Balancing card fever with real life

[steve B]

Well, now I know how you guys manage it.

For me the cards always have to come second to the real life stuff. Letting the house or car go in bad shape to buy cards just isn't smart on the long run.

I sold a bike recently, nice profit but almost all of the money will go to house repairs.

I haven't sold many cards that would make a difference. The few I have sold I've turned into other cards.

Steve B

[HRBAKER]

For me when I am put in a position to decide between cards and the house or other family related matters, this has crossed over the line from being a hobby.

[KCRfan1]

I believe most, if not all, of us will put first things first and give priority to the things that matter most in life to us. Of course family, shelter, food, ect will all come before our beloved hobby. My original post was purely sarcastic, as I am sure some of the other light hearted posts.

[71buc]

It is worse for me as I am a hedonist when it comes to all things baseball. I collect pre and post war cards, autographs, stadium pieces, news photos, memorabilia, and anything else I can hide from the wife. We have been together for 34 years and she has never understood my obsession but knows when to look the other way and not ask questions. She says that I have a paramour named sheBay. I explained that I could be searching for online porn rather than searching eBay for a baseball fix. She says that porn would be cheaper and would require 15 minutes of my time rather than the hours spent with sheBay

[t206fix]

Originally Posted by 71buc

It is worse for me as I am a hedonist when it comes to all things baseball. I collect pre and post war cards, autographs, stadium pieces, news photos, memorabilia, and anything else I can hide from the wife. We have been together for 34 years and she has never understood my obsession but knows when to look the other way and not ask questions. She says that I have a paramour named sheBay. I explained that I could be searching for online porn rather than searching eBay for a baseball fix. She says that porn would be cheaper and would require 15 minutes of my time rather than the hours spent with sheBay

15 minutes? Man, you have endurance!

[gnaz01]

Originally Posted by cardboardbliss

15 minutes? Man, you have endurance!

Funniest line I have heard on here in a looooooong time

[conor912]

Originally Posted by 71buc

She says that porn would be cheaper and would require 15 minutes of my time rather than the hours

Hahahahahahaha

[jlehma13]

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

For me when I am put in a position to decide between cards and the house or other family related matters, this has crossed over the line from being a hobby.

I think that about sums it up for me.

[Matthew H]

I'm only attached to maybe 20% of my collection... If I were ever in a situation where I needed the money I'd dump the rest in a heartbeat.

[mrvster]

1994 corolla here!! 170,000 miles young....house in need o repairs....but scrap rules

[Leon]

Originally Posted by mrvster

1994 corolla here!! 170,000 miles young....house in need o repairs....but scrap rules

We live in a van down by the river, but my collection stays!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nhgfjrKi0o




.

[mrvster]

That was grrrrrreat!!

[gnaz01]

Originally Posted by Leon

We live in a van down by the river, but my collection stays!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nhgfjrKi0o




.

Leon,

Best Chris Farley bit ever!!!

[Sean]

Originally Posted by mrvster

1994 corolla here!! 170,000 miles young....house in need o repairs....but scrap rules

Johnny, at least you have a house.

[deadballfreaK]

Originally Posted by mrvster

1994 corolla here!! 170,000 miles young....house in need o repairs....but scrap rules

I had a 95 Corolla with about 165,000 on it. A tree fell in my yard and smashed it flat. I couldn't seem to convince the insurance company that I couldn't drive it to get estimates because it was about 1 foot tall. Finally got my money and then a letter arrived from the city of Chicago. My license number was tied to about a hundred parking tickets. Lots of threats including confiscation of the vehicle. I've never been to Chicago in my life. I sent them a letter telling them to please come and confiscate as it was under a tree and I would love to have it removed. Funny thing, never heard from Chicago again. I had to clean up the mess myself. I'd rather have the car. It had another 100,000 in it for sure.

[itjclarke]

Originally Posted by mrvster

1994 corolla here!! 170,000 miles young....house in need o repairs....but scrap rules

I've been driving company cars and gasing up on company cards for the past 10+ years. Before that my only cars were an '85 Honda Civic with 200K miles, a hole in the back door, front and rear bumpers held on by duct tape/bailing wire/and a shoelace. It died on the last day of my senior year, a block from the last party of our high school lives and we just pushed it into a parking lot and left it there. I followed this up with an '86 Prelude that took me through college and early adulthood (also 200K+ miles). It overlapped my first company car by a couple years, until it was eventually stolen and found a month later wrecked in Oakland. I signed it over to the tow yard to help offset towing fees and the many parking tickets it had accrued while derelict. All in all I think I've spent about $8K on cars and all the savings on cards. It's been a good run . If and when I ever take a normal desk job and they stop letting me drive their cars around, I may need to adjust my habits accordingly.. van full of cards by the river maybe???

[Bocabirdman]

As some of you may know, I recently completed a 23 year purge (1948-1970) from my collection over on the BST. Thanks go out to all who bought my collection. It took a month of non-stop work. Surprisingly, the seller's remorse that I fully expected is nowhere to be found, probably because the cards are readily available. It only takes money.

Outwardly, I told myself that I would top off a retirement account with 75% of the proceeds and use the remainder to slay the Monster. That was the original game plan. However, my job of 18 years is in danger of going bye-bye as my company is on the verge of re-locating their main facility to Philly from South Florida. My lack of typing skills prevent me from going into all of the details but the situation could get ugly. In sort of the reverse to being a problem, my cardboard hoard might be my saving grace. Oh, this is not carved in stone as yet and maybe, just maybe, my original 75/25 plan can come back into play. Even with this uncertainty looming, I bought a small handful of T206 commons this month to ease my bones. All in all, the purge money could keep me afloat for a while.

Time will tell. By the All-Star Break, I will either be un-employed or kicking the snot out of the T206 Monster

[familytoad]

I'm hoping to hear more about this topic (we have multiple hundreds of members here)
Doesn't have to get too personal

I am hooked big time on baseball cards.
This site gets a peek 5-6 times a day just so I can look at more cards.

I will admit to getting "grouchy" when unexpected stuff comes up that takes money from my hobby fund. It is easy for me to prioritize, but that mood is evident to all in my house hahaha.

Two weeks ago, One of our cats needed to go to the vet because he wasn't acting right.
$100 later, he felt better but I could only think about the extra bids I could have placed. Poor kitty!!

I guess I have been blessed with the ability to maintain a separate hobby account, which ebbs and flows when kitties are sick or healthy. That makes me laugh!
I asked all four of them, (and our puppy) this morning "how are you all feeling??"

Looks like I am headed to BST to look for more cards today!! No complaints from the zoo this AM!