Cutting Back – Part 1

And I don’t mean on the posting…because if I did anymore, that would be like dividing by zero.

Lately I’ve been thinking about making a few changes in reference to my purchasing habits. Honestly, this has absolutely nothing to do with the current state of our economy. I really think I would have come to these decisions even if I had won the FL lottery.

Anyways, I’ve decided to cut down and/or eliminate purchases in the area of entertainment and media. Please note all these purchases fall within my monthly, budgeted “entertainment” fund. In other words, I’m not looking at ways to cut down on “impulse buys”. That isn’t a problem. Since I’m only allotted X amount each month, that forced me to pick and choose only what A) absolutely wanted and B) could afford. And if I wanted something that was out side my range, I had to save from one month and rollover to the next.

Now I’ve come to the conclusion that I can cut back even more, starting in these two areas: video games and movies. I’ll start with the least drastic of the two.

Video games:

I had already cut back to trying to limit my purchases to used video games. It has worked out well because I can get an additional 10% off used games with my Game Stop card (yes, that corporation is the devil…) and you can stack that with their weekly coupons. Not a bad deal. The only downside that you typically have to wait six months to a year before the awesome games drop below 50% of their original retail price.

But I realized the other day that my game collection for the Wii and 360 was beginning to stack up with games I haven’t beaten yet. Part of that is my fault. I’ve always had a bad habit of buying a game, getting about 75% of the way through, and then I get sick of playing it or something else catches my eye.

My goal here is two fold: to actually finish something I start and get my money’s worth.

For starters, I’ve removed all but seven games (from each system) from plain sight. Those games are now stored in the family room closet. The remaining seven games are composed of the following: a game or two that Kari enjoys playing (she’s my casual gamer), one or two party games (i.e. Rock Band), and the rest are games that I need to finish playing through. Once I finish a game, I can swap it out from another in the closet that I haven’t finished yet. If I do happen to pick up a “new” game, it goes to the bottom of the closet unfinished queue.

I’ve been following this system for about a month now. So far it has worked out fairly well as I’ve completed Mass Effect and Aces Combat 6 (I hadn’t played that since I sent my 360 in for repairs). I’ve been trying to hack away at Assassin’s Creed but I really have to take that game in shifts (stupid flags). It has also helped me realize that I don’t need to purchase a “new” game because I have some at home that I need to finish. This has been especially beneficial in keeping me from coming home with a brand new copy of Grand Theft Auto IV. Must…fight…the…urge…

So there you have it, Part 1 of Cutting Back. Stay tuned for my next post where I’ll unveil my plan to cut back on buying DVDs entirely. Yes, it is that epic.

PS – There’s a Woot Off today!

X-ray of a python that swallowed a cat.

Hell of Sand.

The Kansas Rectangle claims 30 years of a man’s life.

Ship Wreaks and Sea Disasters.

Dino Run.

A brick wall nearly toppled over in London last night – luckily, Kelly Osbourne was there to stop it.