Cels Forum

Any type of collecting produces bad feelings between people
from time to time, not just cel collecting. I think the
important thing to do is to make sure you're not the one
putting forward unnecessarily hard feelings about things.
If everyone tries to not be the person putting forward
hostile feelings, there will be much less hostility.

As far as emptying your wallet. . . I think it was said
best by the person below my post who said: "This is a
hobby." If you find yourself overspending your means on
cels, this is a problem you have to somehow address with
yourself. A certain amount of your income has to go to
necessities and only once they are sufficiently paid for
should you use some of the rest to support hobbies. Does
this mean you can never, ever overspend? No, of course not.
But if you overspend one month, you have to be ready to
make up for it the next. It's a careful balance that can
only be found by each individual person on their own,
dependant on their income.

One thing I do to prevent overspending on occasions that an
incredible (and equally incredibly priced) cel shows up, is
to keep a "hobby fund" - a small amount of money set aside
each week for really *special* things. It can get pretty
sizable if I'm disiplined about keeping it, and if I'm
truly honest about what classifies as a special thing.
(Don't think this is an easy thing to do! Cels compete with
Hard rock Cafe pins, needlework, and anime for my hard-earned
dollar. . . It's not always easy, but nothing worth doing is.)

But don't forget that another thing you can overspend is
your *time*. Any hobby that begins to monopolize your time
to the point that you're not getting other necessary things
done, or to the point that your relationships with other
people are suffering, needs to be cut back.

But basically, the point is to enjoy yourself, and if
you're not enjoying yourself anymore, then it's time to
move on.

Many Sharp Smiles,
--Drac