Comments on: Ever Looked At Your Credit Card Statement, Whistled, And Said “I Need To Find A Cheaper Hobby?” Here’s How.

By: Mary

Mary — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 22:49:51 +0000

I am an old skool/Nintendo video gamer at heart, and had taken a hiatus from it for a few years during college due to studies, and after I graduated I had nothing to do due to bills and unemployment. Walking, surfing the internet, cleaning and baking were my activities outside of work. This year my boyfriend bought us a Wii for Xmas, and I am estatic, even though I am back in school, haha. I realized in the past few years that having time for a hobby isn’t a bad thing at all. In fact it’s key to having sanity in my brain. =)

By: JFR

JFR — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:43:11 +0000

Magic: The Gathering… I used to play that game around 1995-1997. How much fun I had to play that game back then but it’s really a cash sink!

By: reulte

reulte — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 12:56:07 +0000

Jake — also, by putting a hold on a book, it usually prevents the book from being renewed.

By: Money Mistakes: That Old Black Magic ∞ Get Rich Slowly

Money Mistakes: That Old Black Magic ∞ Get Rich Slowly — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 23:09:38 +0000

[...] I’m not the only personal finance blogger who’s spent a lot of money on Magic: The Gathering. Trent at The Simple Dollar also used to be under its spell. [...]

By: Kevin Neely

Kevin Neely — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 04:12:32 +0000

@Jake: Get to know your library’s online catalog system. If there are specific books you want, check online beforehand to see if they are even there. If they are, great. If not, put your name on the list and your library will let you know when the book is available and hold it for you.

@Trent: As regards MTG. If you were getting all your cards for free, and only spending ~$100 on gas and what-not, I’d say you were still making money. You should certainly be able to sell those cards for some good money on eBay or what not.

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 01:20:24 +0000

Hi there. Oddly, I do believe I have a Shirley Chisolm button. And BTW, do you not have a good public library nearby? They are great. Also, if you have a university nearby, you can often get a “supporting patron” or some other designation for $50-100/year. For access to a good library, this is worth it.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 20:27:17 +0000

First off – your site is fantastic. It’s one of my favourites! Second – libraries are a treasure that everyone should enjoy. I too, once made endless trips to the local bookstore for all my reading needs. Eventually, I started to see how much this was costing me (both in terms of money and physical space in my apartment). I started going to second hand book shops for my purchases. I was able find plenty of interesting books to keep me going, as well, I was able to unload a ton of books collecting dust on my bookshelves at home. It wasn’t until I moved to a new and much bigger city that my eyes were finally opened to how great a resource that is the public library system. I was able search the entire library system catalog and place a hold on anything I wanted to borrow. The library would send me an email when my book was ready to picked-up and even send me a reminder notice two days before the book was due. In the 3.5 years since I’ve moved, I can think of only one occasion when my library didn’t have a copy of a book I wanted. Reading is such a great hobby. It allows me to escape to somewhere else for a little while each day. It allows me to grow and expand my mind. Whether I’m reading to latest release by Micheal Connelly, something historically based by Bernard Cornwell or one of the classics. Currently I’m reading ‘Atlas Shrugged’ by Ayn Rand. My copy’s over 1150 pages long and it might take me two months to read. But that’s okay. I don’t have the time to read for hours on end, nor do I wish to plow through a book and end up not fully appreciating what I’m reading. I’m fully converted to the library being my primary source of reading material and will forever recommend to that others do the same.

By: Quang

Quang — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 08:23:43 +0000

My God man! you read alot of books. SHOOT. lol What kind of books do you read? Is it all Self-Help Financial Books or do you read others as well? Wow, how did you learn to read fast? No wonder your blog is amazing… got a lot of info in there. I don’t think you should quit your “Reading hobby”… it’s more of a life decision to grow, etc. Plus I bet the benefits out weight the rewards. $200 a month on Books? That might be a lil excessive.

I found that you get to a point well you read all you needed to read, to start. And it’s all about execution. Maybe you should find a new hobby… like saving the world or something =]

By: jake

jake — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 01:36:00 +0000

I have one problem with Libraries. The book I want is always checked out.

For instance Jim Cramer’s Real Money book. I checked my local library and they had a copy. when i went to check it out someone already did. First I thought no problem I’ll wait since the librarian told me the due date. Came back three weeks later, guess what? The guy renewed it. I went to my local university college library and it was also checked out. Went to the library of the next city over, all checked out. I just bought the book. Saved me the hassle.

This seems to always happened to me. All the books you reviewed are at my local library but they seem to be always checked out.

I guess I can wait until it eventually becomes available. But I am the type that can wait but not long.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 20:21:26 +0000

MtG – Oh what a monkey that was on my back. And it sounds like you were alot luckier than me. I was an average player and not that good at planning the strategy.

What was worse is for me it triggered both my packrat tendencies as well as gambling hopes. In my worse days I would buy 2 booster packs a day, every day and 4 on Saturday since the store was closed on Sunday. That lasted for about 9 months, at which point I reached the end of my “fun” cash. What was left was earmarked for college, and made me realize how I was acting. Kinda harsh reality.

By: argus

argus — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 19:54:04 +0000

hey there!

interesting that you played MtG and quite well since you travelled to bigger events. i’m still hooked on the cardboard crack but i’m actually making money by organizing tournaments and through the secondary market. keep up the good work!