What kind of budget do you set?

[TheLegoViking]

If people feel comfortable sharing, I'm very interesting to know how much you spend a month on buying lego?

[Tomsche]

It depends, how much I can liquidate of older hobbies, on top of the 10% of my income that is budgetted for hobby / geeky things

[DD840]

I don't have a monthly budget but am thinking that I should set one. I only recently came out of my dark ages so splurged a bit trying to get some sets that were older and possibly retiring. For larger purchases I'm going to try to wait for double points.

[ttoole73]

I never really set a budget. I just buy what I want when I can.

[samurai-turtle]

I try to wait for a sale or clearance price.

[tman684]

I don't really set a budget, I have a jar that I'll throw extra cash and change into, and half of that usually goes towards Lego

[Off the wall]

I've been collecting Lego for a couple of years. Being retired, I don't budget like I did when I was young. During the first year or so, I was playing catch up and spending a lot on retired sets. Now that I'm all 'caught up', I can probably get by with spending $160 a month because there's just not that much new stuff that I want. In the first year and a half, I bought five modular sets (some duplicate) that were retired, SW Death Star and superstar destroyer, the retired VW, all of the winter village stuff and all of the architecture series including two of the marina bay sands. Plus the retired Eiffel Tower and retired Taj Mahal. It got expensive.

[robuko]

I used to have a rule based on % income. Now it's more like % of remaining space in my flat! I don't worry about how much I spend on lego because I can usually sell it above cost and it's a very liquid asset. Actually, lego has been a pretty decent investment. I only worry about how much space it takes up.

[jodawill]

I don't budget it, but I try not to spend more than I make selling on BrickLink.

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Tough question!

Looks like 10-20% of my net income ("net income" meaning after having paid everything that's necessary for the real life, not just after tax).

And at the beginning of each year I think that it is now time to spend less, because we already have so much...

But then I see new things, get new ideas and suddenly I am standing in those stores again - buying

[Wardancer]

I don't really set a budget, but I think I should. Especially the smaller orders from Bricklink, 8 Euro here, another 12 here, and another 10..., these add up to big sums as well. I try to stay between 40-100 Eu a month. If it is more, I try to sell off unwanted parts or figs.

[Tomsche]

Yeah, BrickLink is the silent budget killer, I always 'forget' to calculate the odd piece and torso left or right ;-)

[Cammo]

I don't really make up a budget. What I do is make an Excel-sheet with all the sets I really want and follow up Pricevortex and other deals. That way I can see easily save money + I'm limiting myself to collect Lego Licensed (read: movie sets) although those Modulars are really hard to resist. Since LotR and The Hobbit is finished, I see myself spending a lot less this year.

Edited February 20, 2015 by Cammo

[lightningtiger]

This year sees me set not a budget, but a limit to what themes/sub-themes I will buy......this year might be the first one where I spend no more than a thousand dollars for the whole year....maybe.

[mikaelsol]

1000 Swedish krona a month, but I'm allowed to save the money to buy bigger sets.

[fred67]

This year sees me set not a budget, but a limit to what themes/sub-themes I will buy......this year might be the first one where I spend no more than a thousand dollars for the whole year....maybe.

Yeah... I will easily top $1k, but not by a whole lot, but I've drastically cut back the themes I was buying. Even LOTR/Hobbit which, when it came out, would have been laughable to suggest I wouldn't get every single set. It looks like no new creator train this year (although that's not a certainty), the modular has already come out and I will actually probably wait until fall to get it. This is heading up to be the year of buying from others... customs from ME Models, Brick[Arms, Forge, Warriors], Altbricks, etc., and pieces I need from bricklink.

[TheLegoDr]

Ultimately I don't have a budget. I need to since we have other monetary obligations, so LEGO goes to the back burner. But if/when I am able, I try to pick up some smaller sets I want. The larger sets get put on the waitlist until double points/holidays basically. My birthday the last few years goes to LUGbulk, which actually is upsetting since there are so many sets out there I want, but pieces are good too.

I haven't ordered from bricklink in forever. There are lots of projects I need to work on, but I never have time to touch LEGO. If it wasn't for the occasional downtime at work to look online at LEGO, it wouldn't be a hobby anymore...sad.

[Off the wall]

Update,

Well, without a new train, another modular, a large set like Taj Mahal or Tower Bridge, or a large vehicle (like the VWs), TLG has probably made a 2015 budget unnecessary. I can see my spending really dropping off this year.

[ficbot]

Usually $100 between my fiancé and I, since that is what we need to get the free giveaways. Some months, I spend more and some months, he does. I mostly only buy Friends and Creator, he buys architecture ones and sometimes City. I also want the new Elves series.

[kibosh]

I don't have a set budget, but I do have two rules that guide my purchases:

1) My LEGO purchases are sell funded. To buy more, I have to sell LEGO from my collection.

2) I NEVER pay retail prices unless it's something like the modulars. And then, I only buy if I can save 20%+ with VIP points.

[eurotrash]

I do have a set monthly budget of around $100, but there will be times when there are sales and bargains to be picked up. So if I splurge one month then I'll make sure that the next month I'm a bit more cautious.

It all evens out in the end and I since emerging from my Dark Ages my overall spending is less than that set budget. I find it useful to keep track (via an Excel spreadsheet) on what I've been buying.

Edited January 22, 2015 by eurotrash

[Jedi-Bendu]

If people feel comfortable sharing, I'm very interesting to know how much you spend a month on buying lego?

One month it could be € 0.....but when the new Star Wars sets are being released it could be a couple of 100's.

I've got a few rules though:

-I only buy Star Wars. (Yup, the Ghostbusters set looks great and Lord of the Rings is cool.....but I'd rather focus on one Lego license)

-I will never buy sets (excluded retired sets) for RRP; there's a store in my town where all sets are approx 20% under the RRP all the time. (Waiting a few days can save cash)

-Buying retired sets is OK, but never for more than the original RRP + 10% (or in a rare case RRP + € 25.) (Paying 250 for a set that was 150 5 years ago? NO.WAY.)

-Buying a used set? Only if it is way under it's original RRP. (Used sets (especially when they're already built) don't give me the same good feeling a new set does)

-Max price I pay for a set: € 150. (I can see myself breaking this rule for a fantastic, incredible set....like a Cloud City set....or maybe this year's EchoBase? Besides Lego, I also collect other Star Wars merchandise....that's the reason of this rule.)

-I love SW minifigs. There have been some figs I really wanted but were released just once and are retired now. I'll pay € 15 max for a minifig on Bricklink (my Lando Calrissian is the fig I paid that kinda money for. Luckily I'm just 4 OT minifigs away from having all the OT figs I want)

[Jared]

I usually set a cap of $50-$100 CAD per month. Keep in mind that's because it usually goes to Bricklink. I rarely have money for sets these days because I'm too busy buying tons of bulk parts for mocing.

[jFox]

I don't, much to the dismay of my wallet... Recently I've started looking more closely at parts in a set, and how likely I'll be to use them elsewhere. It's kept me from an impulse purchase or two so far, which is a good thing. That, and occasionally I'll just Bricklink the intersting figures instead getting a set. Though if it's a double VIP promo at the LEGO store, all bets are off... last October was a rough one.

[talos]

I have only been back to Lego for a year, and I am a little embarrassed how much that I have spent. I have vowed to cut back this year, and from the news I have seen so far, I think I will easily cut back a lot, since I haven't seen much that I want to get this year. I got the new modular, and beyond maybe the new City Square set that is coming, I don't see much I will be buying. Maybe some of the seasonal sets. I do seem to keep a steady BrickLink supply going...about $15/month...