Using what I've got
I've been trying to spend less money, lately. Specifically, I'm trying to spend less money on stuff I don't actually need, like RPG books, miniatures, CDs, DVDs, etc...
As far as Miniatures goes, the Painting Pledge has been huge. Even when you consider that the only rules of the Pledge are the ones I make myself follow and that accumulating points in the Painting Pledge will get me nothing in and of itself, it just works for me.
I am so loathe to "pay" the negative points for buying miniatures, that I don't buy them anymore. Or at least not frequently. I am so eager to earn imaginary points for painting my mini's and completeing projects that I've organized a weekly painting night!
To top it all off, more than one person that we know is prone to just up and mailing me a box full of new miniatures every now and then! It does not suck to be me.
DVDs and CDs were the easiest to cut down on. We and our friends frequently loan DVDs to each other and Jill & I still have dozens that we have not even watched once yet! And there haven't been a lot of CDs coming out lately that I really want.
Almost all of the comic shops near me closed in the past few years. The only one left is on a busy stretch of Rt 126, and so is inconvenient to go to, despite being close to my house. So that means that it was easy to stop buying comics that honestly weren't all that great, more often than not (I still love the Ultimates titles, but I can get those in TPB form, preferably with gift certificates).
So that just leaves my RPG buying habits. Well, I think I've got those in check as well. Last Spring, I returned those four boxes of books to White Wolf/SSS and saved them a lot of hassle and money. They were very grateful and gave me a box FULL of hardcover RPG books!
And so these have become my "new" RPG books. When I feel like buying a new RPG book, I just pull one of these off the shelf. I like to have an RPG book in the reading room (bathroom). Sitting in my special reading chair, I've read through Tome of Horrors III, Complete Book of Eldritch Might and am part of the way into Engel. And I've still got the entire library of 2nd edition Exalted stuff to go through!
Also, also, we bought so much from the Alpha Forge booth at OGC Con (Jill bought an entire Hydrissian army), that we got a free copy of the rules which I also read.
Also, also, also, my sculpting mentor just recently sent me some cool RPG stuff he got as swag-trade at GenCon. I can look forward to reading the Hall of Many Panes at some point in the future...
Add to this the fact that I know we have at least a half dozen gaming books that I either have not read or have merely skimmed and it's baffling to think that I would have even bought an RPG book ever again!!!
But of course I will. ;)
Just not as many. And when I buy my next RPG book, it's going to be something I REALLY want. Like the upcoming Warhammer 40K RPG. But that's not due until March 07. Until then, I plan on enjoying what I've got. The really nice part is that all of these books that I've listed aren't just for reading. I'm going to play. Maybe not the exact games in the books. Almost certainly not the same system. But I plan on robbing every source of inspiration I can get my hands on. The bookshelves in my library and groaning under the weight of one hell of a head start.
I'm using what I've got.
Have a good night, my peeps.
As far as Miniatures goes, the Painting Pledge has been huge. Even when you consider that the only rules of the Pledge are the ones I make myself follow and that accumulating points in the Painting Pledge will get me nothing in and of itself, it just works for me.
I am so loathe to "pay" the negative points for buying miniatures, that I don't buy them anymore. Or at least not frequently. I am so eager to earn imaginary points for painting my mini's and completeing projects that I've organized a weekly painting night!
To top it all off, more than one person that we know is prone to just up and mailing me a box full of new miniatures every now and then! It does not suck to be me.
DVDs and CDs were the easiest to cut down on. We and our friends frequently loan DVDs to each other and Jill & I still have dozens that we have not even watched once yet! And there haven't been a lot of CDs coming out lately that I really want.
Almost all of the comic shops near me closed in the past few years. The only one left is on a busy stretch of Rt 126, and so is inconvenient to go to, despite being close to my house. So that means that it was easy to stop buying comics that honestly weren't all that great, more often than not (I still love the Ultimates titles, but I can get those in TPB form, preferably with gift certificates).
So that just leaves my RPG buying habits. Well, I think I've got those in check as well. Last Spring, I returned those four boxes of books to White Wolf/SSS and saved them a lot of hassle and money. They were very grateful and gave me a box FULL of hardcover RPG books!
And so these have become my "new" RPG books. When I feel like buying a new RPG book, I just pull one of these off the shelf. I like to have an RPG book in the reading room (bathroom). Sitting in my special reading chair, I've read through Tome of Horrors III, Complete Book of Eldritch Might and am part of the way into Engel. And I've still got the entire library of 2nd edition Exalted stuff to go through!
Also, also, we bought so much from the Alpha Forge booth at OGC Con (Jill bought an entire Hydrissian army), that we got a free copy of the rules which I also read.
Also, also, also, my sculpting mentor just recently sent me some cool RPG stuff he got as swag-trade at GenCon. I can look forward to reading the Hall of Many Panes at some point in the future...
Add to this the fact that I know we have at least a half dozen gaming books that I either have not read or have merely skimmed and it's baffling to think that I would have even bought an RPG book ever again!!!
But of course I will. ;)
Just not as many. And when I buy my next RPG book, it's going to be something I REALLY want. Like the upcoming Warhammer 40K RPG. But that's not due until March 07. Until then, I plan on enjoying what I've got. The really nice part is that all of these books that I've listed aren't just for reading. I'm going to play. Maybe not the exact games in the books. Almost certainly not the same system. But I plan on robbing every source of inspiration I can get my hands on. The bookshelves in my library and groaning under the weight of one hell of a head start.
I'm using what I've got.
Have a good night, my peeps.