Income set aside for collecting

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Posted By: Dylan

Well I thought i'd share my little story on how vintage cards came into my life. When I was 14 my Dad purchased a framed portrait of the Burdick Metropolitan Musuem Collection. For those not familer with the collection, and the print i speak of its a monster. A while ago (not that long ago im only 23) I decided to take on what I could piece by piece in the eventuality that one day i may be able(meaning considerable resource able) to complete the vaunted task. I make a good living but I also have plans to invest in stock and bonds and other appreciable investments. How much of your income is set aside for collecting? Im having great difficulty with setting a percentage. Because collectables can be liquitable and accrue value overtime, but i dont think that justifies not investing in more conventional methods. Really what it gets down to is how do i invest in the hobby i love and invest in the market and keep hard cash on hand without being a millionare? I know that the cards I want to collect, well dont come cheap, so just want to hear from you guys that have been doing this longer, whats your system, limits, etc. on spending on the collectable market?

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Posted By: Al C.risafulli

Ooh.

I'm not one to give investment advice, but here's how I do it.

1. I take my money.
2. I figure out how much I need to live (mortgage, beer, insurance, groceries, beer, clothes, beer, etc.)
3. Whatever's left, I figure out how much I want to invest in traditional, income-producing things like mutual funds and whatnot.
4. Whatever's left, I figure out how much I want to spend on ancilliary spending, like dinners out and beer and stuff for the kids and movies and beer.
5. Whatever's left, I spend on cards.

I try REALLY hard not to consider cards an investment. I mean, they probably are, to some degree, but since I have no intention of selling the ones I want to keep, and I usually want to keep the ones I buy, I have to liken them more to pieces of furniture than I do to income-producing investments. Plus, if I don't consider them to be an investment, it keeps me from getting upset over them when a "hot" set suddenly turns cold, or when I overpay for something I really like.

-Al

edited for beer.

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Posted By: Jason L

and it's pretty much what Al said...although he would appear to drink considerably more beer than I do (wine is my choice of vice)...

Simple budgeting...figure out what it takes to live, what it takes to entertain you and family, and then identify that amount you have left over. Then, I spend roughly 2-3 times that on cards.

I have been doing this for the past few years, and I think this has worked out smashingly well, and I think it will continue to be successful until the credit card companies actually locate me.
(Insert smiling emoticon here)


Honestly, though, budget priorities are the key. And adjust your expectations accordingly.
Jason L

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Posted By: Dylan

In the past I have made the mistake of not keep enough put away for a rainy day and when I got laid off my best cards had to go. When i see a good deal, even if it isnt something i need ill pick it up for the profit margin, but to see the heart and soul of your collection hit the auction blocks, never again. How many people have been in that same situation and have had to start their collection over a time or two over the years?

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Posted By: warshawlaw

I figure out what it costs for all the necessaries of life, plus funding my retirement plan, plus the family fun stuff. Whatever's left over I allocate to cards. I try to work extra hours in the months before the National so I can have a little more to spend there.

Unfortunately, I would say that my attention is equally split at this point between cards I want for my collection and cards that I am primarily looking at because the price is right. I am fortunate enough to really like and collect some esoteric, relatively unpopular stuff. I cannot fathom how hard it must be for people of normal means to want to collect Ruth or Cobb cards. Lucky for me almost no one gives a crap about Exhibit cards and Lefty O'Doul cards.

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Posted By: Joe D.

so I just buy and figure it out later!


the great pleasure of buying something cool and recieving it -
is usually followed by selling something else I like and some weeping.

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Posted By: Elliot

Don't believe what Adam says, he's the same as the rest of us, he spends as much as he can hide from his wife.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

caught again

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Posted By: Josh K.

I suspect elliot's post is closer to the truth than anything else said for the vast majority of us.

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Posted By: jay behrens

After all the basics are taken care of I have a whapping $50 per month to spend on cards. I generate extra money from selling the tone of other collectibles I still have laying around. I'm in big trouble when that runs out.

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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Posted By: Gilbert Maines

Right now, cards are appreciating well. That is not always the case.
If you view the cards which you buy as a purchase which may depreciate,
you will be accurate, and you won't overbuy. As soon as you think
otherwise, you are kidding yourself.