Is there a line and, if so, how/where do you draw it?

[Sloan1874]

As far as enthusiasms go, I have a CD collection that threatens to consume one end of my living room. It's funny how every time I seem to have reached a point where I think 'Hmm, got just covered every area I fancy', I always seem to find another obscure corner to mine...
However, I once heard account of another obsessive collector I know who throws my 'habit' into perspective. He used to be spotted, nigh-on every morning, rain-or-shine, standing outside a well-known Glasgow record store waiting for it to open. I think it was only when his job forced him to move that the habit was broken. To this day, it's rare that I can recommend a record to him that he hasn't heard, so he's obviously not recovering!

 

[jacketjunkie]

I am still at university and I am already past two collecting addictions. First was knives, second was watches and in both communities I witnessed the same thing as Superfluous. People who would literally eat noodles and ketchup for weeks just to afford the next custom combat knife or people who had a 3k € monthly income and would buy 50k € Lange und Söhne watches. So, where is the line for me?

The line, for me, is at a point where I spend so much money that I wouldn't be able to sort out any imaginable troubles coming my way. If you can pay your bills and put enough aside to be prepared for emergency (the usual stuff, nothing completly unlikely. Money to repair car or even buy a new one if necessary? Yes. Money to buy a new house because yours burnt down? No. That level of mess up is what insurance is for, anyway.), then you are free to spend the rest in whatever way makes you happiest and doesn't hurt anyone.

Me, for example, I am a student, I wear the usual "mid-price-section-clothing-brand-stuff", you know, jeans for 60 €, pullovers for 40 €, t-shirts for 10-20€, I eat at the university cafeteria for cheap money and I live in a 30 sqm appartment. But I own 8 leather jackets, each of which cost between 600€ and 800€ and I keep buying more and more. Seems strange at first, sure. But these jackets give me joy, wearing them makes me happy, while more expensive jeans or pullovers wouldn't do that for me. Nor would a bigger appartment. I like my appartment. And the food at uni cafeteria is decent and I'm too lazy to cook myself anyway. I have enough money put aside, so yeh, I'll keep buying leather jackets til I eventually feel satisfied and move on to a new thing. The passion for knives and watches passed, eventually this one will too. I'll find another one that gives me joy. And what else to spend your cash for, as long as you have enough stored somewhere for emergency cases?

Are the hobbyists out of their mind for spending a significant portion of their disposable income/savings on what makes them happy, notwithstanding the sacrifices they must make to fund the expenditures?

I think when you have a warm place to sleep, are well fed and decently clothed to a point where noone raises an eye at you, everything on top is just luxury. I don't think spending a significant amount of your income on a hobby is you making a sacrifice as long as the things mentioned before are given. It's just picking one luxury over another. Leather jackets over fancy foods or 200 € G-Star jeans or a Lange und Söhne over a 10 room appartment. It's luxury all the same and just as disposable all the aame and hence no real sacrifice made if you pick one over the other.

Do you endeavor to strike a balance?
Personally, I try to strike a balance by only buying one jacket every few months. This self-control results in me spending some of my cash on other luxury goods, too. Just bought a very fine pair of work boots, for example. I think with addictions and my collecting habbits are addictions, I have no illusions about that, the key is self-control. And self-control is the balance. As said above, if you have the essentials covered, I believe you should buy whatever makes you happy. But you should always have control and check with yourself that you stay true to that. When I was collecting watches, there was this juicy Grand Seiko Spring Drive watch that I wanted really badly but the 5k € it cost was a big chunk of money for back then (still is) and I started saving for it. And then, some day, I caught myself buying cheaper food at the supermarket, double-checking prices and that was when I said, nah dude, now you're taking it too far. I had started restricting me on my essentials, on food especially. I was out of self-control and out of balance. And that's where it's going too far and I knew it. So I let the thought of getting that watch go. So, that's the balance I'm trying to stay true to. Never go past a point where you restrain yourself on essentials such as food, regular clothing and other "normal" needs.

 

[handymike]

My line is $200. I have my dream jacket (thank you JC), and I funded that through an unexpected web domain name sale. My other jackets and boots have been paid for with ebay money (buying and selling). I'm covered on all my bases now, but every once in a while I fall in love...and if the fit is good...and if it's around $200, I just might bite. As others have stated: it's more about the quest/ hunt/ bartering than actually owning another jacket

 

[Doctor Damage]

With drugs, I started by smoking pot and vigorously asserted that I would never use anything more. As my drug use progressed, I came up with inane justifications to use other drugs and, before you knew it, I was a human garbage disposal... That's the progression. It's "just pot" and, before you know it, you are dropping acid.

THANK YOU for stating that so clearly. One of my old friends said the slope is a lot steeper and slippery than most people realize or are willing to admit.

 

[Dumpster Diver]

I do enjoy having no limits...go ahead and spoil yourself from time to time...indulge, I bought one Jacket this year around the time of my Birthday, its a Redskin B-3 and is my winter restoration project...Its a Perry sportswear size 42 I think. The Leather is very thirsty, and some of the thread has dry-rotted along with several spots. However, Like the Thrill of the Hunt, one of my other Joys in life is caring and spending time working on original Jackets, and handling them from time to time hopefully some of their Good luck will pass on to me. Pride myself in my collection. Spent wayyy too much on it all, but its probly worth double what I paid if it was pristine condition and I take care of it as a type of investment.


As for Dropping Acid...uhh yeah sure, why not? I will admit to being a drop-out. Do they even make Real LSD anymore? Like Microdots? always better Luck with Magic mush. Scoring Street sheets is pretty sketchy compared to Lab Grade. Squares are usually always made some kind of Natural Alkaloid Extract or tincture such as Morning Glory or baby Woodrose etc..basically never synthesized...and I would consider them to be Counterfeit hits.

Uh, ok, maybe Put it this way: Collecting Jackets are not as bad for you as Heroin.

 

[Superfluous]

Do you endeavor to strike a balance?
Personally, I try to strike a balance by only buying one jacket every few months.

The TFL definition of self-control.

 

[IXL]

All I can say is, some of you guys.........got it bad.....

 

[feltfan]

The TFL definition of self-control.

Yes!

 

[zebedee]

I'll buy an Aero a year. They have to be significantly different, though. I have 5 now. As I'm now in Hong Kong, I brought one with me for the 6 weeks of coldish weather. I think that the anticipatory time has something to do with the addictive factor, too.

 

[GHT]

As far as enthusiasms go, I have a CD collection that threatens to consume one end of my living room. It's funny how every time I seem to have reached a point where I think 'Hmm, got just covered every area I fancy', I always seem to find another obscure corner to mine...

A CD collection causing space problems? Man that's got to be some collection. Until this thread came along I never thought of myself as an addictive collector, but I do have records, mostly 45's that get played in my Wurlitzer Jukebox. Some records I have picked up for pennies, some have cost serious money, for example, I have all five records that Elvis released on The Sun label. Just as you have experienced, space is a problem, especially when the collection runs into thousands, but I've cured that by insulating the loft and having floorboards put in.

 

[I would go out tonight]

My purchases are a bit scattered, and are largely driven by curiosity facilitated by the access the internet has given to items that would have been very difficult to source a number of years ago.
I try to limit things by having only one example of each item, so one tweed coat, one wax, one leather, one pair of Trickers, one C&J, one Turnbull and Asser, one Hilditch and Key etc, etc. The beauty of the system is I decide when something is sufficiently different to be in its' own class. For leather jackets I have decided that one button up and one zipper should be the limit.
Through poor management of the system I have two button up leather jackets at the moment and am trying to decide which one is going to go. Space to store stuff is an issue and I do not like having things around that do not get used. Financially, I try to hedge by buying things that retain value so that if I want to pass it on to fund something else, it is usually worthwhile. Generally, it is a nice interest without too many frustrations and I have a few favourites.

 

[Sloan1874]

A CD collection causing space problems? Man that's got to be some collection. Until this thread came along I never thought of myself as an addictive collector, but I do have records, mostly 45's that get played in my Wurlitzer Jukebox. Some records I have picked up for pennies, some have cost serious money, for example, I have all five records that Elvis released on The Sun label. Just as you have experienced, space is a problem, especially when the collection runs into thousands, but I've cured that by insulating the loft and having floorboards put in.

I have a set of Ikea egg box shelves that can take no more, plus a corner cupboard stacked with CDs and two towers that are crammed - every extra purchase just adds to the clutter. It's got to the point where I've lost track of how many there are - my other half keeps floating the idea of selling tranches of them, but so far I've resisted...

 

[nick123]

Addictive personality +1. Just quit cigs. Not nicotine (now using one of those obnoxious vape things), but the transfer was hard enough. Was clocking in two packs a day at one point, not breathing well, constantly worrying about dying, etc etc. They're not as benign as some think when the addiction takes hold on the addictive type..Now I can wear my jackets without worrying about skunking them up, but I've also found jacket weather in Southern California to be rare. Still don't feel covered or totally fulfilled on the jacket front and not sure I'll ever be. And I'm fine with it! Life is (mostly) good and I can create my zen without a jacket of any type. It's possible. I actually prefer giving them away. I probably will one day.

 

[GHT]

my other half keeps floating the idea of selling tranches of them, but so far I've resisted...

Quite right, The Range sells a nice CD library bookcase.

 

[navetsea]

lucky I got wiser at relatively young age, that everything needs space, and everytime I want something, I can quickly remind myself, it will take space in my house, and will collect dust, and I will have to wipe it at least weekly, and my happiness would probably last few days or a week, and the burden last forever until I get rid of it. So I now channel my addiction digitally, I download translated mangascan, and tv series on my external drives.

 

[Monitor]

Specialize! Self-control is important, of course, but the single most important thing that saved me tons of time and money and kept my addictions in check is specializing.
While I could easily drool over any old jacket, I chose to pursue only one particular Cafe Racer style.
Same as with collecting guns or watches or anything else, I guess. I was into old firearms and it didn't take me long to realize I would need several million dollars to have a relatively decent collection of guns I wanted so I just picked the C96 and pretty soon I had all the major versions of it and even a few super rare ones.
It also makes you appreciate those things you're into even more.

 

[I would go out tonight]

I had a CD and book problem and have gone down the digital route. I do not really miss CDs but do keep some nice hardbacks. I do miss album covers and especially gatefold sleeves. Maybe time to re-invest in a turntable a few select albums on vinyl?

 

[Benny Holiday]

Brilliant idea for a thread. I've enjoyed reading all the responses.

I've got two leather jackets, an Aero halfbelt that's 11 years old and a locally-made R-Jays black leather Brando-style jacket that I've had for, oh, 20 years +. I also have a collection of vintage 1930s and 40s suits I wear a lot and some tailor-made copies too. But why no more jackets yet? Well, any tendencies I have towards a more addictive lifetsyle are curbed by my good friends, the NSW State government and its associate, the cost of living in the far outskirts of Sydney.

For instance, my daily driver died, so I had to buy a new car. Just to transfer the cursed thing into my name? $740. Then my wife, who works part-time at her main job, had to get a second job so we could keep up with all the bills. Come tax time, they slugged her an extra $680 in tax, because they tax the second job at a higher rate. So we shelled out $1420 in one week.

Add to that Council rates, the ludicrous price of electricity and gas, water rates, car insurance, house and contents insurance, car registration, compulsory third-party insurance (now that's a nice rort), childcare fees so the Mrs can stay in the workforce 3 days each week, income protection insurance, health care insurance . . . and on and on. By the time we cover our mortgage payments, each week we have $300 left to feed and clothe the kids, cover any incidentals like school excursions or new tyres for the car or if something goes wrong with the plumbing etc and try to save a little bit of money. Not enough to justify buying one of those nice Aeros I've tried to scrape up the money to buy for the last three years.

I also have some charities I support, including the education of a child in India and I refuse to give that up, no matter how much the government allows the greedy health insurance companies and electricity cartels to jack up their premiums every April. So those are the factors that keep my spending limited.

If you guys wanna cure an addiction, move here. You won't be able to afford one!

 

[Edward]

I have a set of Ikea egg box shelves that can take no more, plus a corner cupboard stacked with CDs and two towers that are crammed - every extra purchase just adds to the clutter. It's got to the point where I've lost track of how many there are - my other half keeps floating the idea of selling tranches of them, but so far I've resisted...

Ha, have you ever had the "we could transfer it all onto a hard drive" / "It's not the same!" debate? I remember when an ex-girlfriend once suggested we sell her (one, cheap) guitar and my beloved Fender Strat (US Std, 1994) along with a few others I owned and "buy one good one we can share" (it obviously having slipped her notice that I play left handed....). It's not the reason she's an ex. It should have been, though.

I had a CD and book problem and have gone down the digital route. I do not really miss CDs but do keep some nice hardbacks. I do miss album covers and especially gatefold sleeves. Maybe time to re-invest in a turntable a few select albums on vinyl?

Mp3 and such are great for convenience; for sticking in the dock in the kitchen or taking music on the move with me, I'd never go back to the era of mixtapes and a cassette walkman. That said, for me a big part of the joy is the physical object, and I do collect music. I've got around eight copies of one album (the original London cast recording of the Rocky Horror Show) on CD, bought purely for the various covers on them. Vinyl is still the king, though. There's nothing quite like the ritual of setting up the turntable and putting on a real record when you want to actually sit down and listen to music - something I often feel I don't do enough anymore, with music so often relegated to background noise rather than primary entertainment. Seriously, pick up a used turntable, a seventies-era stereo receiver, and some decent speakers, you'll be surprised at the sheer joy it brings back (not even accounting for the vastly superior sound quality than mp3).

 

[Edgar Laurel]

When I started this topic, I honestly had no idea where it would go. It has, and continues to be, a fascinating read.

As many here know, I am sober 33 years. I mention this because it illustrates a key component of my personality -- I am an addict. Drugs ravaged my life for several years and ultimately resulted in my incarceration. Although I was able to eradicate drugs from my life, and continue to so do daily, I have not been able to cure the addictive component of my personality. Fortunately, my subsequent addictions were not illegal, did not harm me or those I love, and I never spent more than I could afford on my subsequent addictions. That said, I am the first to admit that I spent ridiculous amounts on my addictions that defy rational justification. Moreover, many of my addictions follow a similar path as my prior drug use. With drugs, I started by smoking pot and vigorously asserted that I would never use anything more. As my drug use progressed, I came up with inane justifications to use other drugs and, before you knew it, I was a human garbage disposal. Similarly, with watches, I started with pieces that cost less than $10,000. However, as my watch addiction progressed, I kept moving the bar higher and higher until I was buying watches that cost as much as a house. Likewise, with poker, I started with a 2/4 limit game. I then moved to a $100 no limit, then $500 no limit, then $2,000 no limit, then no cap games. Two nights ago, I played in a game with enough money on the table between all the players to buy a house. My sports car / horsepower addiction has taken a similar path. There was a time when 300 horsepower was more than adequate. My most recent car had 610 HP from the factory, but I had to add a supercharger to reach 800 HP. My addictions also include several types of clothing, including leather jackets, jeans, flannels, t-shirts, sneakers, etc etc etc. Thus, I freely admit my addictive personality.

FWIW, I keep a "play fund" for all of my addictions that I fund through my poker play (yes, I actually make money). I use this play fund for all car modifications, clothing purchases, watch purchases, etc. This way, my wife does not complain that my expenditures are taxing our finances. To the contrary, she loves that I never use our regular funds on clothing or car mods. I don't use any of my business/work/investment earnings to fund these purchases.

Although I have never cured my addictive personality, I have kicked certain individual addictions. For example, I no longer use drugs. Likewise, I no longer buy watches. By comparison, leather jackets are considerably more affordable.

The foregoing works for me . . . for now. That said, I will likely have to continue adjusting and fine tuning my approach in the future, particularly when I retire.



A leather jacket wraps around you and keeps you warm. A sports car gets your heart beating fast and your adrenaline pumping.

Don't know why. But I would read this a dozen times.