I can't eat pins... how much to do you spend on pins every month?

So I am moving tomorrow to Austin from Dallas, so it's going to cost a bit and have to make sure I have enough for first month of rent, but then I realized, how much did I spend on Disney pins this month. I know I spent all the souvenir money at Disney World just on pins (as well as my lunch money) and now too scared to tally up how much I spent on eBay and pickups. New to pin collecting so I probably should have some more self control because I can't eat pins... ^^;

Hopefully it's just this rush from a new hobby that has been in such a pin buying mood, but just curious, how much do you all set aside for pins every month? Do you have a little jar you put aside money in just for pins? Let me know

I try not to spend over 50 dollars a month, of course when I see a grail group for cheap I buy it a consider it my monthly dose of pins.

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The way I curb or set my pin budget is...If it is not related to Halloween or Ghosts; Hatbox, Hitchhiking, Lonesome or Skeletons/Skeleton dance, MNSSHP/Mickey's Halloween party I usually refrain from buying. Although there is the occasional Nightmare Before Christmas pin that I have scattered in my collection. It's tough, I was a lot like you mentioned in your post in that I just bought whatever pin caught my attention when I first got involved in the Disney pin hobby. But that cools off I think once you find what you really want to collect or what theme(s) or character(s) interest you.

I know how you feel, I had the exact same thing about two months into pin trading! I spent a lot on pick-ups to trade and had a lot of pin mail come in. Now I do fewer trades (or build bigger ones to save on shipping costs) so I spend less per month. I try to anticipate when I am going to the parks or any collectible fairs and give myself a budget to spend on pins depending on what is reasonable for me. You could try and do that and see where it takes you

It depends really. There are somw months I spend nothing on pins. Other times there's a pin or two or three I pay someone to do a pick up on. This month though was an exception. Fantastic pins at DSF and a trip to DLP. I'm taped out on pins! But, normally I'd say $50 a month is normal, especially since I go to WDW pretty frequently.

Thanks everyone for your stories. Yeah definitely think I went overboard this month, but I will let myself slide since this was a first time and I haven't spent money on myself for impulse buys in a while, I will just consider this park of my Disney vacation expenses

Yeah I think for the future I will limit to $50 or less per month, but only on pins that are a good deal.

I know just how you feel.

I have bipolar disorder, and when I'm in a mania, I have a definite shopping problem. Pins are the worst because they're so easy to buy on Paypal and eBay.

I don't allow myself to keep a credit card (even though I'm in my thirties) for this reason. At least with my debit card, I am somewhat forced to keep my spending limited to what I have in my checking account. There are still months when my savings account takes a hit, though. :-/

$50 is a good ballpark figure for me, too... Months that I splurge on a "grail" or more expensive pin (something over 50), I try to cut back financially in different areas, and vice versa. (For example: I treated myself to a few new items of clothing this month, so I only spent $12 on pins. Last month, however, I was in a mania, and ended up spending close to $200 on pins, most of them fantasy. And now I'm realizing I probably should not have even spent $12 on pins this month. :lol

It definitely can be an expensive hobby!

Another thing you can do when choosing your budget is to look at the other things you spend money on, and see what you're willing to cut back on. I used to spend a LOT of money on books, but when I started pin trading, I realized that I can check 80% of the books I want to read out from my local library. Now I go to the library several times a month, and only buy books if none of the libraries in my area have them - and even then, I try to buy used. Saves me a fortune. (Works for lots of movies, too!)

I think people are scared initially when you first start collecting/trading on how much money flows out. You need traders to be able to trade for pins to add to your collection and you also buy a few pins here and there. It can add up really quick, a few hundred dollars per month but eventually it will be a point where you find yourself not getting anything at all as the new releases are not related to your collection and have enough traders to trade for new releases instead of buying them.

I try to limit myself to $50. I can usually stay in that budget, but not always... I also try to focus on organizing/displaying the pins I have so I can enjoy them more. I have only been to 1 trade-event, and it was nice seeing everyone's pins in binders, but when I'm at home, I want them out to see/display. I find I spend less $$ during the months I'm focused on creating a pin-board. I'm also trying to just complete some collections/sets rather than starting anything new. By doing this, I was able to save some $$ and complete one of my sets!

The first rule about Pin Collecting is, you don't ask how much you spend on pins.

Remember, that on a board like this, you are talking to people across a wide spectrum of age, income levels, and are at different points in this game of Life. When this pin trading thing first started, I was 24 years old and it was hard to watch people posting an endless supply of grails they had acquired, while I could afford to spend maybe $100 on pins during vacation and maybe $50 a few times a year. Now that it's 16 years later, I can spend more when I want to. In the past it was probably about $100 a month, but this year has been more like $600 at once to start and then about 5 months later another $300 and only a single pin or two inbetween. And I can go on vacation, with basically no budget, just get what I want. But my husband is now well established in his job (and not laid off 3 times which we had to deal with when we were younger), we are no longer trying to save for a down payment for a house, and we have no kids so there is a lot there that we don't have to budget for.

Like you said, eating is important. And so is having emergency savings, proper insurance, retirement savings and a whole list of "grown up" things that have to come first. I've seen too many people find themselves in a position where their only option is to liquidate their collection...in like a week or a month. It has to be so stressful, and then knowing the time constraint means you may not get fair value. 80% of the pins you want, will still be available at either the same price or cheaper! a year, two years, five years from now. So slow and steady, don't overextend, and your collection will grow into something just as beautiful.

I used to spend a couple hundred bucks a month on pins. But I haven't bought a pin in almost two years now. I've got several collections where I need just 1-2 pins to complete, but haven't seen one for sale ANYWHERE. And none of the new pins interest me at all.

I don't really have a set budget because I will always buy what I cant trade for and I make many trips to the DSSH and when I get to go to WDI I am breakin the Piggy Bank stocking up on great traders.
On average, 2-300 a month on keepers and 2 - 300 on traders.

ahhhh....just spend it all, who needs to eat! looky...looky at all my shiny pins!! :rofl: