How much do you guys spend a month on gaming

[dunpeal2064]

I spent $70 last month on games.

$40 went to a copy on Monster Hunter I bought for my brolaw for his birf

$10 went to an eshop card I bought for my girl so she could play Pushmo

The other $20 went to eshop on my 3ds, so I could co-op Streets of Rage 3d, and try out Shinobi 3d and Super Hang on 3d.

This was actually a fairly spendy month for me.

[aaron]

My PS2 is the slim kind that has a NIC built into it... will this work around work on the slim?

Nah, sorry, you need the older fat PS2 model to put a HDD in it. you can use FreeMcBoot to run a USB loader but the transfer rate is abysmal. here's some information: http://bootleg.sksapps.com/tutorials/fmcb/index.php

If you can find an HDD with only 4 sets of jumpers...

or buy one of these things: https://www.google.com/shopping/product ... IEFEKYrMAY

[Jmustang1968]

I am probably on the higher end but it varies so much month to month. I occasionally find big local lots, but then I also make most or all of my money back selling the extras or unwanteds.

I started to keep track of funds in and out and got behind and so it crumbled.

I have been more discriminatory when purchasing or pre-ordering new titles. I basically now limit them to either games I feel will be collectible and harder to find, games I will play right when they release, or perhaps from a niche publisher/developer who I want to support.

[mas]

Just told the wife about the plan I have and I'm down to a budget of 30.00 a month which is great because I have someone who will keep up with the spending.

[Frag Mortuus]

With all of this talk of budgeting I plan to commit to a $0 July.

My backlog is around 250 deep on PC and my Wii/Wii U, PS4, and 3DS/DS backlog is a solid 50-60. So, I have a ton of games to play.

I'm in the market to upgrade my PC when the new Haswell-E stuff comes out in September, which is going to cost a pretty penny. However, I have a deal with myself that no money from either my job or my wife's photography business is to go towards it because I don't think it's fair that I spend our family's money on such an extravagant purchase for myself. So, I have been selling everything that I can think of that I don't need. Old PC parts (that were too old for Mike's PC project ), collector's edition items, DVD's, etc. By the time my auctions end tonight I will have nearly all of the money I need for the parts I plan to buy.

So, my thoughts are this: if I can raise such a large amount of money by finding ways to generate money outside of earned income to buy my PC upgrades, then why can't I do the same for buying games? Plus the money I will save each month that I was spending out of my normal income can go towards awesome things like taking the kids to Disney World next year!!!

[s1mplehumar]

I have been more discriminatory when purchasing or pre-ordering new titles. I basically now limit them to either games I feel will be collectible and harder to find, games I will play right when they release, or perhaps from a niche publisher/developer who I want to support.

That's where I'm at. And with all these collector's editions that cost a small fortune, one has to by choosy.

So i'm spending between $100-2000. Sometimes an amazing lot is just too good to pass up.

[Blu]

I use Dave Ramsey's Cash Flow Plan to give myself a monthly budget. My fiancée really helped me get on a budget when I was in grad school and was focused on paying off my student loan debt. It helped me pay my loans off within five years of graduating from college.
http://a248.e.akamai.net/f/1611/26335/9 ... _forms.pdf

The system uses envelopes that you put a certain amount of cash into each based on your monthly income. The focus is to pay down your debts as quick as you can, and get yourself secure in your savings, etc.

I only mention this because there's a section for fun/entertainment money. I take out $200 a month in cash for my budget, $120 goes to food for the month (my fianceé pays the same), $40 goes to gas, and I use the leftover $40 for entertainment and if I want to pick up a game or two, that's where it goes.

I find it easier to hold myself accountable when you're paying with physical money, instead of not seeing this with a credit card. There's a few months where I'll see a deal and I'll go at most $20-$30 over budget, but then I steel myself and don't purchase the following month, or I'll flip a few things. This is especially helpful since we're getting married and will be consolidating our finances come September. I'm thankful for this advice, and happy to pass it on.

[Jagosaurus]

As Dave referenced, I track my $ in & $ out (I even add in shipping, PayPal fees, & ebay fees to get it down to the buck). It's an awesome hobby but life & responsibility first. Honestly, getting a good deal & a solid "net price" for $ in/out for what I buy is half the fun for me.

Often I pass on OK deals BC I'm too high on spending that month OR just vow to spend less the following month (ie, bought a fair bit in May & bought $16 worth in June lol).

[KalessinDB]

Way, way too much.

F'real though, I have a problem with bingeing -- Some (most) months I'll spend... I dunno, 50-75 bucks? I honestly have almost everything I truly WANT from a Nostalgia standpoint (which is what got me into this), at this point I'm getting shit because either I want to complete collections, because it seems kinda cool, because I see a writeup here, because it's got a great name, dirty cheap, comes in a lot, whatever. And I try to keep those purchases in the 10-20 range a couple times a month.

AAaaaaaand then there's the other months. The months where a new Everdrive comes out, or an ODE comes out for an old system that I want (the 3DO USB adapter, the GDEMU for Dreamcast, the MEGADrive Plug-n-Play for Gamecube). Or where I decide "Hey you've been dithering around enough lusting after arcade parts, time to buy a supergun!" Or where I decide to buy more arcade hardware to go WITH that supergun Or where I break down and buy the high-ticket game to complete my collection (Jack Bros, you will be mine. Oh yes, you will be mine)... Those months it becomes anywhere from $100-$500. And I really have to stop having those types of months -- My car lease is up in under a year and I intend to buy a car when I need a new one, not lease again, so I really could use a down payment.

So yeah. I need way fewer (ie: zero) binge months for a while. Now do I see this HAPPENING? Probably not. But I do at least have the self-control to resist most of the big purchases until all my credit cards are paid off (I did some renovations while still keeping my standard spending habits -- bad move) which should be this month, maybe next month.

[Hazerd]

Depends, i mean who sets themselves a limit, if something good comes out and you have the funds, you buy it, amirite?