Sunday, January 3, 2016

Expenditures, Gaming, and Blogging for 2015

Expenses 2015

My friend Tim tracks his gaming expenses monthly on his blog. I've never done this in the past, but it seems like a wise idea to have a better handle on hobby expenses. So, here's my (probably over detailed) attempt for the past year:



Obviously, my use of the logos/banners of the companies whose products I have purchased in the past year is in now way intended to imply any infringement on their trademarks, copyright, etc., or endorsement on their part, but IS intended to indicate my support for, and endorsement of their products!

January - $289.78
Lancashire Games (Prussian Landwehr and Grenadiers)  138.18
Renew Old Glory Army Card                                               50.00
Perry (DB Carabiniers, Wurzburg, Italian Clergy, Flag)    101.60

February - $284.10
Old Glory  (Lots of Napoleonic Prussians)                       284.10



March - $31.63
Litko Order (Bases)                                                                31.63

April - $139.09
Amazon (Dice for Die Fighting II)                                  $92.16
Joanne's (Felt for "Ancient" table covering, Ribbon)       $27.50
Michael's    (Birdhouses [Towers], Paint)                                              $19.43


June - $246.60
Old Glory (100 British Napoleonic Cavalry) 246.60

July - $550
Historicon Purchases ( Misc 141, Sash & Saber guns 78)  $219
Hotel, Gas, Tolls, Meals   $331


August - $74.05
Digital copy of To the Strongest!  9.99 GBP  = $15.69
12 decks large index playing cards, 100 poker chips (Amazon)  $41.38
1 8.1 L Really Useful Box   11.99
1 Locktite Ultra Gel  4.99

September - $115.60
Litko order (Bases, Markers Tufts, Pin Vise)   $115.60


October - $65.93
Michael's ((Foam sheets x 23, Craft paints, Micron Pens, Acrylic Spray x 2, wood discs) $42.66
Joanne's (12 x 6 feet of Turquoise Blue Felt for Naval table cloth)  $15.27
Galleys and Galleons PDF  $8


November - $259.30
8 Really Useful Boxes    75.42
GMB Flags for British Troops   63.88
Masses of Macedonians (bought from local gamer)               120.00

December - $179.20
Murasaki Order ( 36 Baden Infantry, 18 Polish Uhlans)  $179.20



2015 Year Total = $2,235.28

Wow, that's considerably more than I expected; close to $200/month. However, I painted (and purchased) a LOT this year due to the rather late decision to run Ligny at Historicon, and I also took advantage of a number of unique sales, and of course the Old Glory Army Card.  I have until the end of January before that expires, and will place another order with them before that to get the most mileage possible out of it. The non hobby costs of attending Historicon are also considerable (and I keep them very low by sharing a room with Tim, and using the Carlson hotels discount program), but Historicon is a highlight of every year, as well as a big driver of painting! I expect 2017 expenditures to be much lower, certainly not averaging over $150/month and hopefully closer to $100/month. How about you?

Games Played 2015

September: Rome vs Carthage with To the Strongest!
October:  Battle of White Plains with FoB2
November: Semiwitz with FoB2

Convention Games Run 2015

March: The Katzbach, with Snappy Nappy
April:  200th Anniversary Watrerloo Campaign-in a Day, with Snappy Nappy
July: Ligny with Field of Battle, 2nd edition  x 2
July: France vs Prussia with Die Fighting II
July: La Biococca, with Hostile Realms

Both the hugely successful Waterloo Campaign in a Day and Ligny were very big, and very rewarding projects. Still. I fell somewhat short of my plans and targets on the gaming side - probably due to too much time spent painting!  :-)

Blogging 2015

94 posts, a bit less than last year, but still 2nd highest yearly total for me.
107,731 Page views for the year (a fair amount by Russian/Ukrainian bots, it seems), highest ever. Along with current work, I'm also enjoying posting and cataloging the many elements of the collection that predate the blog (often by many decades). The Blog exceeded 400,000 page views all time as of late December, 2015. Amazing! I need to update the links in the Napoleonic Painting guides section again with the posts from the past 4 months.

The Unpainted Lead Pile

I haven't (ever) tackled cataloging this, but as I think of it, I really should. No, I haven't finally lost my sanity (my wife might disagree, of course). It isn't too bad. Really.  Seriously! However, it is probably at an all time high after the unplanned purchase of all those 2nd hand unpainted Macedonians from Edgar! It does help with planning projects, though, as well as restraining future purchases to know how much of what there really is "out there". We'll see!  My estimate is that it has ballooned to about 800 figures, and I will add another 100 or so more to the pile from the upcoming Old Glory order by the end of January.  Even with a good painting year like 2015, that's almost 2 years of painting.  I'd better get busy!

29 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Good God, man! The first part of your post is sheer public madness. I track expenditures too and your average monthly ordering costs seem quite reasonable (to me!).

    Does your wife read your blog?

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    1. She knows it exists, but I doubt if she would even know the site, no less has ever read it. I have no secrets from her; besides, she pays the monthly CC bills, LOL!
      My hobby is cheap compared with our dogs!

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  3. I would never ever calculate or indeed record in public (ie for wifey to see) my gaming expenditure !!!!!!!! A braver man than me :-)

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  4. My wife loves to see me buying figures. It gives her an excuse to indulge in lots of expensive baubles herself...

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    1. Much the same here, plus a fair number of my purchases go right into the closet for future gift giving opportunities! :-)

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  5. My wife reads my blog, (sometimes?), there's no way I'd put the amount I spent on there, you're a braver man than me!

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    1. Not really, but I do think myself that last year's total was too high to go on every year!

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  6. Might just get away with cataloguing expenses in this way, but would certainly have to leave out books and boardgames or she would kill me.

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    1. This year, books were minimal; certainly not true in some other years, though! Board games are usually not a significant expense in my case. None in the past year for me.

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  7. I think its best not to think, never mind record what you spend on the hobby.
    Books Ive bought, could feed a family of five for a longtime.

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    1. LOL! I'm sitting here looking at a huge number of volumes myself. If it meets the budget, I'd like to get Arnold's books on the 2nd half of thee 1809 and 1806 =- `1807 campaigns.

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  8. I started to publicly track my expenses after I reached the high point...now I can keep telling my wife about my % reduction :)
    It has made a big impact on my spending and lead mountain...no new purchases until I finish the Pirates currently on the painting table.

    Happy New Year to you all.

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    1. Hah, clever fellow! :-)

      To tell he truth, I am pretty sure this year was a high end outlier myself... and if it wasn't I am pretty determined to make it so!

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  9. I think your purchases look quite reasonable to me Peter. 2015 was meant to be a year of "restraint" for me, but I really wouldn't like to go back into it in too much detail. 2016 is definitely going to be different though...

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    1. Thanks, Lawrence. It is good to know that I am hardly alone in the magnitude of my hobby spending... or in the intent to curb it a bit!

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  10. Hi Peter. I leave my expenses filed and only to be released 25 years after my passing...for the sake of not bringing forward my demise! Looking forward to many more wonderful posts in 2016.

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    1. LOL, Carlo! Of course, there is that wargamer's creed (? delusion) that you can't die if you ruin out of unpainted lead - or is it the other way, that if you run out, you're apt to pass on?!

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  11. Excellent idea. Actually logging purchases may also help to stem some frivolous asides. I am going to try this myself!

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    1. Yes. I think it does help make us a bit more circumspect in our buying if we have to give an account of it, even if just to ourselves!

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  12. I'm reluctantly concluding that I should follow a similar discipline. When my wife asked me what I spend on my hobby, I looked at my feet and said "Probably less than what I'd spend if I player golf". Not the best answer.

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    1. It's probably true, but without numbers neither of you really know. Even if you keep them confidential, at least YOU will know!

      I understand why my numbers were high this past year, but even I think that is too much year after year! We'll see how I do for 2016...

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  13. Good grief! though I must admit I am about to adopt a more stringent limit on the monthly credit card bill :)

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    1. Yes, I do fully intend to come in MUCH lower for 2016, although I'll start the year with a substantial Old Glory order soon.

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  14. Makes me feel better about my spend and you are to be applauded for keeping those suppliers in business. I found I spent more before I came out and said how much I spent to my better half, since then my spending has tailed off, of course there is a substantial pile to paint once that's at least reduced I'll allow myself to spend again
    Best Iain

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    1. Hah! Yes, in the end honesty is the best policy, I think. My lead pile is not that large, and never has been, so I do paint up the majority of what I buy within 1-3 years. I really do think that it is time to do a inventory and a running Tally of that as well. I may have to force myself to learn effective use of spreadsheets!

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  15. Let's hope for more games and a bit of unpainted pile reductions for 2016!

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