4. Your holy grail is finding a dusty copy of The Killer in back shelf at some store like Wal-Mart.
5. You can’t help telling poor souls at brick & mortars about DVDTalk when you spy them with armful of DVDs at the $5 dollar off sale.
6. You can’t even find one DVD to trade for because you have them all.
7. $5 off $30 coupons look good because you have used every other coupon on the internet!
8. You keep reloading pages on Free Ride because you want 4 featured sponsor points instead of 3. A penny here, a penny there, over a few months that adds up to another free DVD!
9. You know both the UPS person and the postman by first name.... and they know yours.
10. There is a pile of DVD shipping boxes to recycle in your garage.
11. You try to get the delivery/credit card bill, before the wife so you don't have to explain why you bought 20 more DVD’s from that sale.
12. Half your DVD’s are still unwatched because you buy more than you have time for.
13. When you look at homes or furniture, you think about how many DVD’s it can hold.
14. A friend invites you over to watch a "video" but you just can't. It's pan/scan and VHS and no 5.1 sound. You make a lame excuse instead.
15. You can easily get upset with George Lucas.
16. You are far from an expert about your car, investments, taxes, or the opposite sex...but you know everything about DTS, DD, 5.1, LBX, Anamorphic, HDTV, RSDL, etc.
17. You get weak in the knees at the mention of Criterion, sometimes you drool. You find yourself during lovemaking, sometimes thinking about Criterions.
18. You spend an hour clicking away, or trying to load some swamped server, just to save a few bucks on DVD’s.
19. You know what your average DVD cost is.
20. If someone says, "Get real,” you think it's time to play the trivia game.
21. Fridays used to be your favorite day. Now it's Tuesdays.
22. You've written nasty email to every online DVD retailer because they backordered or canceled a DVD you tried to get for under a dollar.
23. You offer to swap your buddy girlfriends, when he turns you down, you say “I'll throw in a sealed The Killer."
24. Every two weeks you have to buy a new 75-disc holder for your room.
25. You start referring to your collection as either: an investment, a small business or an archive.
26. You post stuff like this on a DVD forum.
27. You have extra copies of the promo disks that you cant sell for the life of you.
28. First it was that your receiver wasn't DD or DTS compliant...next its your Speakers aren't quite just right...next its your damned TV is still a 4:3 what the hell good are Anamorphics with out a Widescreen HDTV to watch them on
29. Your significant other attacks you unexpectantly at the computer and slowly gyrates on your lap but you ask her to move to the left a little so you can catch up on the latest DVD Talk entries!
30. The UPS guy greets you at your door and refers to you as the "package ordering man" and repeatedly says that you are always ordering stuff.
31. Upon walking home (I was about a block from home) the mailman spots you, as he is driving his postal truck back to the post office, and pulls over to the side of the road in order to tell you (in a fairly threatening tone) that "I have some packages for you" and you are then left to walk the remaining block home with an armful of packages.
32. 50% off is no longer a good bargain!
33. Your wife sees you logged on DVDTalk in the Bargains Forum and starts a slow strip to take your attention away from finding another DVD to buy.
34. That fails and she sees you clicking on another purchase from Amazon.com with that wild look in your eyes.
35. You know you have a problem, start to see a shrink, everything is dandy until session 4 when the shrink hands you a self-help tape to watch at home. You ask him if he's got the DVD and when he says no, you call him a quack, start to laugh hysterically and leave.
36. You spend more time buying cheap DVD's than watching quality ones.
37. You buy a DVD ROM for your PC and you take your PC and half your collection whenever you visit friends out of town.
38. You buy "Wild Wild West" even though everyone has told you how much it sucks. Had to use that $10 off at B&N somehow.
39. Instead of storing your discs alphabetically you organize them by category:
Opened - to keep,
Opened - to sell,
Sealed - haven't watched yet
Sealed - sell when they go OOP
40. You know what OOP means and have used the term in E-mails and eBAY sales!
41. Family & friends come to your house before going to Blockbuster because you have a better selection.
42. You contemplate charging your family & friends late fees when they don't return your movies for days, even though you have a dozen other sealed discs and even more on pre-order.
43. The 50% off vstore deals aren't worth it to you because you can't find anything to buy.
44. You buy paper bag covers from eBAY to protect your cardboard cover DVD’s.
45. It's $6 or less shipped, you don't even look at the title.
46. You get that feeling of conquest reading the confirmation email that says "Total: $1.97.”
47. The chuckle you get when Reel sends you an email informing you "Your Trivia answer is correct!"
48. You sit down and write the above.
49. You are constantly thinking of how to get that disc you want for nothing and wondering if the etailer/cash-back/rebate site is actually going to honor your discount.
50. You realize you were a dumb ass to have started your DVD collection by buying retail before you knew of DVDTalk.
51. You know you need a 12-step program for your online shopping addiction... But damnit...you are not paying for it until you find a good deal and a coupon online!
52. You take peanut butter & jelly sandwiches to work for lunch everyday, just so you can save your money to buy DVD’s.
53. You're signed up to a thousand free money programs (free ride, pointclick, etc.)
54. You preorder a DVD movie to be released in June 13th (Independence Day!)
55. Your browser's HOME page is set to open first to DVDTalk.
56. You laugh at people buy DVD’s in a retail store.
57. When you think about buying titles that you would never watch in the theatres.
58. You buy 40+ DVD’s each and every month.
59. You forget what it was like without DVD’s.
60. Your inbox is crammed full of spam from trying to score cheap DVD's from everywhere possible.
61. Your Credit Card bill reads:
CDNOW.....…….……...$5.41
CDNOW.........…...........$7.63
CDNOW.......….….........$2.71
Reel.com...…...…....…..$9.12
Reel.com.…......…..…...$6.77
CDNOW ............….......$5.16
CDNOW ...........…........$1.22
Multibuyer......…….….$12.50
Amazon.com......……...$0.78
Amazon.com........…….$2.44
Giftcertificates.com….$10.00
Rocketcash.......……...$15.00
Rocketcash......……....$15.00
Rocketcash.......……...$15.00
CDNOW...........…...…...$4.31
Cybergold.........…..........-$27.00
Netflix...........…….….....$5.32
Snap.com.........…..........-$20.00
CDNOW..............……..$7.11
CDNOW..........…..........$4.91
CDNOW...........….........$6.44
62. You're depressed all day because you forgot to play the "Reel Trivia", just to get that extra 25 cents.’
63. You buy any crap movie just because its under $14.99.
64. You have a half hour discussion with total stranger in store over merits of DVD vs. video in the rental store.
65. You have actually been a member of Columbia House 10 different times in past 2 months.
66. You rather spend hours to save a few dollars online combing coupons/links/****** etc. than making way more money working.
67. With a slightly different perspective...You know you're a *female* DVD addict when:
~~ You take a quick trip to the mall and significant other says, "Babe, did you want to go to '9 West?"
And you say "let's check 'Suncoast' for mis-ticketed items first."
~~ SO comes home with DVD and says "I rented another [insert genre of movie you don't like, lets say action] movie."
And instead of saying "I'll watch something in the other room" you say any combination of the following:
Is at anamorphic widescreen?
Is it DTS? At least 5.1?
What are the extras?
68. You leave your dog outside to bark at the mailman so you know he’s there.
69. You go to work late because you have to finish watching the special features.
70. You sell at retail DVD’s to people you know using your $10 off coupon to buy more DVD’s for yourself.
71. You rent DVD’s and switch covers if yours is ripped.
72. You stay up until 12am on Monday night into Tuesday to use your $10 off coupon on Pre-Orders at Bigstar.
73. You get mad at your friend for buying you a DVD that’s on sale at Reel.
74. You get rebates from two or more places for a single purchase.
75. You spend a lot of time trying to successfully combine all these offers:
"Now what do I have to do to get the Amex, BFL, ******, and Reel Trivia deals to work together?"
76. You have a 99.9% savings off retail.
77. You complain that it's only 99.8% if you include shipping.
78. This past Christmas you told everybody you know NOT to buy you any DVD’s "Cause there is no way you can get them as cheap as I can."
79. You flip a coin to decide whether to stay online cruisin' for bargains or get those 2 hours of sleep before going to work in the morning...and you cheat just to stay up.
80. You have all the time to BUY, BUY, BUY but have no time to WATCH!
81. You're a certified DVD addict when this thread of yours has been finally moved to the Talk forum.
82. You think Geoff walks on water.
83. You unsuccessfully scour the Internet for hours to find a deal because you already used all the coupons on DVDTalk.
84. Your Christmas shopping bill was less than $100 because of DVDTalk.
85. You can wistfully think back to 800.com's 3 for $1 deal.
86. You build a spreadsheet to calculate your total savings over MSRP.
87. You never step outside the DVD section when renting videos -- even though the selection sucks and half of them are already rented that night.
88. The maximum price you'll pay for a DVD is now in the single digits.
89. You spend the first half hour of your workday playing Reel Trivia, BBW and checking the DVDTalk forums.
90. Your significant other says, "Free ain't free enough."
91. You are at blockbuster and you realize you could buy the DVD for the price it is to rent the VHS.
92. You can't order more than one DVD at a time without first doing all the math to see whether it would be cheaper to combine the order and save on shipping, or order them separately in order to use another coupon.
93. You keep track of all the other cheap products at an on-line store, just in case you need to bump an order to meet the coupon minimum.
94. You’re always comparing your DVD Tracker list to others to see if you have more DVD's and for less.
95. Remember the one who dies with the most DVD's at the best price wins.
96. You go check the mail and hide packages in the garbage can so the wife cannot see them.
97. You buy DVD's you hate, but the wife likes them - - that way you can keep her happy.
98. You buy two DVD's on sale (thanks to DVD forum and then sell one to your son at full price! (I'm so ashamed.)
99. When you have read all these funny posts (funny because they are true) and you are so jaded that you are mad there were no bargain posts in thread.
100. You love being a DVD addict because being a laser disc addict was so much more expensive!
101. Your trashcan's Shipping Peanuts to Ordinary Trash ratio is 8:1.
102. You can't see the surface of your desk, for all the order confirmation printouts.
103. You spend an hour debating if you can bring yourself to tear out a proof of purchase tab from a pristine DVD case -- even though it may mean another cheap/free DVD!
104. It is more fun buying the DVD instead of watching it.
105. The Post Office guy tells you, you should get the largest box possible after you receive a 1 title order in a box large enough to hold 60 titles.
After that, if the post office guy can’t smash your package in the box, he walks about half the way and throws it at your door from about 20 feet away.
106. You have like 50 or more titles you have purchased for some reason but haven’t gotten around to watching and you are still looking for more to buy.
107. You bought the first James Bond set but found you only liked 2 of the 7 titles and you cant wait for the 2nd set to be released.
108. Your 6-year-old son is standing in the middle of Wal-Mart and he tells the guy about to buy Titanic that his Daddy got it for free.
109. You skim every ad in the Sunday paper to check for DVD’s on sale so that you can price match at Office Depot for 155% of the difference.
110. Your son want to buy the latest Pokemon video, but you tell him VHS isn't worth it, we'll get the DVD.
111. You go to Wal-Mart every week just to see if they have Earthquake for $9.96 again, but at least you are thankful that you did get a copy Judgment Night for 49.96 on that day, long ago.
112. Even though you buy on-line most of the time you find yourself checking out Wal-mart, Best Buy, Sam Goody, SunCoast and Circuit City every Saturday and sometimes Sunday, and usually buy something.
113. You get some kind of thrill of finding a loose DVD in a retail store and cant stop shaking it, thinking whoever buys this is going to be real pissed when they get home.
114. All your friends buy DVD players so they can borrow your movies to watch.
115. You feel the need to talk about DVD’s with others in a forum when you could actually be doing something a lot more productive or meaningful.
116. You start preferring your women to be dual layered!
117. You have to think about if you actually want to spend $7 for a shipped DVD.
118. You apply for an AMEX card just so you can take advantage of Reel's AMEX bargains.
119. You have the UPS and FEDEX websites book marked and you visit them 50 times a day to see if the tracking information on your DVD order has changed.
120. Your life begins to revolve around checking the mailbox for your latest DVD shipment, and your pulse gets faster and faster as the mailman's usual delivery time draws nearer and nearer.
121. You are expecting a DVD package to arrive and you run down to your mailbox every five minutes until the mailman comes, and then, crestfallen upon not finding any DVDs among that day's mail, sink into a deep depression and wish time to go by faster until the next day and you do the same thing all over again.
122. You finally decide to get a credit card because every time you go to get a money order at the local grocery store everyone knows your name.
123. Your wife is expecting your first son, she wants to call him DAVID, and you want her to drop the vowels.
124. You're a huge Star Wars fan and to find every reason in the world not to buy Episode 1 because its on VHS.
125. Your boss writes a memo asking you to not have personal packages delivered to work because they take up too much space (actually happened, although I think it was a joke)!
126. You spend more time on the web looking for DVD bargains and reading about DVDs than studying for something important or pretty important, like an oral board examination (or the CPA exam, the bar, finals, etc.)
127. You dream at night about owning a DVD recorder and wake up shaking and drooling.
128. You wish somebody invented the time machine so that you could skip a few years and find all the stuff you want cheap, because the copyright has expired.
129. You pay less for DVD’s than other people pay for CD’s.
130. You can barely hold off a panic attack when you realize it's been more than 3 hours since you scoped the bargain forum at DVDTalk and you just know you've missed a once in a lifetime deal.
131. You can think of enough answers to post twice to an addiction thread.
132. You start to hate Sundays and holidays because the mail does not come.
133. You love Mondays because you expect double the packages.
134. You accumulate so many DVD’s, so fast that you have to create a spreadsheet to track average cost, CC charges, and shipments and receipts of orders.
135. The biggest reason for creating the spreadsheet was to know if I had been receiving all my orders. I don't know about anyone else, but if I don't mark that I've received a movie, I'd probably never miss it.
136. 50% or better sneak-a-peek at DVDTalk while at work. It's only 50% because the other ones don't have access.
137. You spend hours trying to get a bargain only to find out it won't shipped out of United States.
138. You're looking for DVD movies that begin with the letter 'Q' because you alphabetize all of your DVD’s and it's the only letter you're missing and can't brag to your co-workers that you have DVD’s from A to Z! (By the way, can anybody recommend a good DVD movie that starts with the letter Q?)
139. You get DVD withdrawals after only one week of not finding a DVD bargain or coupon online.
140. A 40% to 30% reduction in the preorder price creates four pages of DVDTalk postings and a barrage of letters to the online vendor!
141. You unmercifully blast DVDtalk members for posting old or expired deals or misusing the forum for non-deal related postings.
142. You sell all of your laserdisc and video collection on eBAY to generate cash to purchase DVD’s.
143. You create multiple e-mail accounts to double, triple or even quaruple your coupon and bargain opportunities.
144. DVDTalk members endlessly debate the honesty and morality of using multiple e-mail accounts to score additional bargains.
145. You get depressed when a DVD bargain obtained using a coupon becomes a 50% off movie at an online store. You’re deflated and conclude, “I guess I wasted that coupon! I should have bought …”
146. You spend hours accessing and searching an overwhelmed website having a sale just to “score” a less than $10 DVD.
147. You brag about the low cost per DVD on DVDTalk but omit any mention of the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of hours hacking away on the Internet to achieve your victories.
148. Your significant other puts you on “DVD probation” or “DVD parole” due to excess buying and conducts unannounced checks when he/she sees you on the PC.
149. You rationalize your DVD purchases by talking about how much you saved versus how much was spent!
150. You spend more time checking the dates for new DVD pre-orders than the movie times in the theatres.
151. You spend hours endlessly cruising and refreshing the DVDtalk pages patiently (or impatiently (awaiting someone to post an unwanted coupon.
152. You’re the first person to post that someone else violated the DVDTalk rules but wouldn’t hesitate to break them yourself as needed.
153. You calculate the net cost of purchasing a DVD at different online vendors using coupons, price matching and other deals just to save the highest amount on your purchase.
YOU KNOW YOU’RE A CERTIFIED DVD ADDICT WHEN:
1. You check DVDTalk forum for bargains every hour like it was stock market.
2. You measure everything that costs money in how many DVDs you can buy. Like gosh if I don’t take the wife out to dinner I save 50 bucks and buy 4 DVD’s.
3. You have book marked every DVD sale and coupon site on Internet.
4. Your holy grail is finding a dusty copy of The Killer in back shelf at some store like Wal-Mart.
5. You can’t help telling poor souls at brick & mortars about DVDTalk when you spy them with armful of DVDs at the $5 dollar off sale.
6. You can’t even find one DVD to trade for because you have them all.
7. $5 off $30 coupons look good because you have used every other coupon on the internet!
8. You keep reloading pages on Free Ride because you want 4 featured sponsor points instead of 3. A penny here, a penny there, over a few months that adds up to another free DVD!
9. You know both the UPS person and the postman by first name.... and they know yours.
10. There is a pile of DVD shipping boxes to recycle in your garage.
11. You try to get the delivery/credit card bill, before the wife so you don't have to explain why you bought 20 more DVD’s from that sale.
12. Half your DVD’s are still unwatched because you buy more than you have time for.
13. When you look at homes or furniture, you think about how many DVD’s it can hold.
14. A friend invites you over to watch a "video" but you just can't. It's pan/scan and VHS and no 5.1 sound. You make a lame excuse instead.
15. You can easily get upset with George Lucas.
16. You are far from an expert about your car, investments, taxes, or the opposite sex...but you know everything about DTS, DD, 5.1, LBX, Anamorphic, HDTV, RSDL, etc.
17. You get weak in the knees at the mention of Criterion, sometimes you drool. You find yourself during lovemaking, sometimes thinking about Criterions.
18. You spend an hour clicking away, or trying to load some swamped server, just to save a few bucks on DVD’s.
19. You know what your average DVD cost is.
20. If someone says, "Get real,” you think it's time to play the trivia game.
21. Fridays used to be your favorite day. Now it's Tuesdays.
22. You've written nasty email to every online DVD retailer because they backordered or canceled a DVD you tried to get for under a dollar.
23. You offer to swap your buddy girlfriends, when he turns you down, you say “I'll throw in a sealed The Killer."
24. Every two weeks you have to buy a new 75-disc holder for your room.
25. You start referring to your collection as either: an investment, a small business or an archive.
26. You post stuff like this on a DVD forum.
27. You have extra copies of the promo disks that you cant sell for the life of you.
28. First it was that your receiver wasn't DD or DTS compliant...next its your Speakers aren't quite just right...next its your damned TV is still a 4:3 what the hell good are Anamorphics with out a Widescreen HDTV to watch them on
29. Your significant other attacks you unexpectantly at the computer and slowly gyrates on your lap but you ask her to move to the left a little so you can catch up on the latest DVD Talk entries!
30. The UPS guy greets you at your door and refers to you as the "package ordering man" and repeatedly says that you are always ordering stuff.
31. Upon walking home (I was about a block from home) the mailman spots you, as he is driving his postal truck back to the post office, and pulls over to the side of the road in order to tell you (in a fairly threatening tone) that "I have some packages for you" and you are then left to walk the remaining block home with an armful of packages.
32. 50% off is no longer a good bargain!
33. Your wife sees you logged on DVDTalk in the Bargains Forum and starts a slow strip to take your attention away from finding another DVD to buy.
34. That fails and she sees you clicking on another purchase from Amazon.com with that wild look in your eyes.
35. You know you have a problem, start to see a shrink, everything is dandy until session 4 when the shrink hands you a self-help tape to watch at home. You ask him if he's got the DVD and when he says no, you call him a quack, start to laugh hysterically and leave.
36. You spend more time buying cheap DVD's than watching quality ones.
37. You buy a DVD ROM for your PC and you take your PC and half your collection whenever you visit friends out of town.
38. You buy "Wild Wild West" even though everyone has told you how much it sucks. Had to use that $10 off at B&N somehow.
39. Instead of storing your discs alphabetically you organize them by category:
Opened - to keep,
Opened - to sell,
Sealed - haven't watched yet
Sealed - sell when they go OOP
40. You know what OOP means and have used the term in E-mails and eBAY sales!
41. Family & friends come to your house before going to Blockbuster because you have a better selection.
42. You contemplate charging your family & friends late fees when they don't return your movies for days, even though you have a dozen other sealed discs and even more on pre-order.
43. The 50% off vstore deals aren't worth it to you because you can't find anything to buy.
44. You buy paper bag covers from eBAY to protect your cardboard cover DVD’s.
45. It's $6 or less shipped, you don't even look at the title.
46. You get that feeling of conquest reading the confirmation email that says "Total: $1.97.”
47. The chuckle you get when Reel sends you an email informing you "Your Trivia answer is correct!"
48. You sit down and write the above.
49. You are constantly thinking of how to get that disc you want for nothing and wondering if the etailer/cash-back/rebate site is actually going to honor your discount.
50. You realize you were a dumb ass to have started your DVD collection by buying retail before you knew of DVDTalk.
51. You know you need a 12-step program for your online shopping addiction... But damnit...you are not paying for it until you find a good deal and a coupon online!
52. You take peanut butter & jelly sandwiches to work for lunch everyday, just so you can save your money to buy DVD’s.
53. You're signed up to a thousand free money programs (free ride, pointclick, etc.)
54. You preorder a DVD movie to be released in June 13th (Independence Day!)
55. Your browser's HOME page is set to open first to DVDTalk.
56. You laugh at people buy DVD’s in a retail store.
57. When you think about buying titles that you would never watch in the theatres.
58. You buy 40+ DVD’s each and every month.
59. You forget what it was like without DVD’s.
60. Your inbox is crammed full of spam from trying to score cheap DVD's from everywhere possible.
61. Your Credit Card bill reads:
CDNOW.....…….……...$5.41
CDNOW.........…...........$7.63
CDNOW.......….….........$2.71
Reel.com...…...…....…..$9.12
Reel.com.…......…..…...$6.77
CDNOW ............….......$5.16
CDNOW ...........…........$1.22
Multibuyer......…….….$12.50
Amazon.com......……...$0.78
Amazon.com........…….$2.44
Giftcertificates.com….$10.00
Rocketcash.......……...$15.00
Rocketcash......……....$15.00
Rocketcash.......……...$15.00
CDNOW...........…...…...$4.31
Cybergold.........…..........-$27.00
Netflix...........…….….....$5.32
Snap.com.........…..........-$20.00
CDNOW..............……..$7.11
CDNOW..........…..........$4.91
CDNOW...........….........$6.44
62. You're depressed all day because you forgot to play the "Reel Trivia", just to get that extra 25 cents.’
63. You buy any crap movie just because its under $14.99.
64. You have a half hour discussion with total stranger in store over merits of DVD vs. video in the rental store.
65. You have actually been a member of Columbia House 10 different times in past 2 months.
66. You rather spend hours to save a few dollars online combing coupons/links/****** etc. than making way more money working.
67. With a slightly different perspective...You know you're a *female* DVD addict when:
~~ You take a quick trip to the mall and significant other says, "Babe, did you want to go to '9 West?"
And you say "let's check 'Suncoast' for mis-ticketed items first."
~~ SO comes home with DVD and says "I rented another [insert genre of movie you don't like, lets say action] movie."
And instead of saying "I'll watch something in the other room" you say any combination of the following:
Is at anamorphic widescreen?
Is it DTS? At least 5.1?
What are the extras?
68. You leave your dog outside to bark at the mailman so you know he’s there.
69. You go to work late because you have to finish watching the special features.
70. You sell at retail DVD’s to people you know using your $10 off coupon to buy more DVD’s for yourself.
71. You rent DVD’s and switch covers if yours is ripped.
72. You stay up until 12am on Monday night into Tuesday to use your $10 off coupon on Pre-Orders at Bigstar.
73. You get mad at your friend for buying you a DVD that’s on sale at Reel.
74. You get rebates from two or more places for a single purchase.
75. You spend a lot of time trying to successfully combine all these offers:
"Now what do I have to do to get the Amex, BFL, ******, and Reel Trivia deals to work together?"
76. You have a 99.9% savings off retail.
77. You complain that it's only 99.8% if you include shipping.
78. This past Christmas you told everybody you know NOT to buy you any DVD’s "Cause there is no way you can get them as cheap as I can."
79. You flip a coin to decide whether to stay online cruisin' for bargains or get those 2 hours of sleep before going to work in the morning...and you cheat just to stay up.
80. You have all the time to BUY, BUY, BUY but have no time to WATCH!
81. You're a certified DVD addict when this thread of yours has been finally moved to the Talk forum.
82. You think Geoff walks on water.
83. You unsuccessfully scour the Internet for hours to find a deal because you already used all the coupons on DVDTalk.
84. Your Christmas shopping bill was less than $100 because of DVDTalk.
85. You can wistfully think back to 800.com's 3 for $1 deal.
86. You build a spreadsheet to calculate your total savings over MSRP.
87. You never step outside the DVD section when renting videos -- even though the selection sucks and half of them are already rented that night.
88. The maximum price you'll pay for a DVD is now in the single digits.
89. You spend the first half hour of your workday playing Reel Trivia, BBW and checking the DVDTalk forums.
90. Your significant other says, "Free ain't free enough."
91. You are at blockbuster and you realize you could buy the DVD for the price it is to rent the VHS.
92. You can't order more than one DVD at a time without first doing all the math to see whether it would be cheaper to combine the order and save on shipping, or order them separately in order to use another coupon.
93. You keep track of all the other cheap products at an on-line store, just in case you need to bump an order to meet the coupon minimum.
94. You’re always comparing your DVD Tracker list to others to see if you have more DVD's and for less.
95. Remember the one who dies with the most DVD's at the best price wins.
96. You go check the mail and hide packages in the garbage can so the wife cannot see them.
97. You buy DVD's you hate, but the wife likes them - - that way you can keep her happy.
98. You buy two DVD's on sale (thanks to DVD forum and then sell one to your son at full price! (I'm so ashamed.)
99. When you have read all these funny posts (funny because they are true) and you are so jaded that you are mad there were no bargain posts in thread.
100. You love being a DVD addict because being a laser disc addict was so much more expensive!
101. Your trashcan's Shipping Peanuts to Ordinary Trash ratio is 8:1.
102. You can't see the surface of your desk, for all the order confirmation printouts.
103. You spend an hour debating if you can bring yourself to tear out a proof of purchase tab from a pristine DVD case -- even though it may mean another cheap/free DVD!
104. It is more fun buying the DVD instead of watching it.
105. The Post Office guy tells you, you should get the largest box possible after you receive a 1 title order in a box large enough to hold 60 titles.
After that, if the post office guy can’t smash your package in the box, he walks about half the way and throws it at your door from about 20 feet away.
106. You have like 50 or more titles you have purchased for some reason but haven’t gotten around to watching and you are still looking for more to buy.
107. You bought the first James Bond set but found you only liked 2 of the 7 titles and you cant wait for the 2nd set to be released.
108. Your 6-year-old son is standing in the middle of Wal-Mart and he tells the guy about to buy Titanic that his Daddy got it for free.
109. You skim every ad in the Sunday paper to check for DVD’s on sale so that you can price match at Office Depot for 155% of the difference.
110. Your son want to buy the latest Pokemon video, but you tell him VHS isn't worth it, we'll get the DVD.
111. You go to Wal-Mart every week just to see if they have Earthquake for $9.96 again, but at least you are thankful that you did get a copy Judgment Night for 49.96 on that day, long ago.
112. Even though you buy on-line most of the time you find yourself checking out Wal-mart, Best Buy, Sam Goody, SunCoast and Circuit City every Saturday and sometimes Sunday, and usually buy something.
113. You get some kind of thrill of finding a loose DVD in a retail store and cant stop shaking it, thinking whoever buys this is going to be real pissed when they get home.
114. All your friends buy DVD players so they can borrow your movies to watch.
115. You feel the need to talk about DVD’s with others in a forum when you could actually be doing something a lot more productive or meaningful.
116. You start preferring your women to be dual layered!
117. You have to think about if you actually want to spend $7 for a shipped DVD.
118. You apply for an AMEX card just so you can take advantage of Reel's AMEX bargains.
119. You have the UPS and FEDEX websites book marked and you visit them 50 times a day to see if the tracking information on your DVD order has changed.
120. Your life begins to revolve around checking the mailbox for your latest DVD shipment, and your pulse gets faster and faster as the mailman's usual delivery time draws nearer and nearer.
121. You are expecting a DVD package to arrive and you run down to your mailbox every five minutes until the mailman comes, and then, crestfallen upon not finding any DVDs among that day's mail, sink into a deep depression and wish time to go by faster until the next day and you do the same thing all over again.
122. You finally decide to get a credit card because every time you go to get a money order at the local grocery store everyone knows your name.
123. Your wife is expecting your first son, she wants to call him DAVID, and you want her to drop the vowels.
124. You're a huge Star Wars fan and to find every reason in the world not to buy Episode 1 because its on VHS.
125. Your boss writes a memo asking you to not have personal packages delivered to work because they take up too much space (actually happened, although I think it was a joke)!
126. You spend more time on the web looking for DVD bargains and reading about DVDs than studying for something important or pretty important, like an oral board examination (or the CPA exam, the bar, finals, etc.)
127. You dream at night about owning a DVD recorder and wake up shaking and drooling.
128. You wish somebody invented the time machine so that you could skip a few years and find all the stuff you want cheap, because the copyright has expired.
129. You pay less for DVD’s than other people pay for CD’s.
130. You can barely hold off a panic attack when you realize it's been more than 3 hours since you scoped the bargain forum at DVDTalk and you just know you've missed a once in a lifetime deal.
131. You can think of enough answers to post twice to an addiction thread.
132. You start to hate Sundays and holidays because the mail does not come.
133. You love Mondays because you expect double the packages.
134. You accumulate so many DVD’s, so fast that you have to create a spreadsheet to track average cost, CC charges, and shipments and receipts of orders.
135. The biggest reason for creating the spreadsheet was to know if I had been receiving all my orders. I don't know about anyone else, but if I don't mark that I've received a movie, I'd probably never miss it.
136. 50% or better sneak-a-peek at DVDTalk while at work. It's only 50% because the other ones don't have access.
137. You spend hours trying to get a bargain only to find out it won't shipped out of United States.
138. You're looking for DVD movies that begin with the letter 'Q' because you alphabetize all of your DVD’s and it's the only letter you're missing and can't brag to your co-workers that you have DVD’s from A to Z! (By the way, can anybody recommend a good DVD movie that starts with the letter Q?)
139. You get DVD withdrawals after only one week of not finding a DVD bargain or coupon online.
140. A 40% to 30% reduction in the preorder price creates four pages of DVDTalk postings and a barrage of letters to the online vendor!
141. You unmercifully blast DVDtalk members for posting old or expired deals or misusing the forum for non-deal related postings.
142. You sell all of your laserdisc and video collection on eBAY to generate cash to purchase DVD’s.
143. You create multiple e-mail accounts to double, triple or even quaruple your coupon and bargain opportunities.
144. DVDTalk members endlessly debate the honesty and morality of using multiple e-mail accounts to score additional bargains.
145. You get depressed when a DVD bargain obtained using a coupon becomes a 50% off movie at an online store. You’re deflated and conclude, “I guess I wasted that coupon! I should have bought …”
146. You spend hours accessing and searching an overwhelmed website having a sale just to “score” a less than $10 DVD.
147. You brag about the low cost per DVD on DVDTalk but omit any mention of the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of hours hacking away on the Internet to achieve your victories.
148. Your significant other puts you on “DVD probation” or “DVD parole” due to excess buying and conducts unannounced checks when he/she sees you on the PC.
149. You rationalize your DVD purchases by talking about how much you saved versus how much was spent!
150. You spend more time checking the dates for new DVD pre-orders than the movie times in the theatres.
151. You spend hours endlessly cruising and refreshing the DVDtalk pages patiently (or impatiently (awaiting someone to post an unwanted coupon.
152. You’re the first person to post that someone else violated the DVDTalk rules but wouldn’t hesitate to break them yourself as needed.
153. You calculate the net cost of purchasing a DVD at different online vendors using coupons, price matching and other deals just to save the highest amount on your purchase.
06-27-04 | 01:16 PM
#82
Just $10 bucks a month. I just spend it at the Wal-Mart $5.50 bin, or at Dollar Tree. Any movies or TV show sets that I want to watch I find at the public library's online catalog, although I wait for weeks or months to get them.
06-27-04 | 02:16 PM
#83
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I've been trying not to buy a DVD unless it's a film on my want list... there are rare exceptions, of course. Like if I find a DVD of a movie I'm interested in seeing and the cost is low, I'll buy it.
Also, most of the time I try to get the best deals possible, especially if I'm buying online. I also like to trade DVDs that I don't want anymore in exchange for something I do want... either that or sell the DVD and buy a new one with the money I get from it.
Also, most of the time I try to get the best deals possible, especially if I'm buying online. I also like to trade DVDs that I don't want anymore in exchange for something I do want... either that or sell the DVD and buy a new one with the money I get from it.
06-27-04 | 05:25 PM
#84
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What I do besides trying to honestly examine the need to own it NOW, is to look for 'signs' that I shouldn't go ahead with the big purchase I am contemplating. For example, last week I was going to order about $150 worth of dvds from DDD and when I viewed my cart I saw that some items were not currently in stock, so I took that as a sign that I shouldn't buy them all - only got the gilmore girls box set for $33 after coupon. It can be something completely unrelated to the dvd purchase too, such as your cat blinking at you or seeing the word "wait" among a bunch of other text, just assume it is a sign that you should hold off.
06-27-04 | 07:04 PM
#86
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Corey,I don't know how old you are,but for whatever reason I'm guessing you're 18-20-ish.If you were MY son I'd take that credit card from you and destroy it immediately.If you cannot afford it,you simply don't need it.Nor do you deserve to have it.Luxuries are earned,and potentially destroying your credit standing for friggin' movies is absolutely ridiculous! Where the hell is your common sense?
One of my fave threads here is the HT section.Seeing all the great stuff all the people have is way cool.I personally cannot afford all that,and I have a good paying job.I'm around 200 DVD's and watch them on a 27" TV and listen through a 100.00 or so home theater in a box.Rather than blow untold dollars on DVD's that I would rarely watch,we choose instead to make double house payments.
My advice:before you purchase your next DVD,picture WHERE you'll be watching it 5 years or so from now;in a rental unit somewhere or in YOUR house.
Also,never,ever buy anything that you do not have the cash for,after you meet any and all obligations you have in a given month.I don't buy online,as I nearly was the victim of CC fraud,due to online spending.No CC numbers on this computer ever again...
Good luck in your life,whether or not I'm totally wrong in my assumption of your age,if you can't control this HOBBY,you're in for rough times....
One of my fave threads here is the HT section.Seeing all the great stuff all the people have is way cool.I personally cannot afford all that,and I have a good paying job.I'm around 200 DVD's and watch them on a 27" TV and listen through a 100.00 or so home theater in a box.Rather than blow untold dollars on DVD's that I would rarely watch,we choose instead to make double house payments.
My advice:before you purchase your next DVD,picture WHERE you'll be watching it 5 years or so from now;in a rental unit somewhere or in YOUR house.
Also,never,ever buy anything that you do not have the cash for,after you meet any and all obligations you have in a given month.I don't buy online,as I nearly was the victim of CC fraud,due to online spending.No CC numbers on this computer ever again...
Good luck in your life,whether or not I'm totally wrong in my assumption of your age,if you can't control this HOBBY,you're in for rough times....
06-27-04 | 08:10 PM
#89
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I rent all of my movie basically, I use the 25 dollar card at blockbuster for unlimited rentals for one month. I then use a 200-250 dollar monthly limit to other dvd related things (boxed sets). This month so far I have bought Simpsons Season: 1, 2, 3, and 4 and willl buy CSI: Miami, and South Park: Season 4 later this month. I usually can stay under my limit except at winter time, when I stock up on gifts for myself.
06-27-04 | 10:25 PM
#90
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I just think about how many titles I just had to have and bought last year which are still in shrinkwrap, how many titles I've watched once and know I'll never watch again, and how much better I could have spent all that $$ if I had been less of an obsessive dolt. That's how.
I don't even stop at the DVD section of Costco anymore; wasn't too long ago I left work on Tuesdays to be there when they opened. I'm better now.....
I don't even stop at the DVD section of Costco anymore; wasn't too long ago I left work on Tuesdays to be there when they opened. I'm better now.....
06-28-04 | 09:39 AM
#91
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From: On the penis chair
Having debt just for buying DVD is a no no - been doing that some time last year, and its just terrible. So far, I'm just being selective about choosing which titles I'm going to buy, and I'm not going to buy any DVD if I have to be in debt.
06-28-04 | 03:49 PM
#92
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From: Portland OR
Originally posted by Tread
4) Go through your existing collection and watch *everything*. I mean, all commentaries, special features, etc. I started doing this to have something to watch and restrain the spend impulse. It's been great and I feel like I get more value for my money in the process. Obviously, you shouldn't make yourself sit through features that drive you nuts (I couldn't do the Three Colors commentary because the lady's voice is like nails on a blackboard to me; the Taubin mini-commentary on Reservoir Dogs was just maddeningly annoying as well.)
[/B]
4) Go through your existing collection and watch *everything*. I mean, all commentaries, special features, etc. I started doing this to have something to watch and restrain the spend impulse. It's been great and I feel like I get more value for my money in the process. Obviously, you shouldn't make yourself sit through features that drive you nuts (I couldn't do the Three Colors commentary because the lady's voice is like nails on a blackboard to me; the Taubin mini-commentary on Reservoir Dogs was just maddeningly annoying as well.)
[/B]
The only things I avoid are things like scripts. I don't have the time or patience to read hundreds of screens of text on a TV. I did find the Three Colors commentaries interesting, but I can still hear that voice.
06-28-04 | 04:19 PM
#93
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From: sunny San Diego!
Some fantastic advice here, especially all the comments about DON"T CHARGE IT IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO PAY IT OFF!!!! The interest you pay on the purchase more than wipes out the amount you "save"... and getting yourself into the pit of credit card debt is a very bad idea.
A while back, I was buying more DVDs than I really needed to, but then I cut back. Here are a couple of things I do to keep things under control:
--Think: do I really want this in my collection? As others have said, you should figure out what you really want to own, and set some limits. I realized that there were many titles that were perfect to rent or borrow from a friend, but not to own.
--Consider how many DVDs I have in my "unwatched" pile. Right now I have a TON of unwatched DVDs, so I'm not planning on buying any more until I thin that stack down.
--Keep a "wish list" and modify it as time goes by. When I first started my list, I had a ton of titles in the "want to buy" category. As time passed, I moved many of those titles to the "rent one of these days" category, as I realized I wasn't as keen on them as I thought.
--Use Amazon gift certificates (also works with Barnes and Noble gcs). I have an Amazon Visa and I use it to pay for everything I possibly can - and then I pay it off in full EVERY month, so I don't pay a penny in interest. However, I do earn points for the reward certificates, which I save for purchasing DVDs or books. It's kind of like having an allowance - I feel like I can "save up" for a fun purchase like a DVD without guilt.
Also, you can let your friends and family know what titles you'd enjoy getting as gifts.
A while back, I was buying more DVDs than I really needed to, but then I cut back. Here are a couple of things I do to keep things under control:
--Think: do I really want this in my collection? As others have said, you should figure out what you really want to own, and set some limits. I realized that there were many titles that were perfect to rent or borrow from a friend, but not to own.
--Consider how many DVDs I have in my "unwatched" pile. Right now I have a TON of unwatched DVDs, so I'm not planning on buying any more until I thin that stack down.
--Keep a "wish list" and modify it as time goes by. When I first started my list, I had a ton of titles in the "want to buy" category. As time passed, I moved many of those titles to the "rent one of these days" category, as I realized I wasn't as keen on them as I thought.
--Use Amazon gift certificates (also works with Barnes and Noble gcs). I have an Amazon Visa and I use it to pay for everything I possibly can - and then I pay it off in full EVERY month, so I don't pay a penny in interest. However, I do earn points for the reward certificates, which I save for purchasing DVDs or books. It's kind of like having an allowance - I feel like I can "save up" for a fun purchase like a DVD without guilt.
Also, you can let your friends and family know what titles you'd enjoy getting as gifts.
06-29-04 | 11:20 AM
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Here's a suggestion:
Consider how much you spend in DVD's per month. Take half of that and put it towards your mortgage (if you have a house obviously), or any other debt you may have (car payment, credit card, etc).
Say you drop $200 per month on these things. Cut that in half, and spend only $100 on DVD's and the other $100 extra towards your mortgage. As an example, say you owe $150,000 on a 30 year mortgage at 6.5%...If you put an extra $100 per month towards the principal, you'd shave 6 YEARS of payments off, and $52,000 in interest!!!
Think of how many DVD's you could then buy with your $52,000
(Of course, in 24 years, DVD's will be a thing of the past)
Consider how much you spend in DVD's per month. Take half of that and put it towards your mortgage (if you have a house obviously), or any other debt you may have (car payment, credit card, etc).
Say you drop $200 per month on these things. Cut that in half, and spend only $100 on DVD's and the other $100 extra towards your mortgage. As an example, say you owe $150,000 on a 30 year mortgage at 6.5%...If you put an extra $100 per month towards the principal, you'd shave 6 YEARS of payments off, and $52,000 in interest!!!
Think of how many DVD's you could then buy with your $52,000
(Of course, in 24 years, DVD's will be a thing of the past)
06-29-04 | 11:42 AM
#97
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From: Clarkston, MI
My collection feels enormous sometimes, but in reality it's miniscule to many of yours'. With new releases, I find the lowest price, and I'll pick it up if I really want it.
Something I've changed recently... For older DVD's, I'll wait for a sale instead of going out and buying it at full price when I just saw it. CC and BB have had some great "2-For" sales, but I'll only go along with it if BOTH of those DVD's are on my wish list. If I want just one on there, I'll probably pass.
Something I've changed recently... For older DVD's, I'll wait for a sale instead of going out and buying it at full price when I just saw it. CC and BB have had some great "2-For" sales, but I'll only go along with it if BOTH of those DVD's are on my wish list. If I want just one on there, I'll probably pass.
08-21-04 | 08:08 AM
#98
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From: Region Free
Re: How do you control your DVD spending?
Originally posted by corycouger
IHow do you control this hobby?
IHow do you control this hobby?
If it's a title from a major studio, I wait and get it from Columbia House. If it's a Region-1 release from a smaller studio, I wait for good online bargains. If it's a Japanese release, I wait for the Region 3 rerelease.
However
If it's a good Region 3 release, especially a Koren LE, I buy immediately!
Originally posted by towbinaj
have your spouse/significant other place you on MORATORIUM
have your spouse/significant other place you on MORATORIUM
Originally posted by icon2480
1) I tell my girlfriend about my problem, make sure she knows that I'm not supposed to buy DVD's that frequently.
1) I tell my girlfriend about my problem, make sure she knows that I'm not supposed to buy DVD's that frequently.
08-21-04 | 09:58 AM
#99
DVD Talk Legend
There's no training about it, my wife keeps me in line and I'm glad of it. Otherwise I'd be sitting on milk crates surrounded by DVDs and Magic cards.
08-21-04 | 12:47 PM
#100
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Add this to help modernize Curtis's list:
154. You justified a the purchase of a laptop and wireless modem so that you could consult dvdpricesearch in the store to make sure you were getiting a good deal at the local brick & mortar.
154. You justified a the purchase of a laptop and wireless modem so that you could consult dvdpricesearch in the store to make sure you were getiting a good deal at the local brick & mortar.