Serious Question: How can I stop myself from buying coins?

Heres a great post by Enochian, for everyone still in high school, and a great way to get at least, one free coin http://www.money.org/explore-the-world-of-money/young-numismatists/coin-education/coins-for-as.aspx

 

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Then you're an "investor", not a collector. The OP is a collector and enjoys numismatics as a fun hobby. Personally, the only bullion I own is that received as a gift.

 

I had the same problem at a young age and Ebay was not even around. Buying becomes a habit and it can be tough to slow down. Looking back, I bought a lot of problem coins in those days.

At some point I found out that my local dealer could get me all kinds of books. For $10 to $20 I had something that gave me hours and hours of fun and study. With each book the more I learned about the coins I had already bought. Wow, I made a lot of mistakes.
Books took my mind off of having to buy coins all the time.

The cool thing is, I could make money on my library if I sold it today. Can't say that about many of my coins.

 

well i have no money so its harder for me to buy. ether stop going on ebay. or go to thrift stores and look for things you thing you could sell. buy cheap and try to make a profit buy selling lower then any one else but higher then you paid. you can also sell coupons on ebay which is all profit since there free. best thing at thrift stores are books i sold a book of morgan from 1908 i payed $1 for for $88 last month.

and my final advice is if you do bid on ebay check only ending soonest auctions or newely listed bins and for auctions only bid once or twice and leave it alone if you win then you have a coin if you dont win oh well you can always find another.

since my money is tight it takes me days and sometimes weeks to purcase any thing over $10 i reaserch the item try and find cheaper places to buy look for promo codes for different web sites etc and by the time this is all done you will no if you realy want it or not. this relates to more stuff then just coins as well. I even do this in store now. because i have had times where i got the item home and relized i didnt even need or want the item.




the last thing i do is trade its a good way to get something you want but wile trading get something you want plus something small in the deal that you dont realy need. then sell or trade off the extra item you got in the orginal trade.

 

thank you

 

I suggest you open a savings account if you don't have one already, and make a budget. If you need to, pretend you don't have your parents' financial support. How much money will you need for:
living arrangements
food
supplies
clothing
transportation
education
savings
coins

Be honest with yourself. Do a little research if you need and see what the going rate for apartments are, cars, food, etc. If you were going to divide up one dollar among all of these expenditures, what would the percentage dedicated to your hobby be? Once you figure it out, keep that percentage on hand for your hobby and save the rest.

It'll hurt for a while, and maybe that's when you coin roll hunt to get the "I need it" bug out of your system, but you'll get used to working with that percentage of play money, and be better off for it. Also, I suggest going to coin shows without any means of paying for coins. I did this, and I was able to train myself into thinking that it is okay to look and not buy.

 

Well I sort of had the same problem. How did I fix it? My wife and I are having a baby.
Now the boss really lays down the coin law!

But don't go get a girl pregnant! You're still young. I'm an old fart!


Just got my 1914-D and that will probably be my last big buy before our baby comes in May. It's amazing how expensive a baby that isn't even here yet is!

I hear you though, it's like a drug addiction but only coins. Like a few others said try selling some of your coins. That way you're still watching the bids and action so you don't get bored.

Good luck non cents!

 

ACTUALY MY COIN COLLECTION STARTING GROWING A LOT LARGER SINCE I HAD MY KID ALMOST 2 YEARS AGO

dont mind the caps

 

The best method I've found is to get involved in something else, preferably something that does not cost money. I tend to go on eBay and browse when I'm bored or while I'm watching TV. If I am doing something that keeps me away from the computer, I am not tempted to look for coins.

 

Try to sell some of your coins and you may realize what the downside is to the small purchases.

 

Well said!

 

If I had any wisdom on this matter I'd share it.

 

Good info given by all. Thanks.

 

This is my solution as I am having to make a similar shift. I have been spending quite a bit of my free money on coins lately and my current situation is dictating that its time for a slow down. This can be a little difficult as I search eBay multiple times daily via my iPhone so as to have first dibs at deals and previewing the coins. Well once you establish a habit that ingrained its often difficult to just stop what you are so used to doing.

It also sounds like many of us suffer from the 'cant pass a deal up' mentality and will impulsively buy coins solely off of it appearing to be a good deal. I know I do.

My solution has been to not give up coins completely or to really slow down for all that matter, but it is an exercise on control and in the end will have a much better result on my wallet than my current situation.

My current buying habits are to simply fill my empty holes with whatever grabs my attention and is available on the market at the moment. This often results in me buying the $50-$150 coins. Sometimes higher, but not many times under that mark for any given coin. Plus I frequently am buying more than one coin at a time. So my spending habits are all over the place.

My new plan has been to identify coins in my collection that are easily bought at $35 or less and are still needed to fill a hole. I am allowing myself to spend that $35 each week on coins, it can be one, 10, or none as long as it stays under $35. Meanwhile I am depositing $40 into the account that I use for PayPal that way I have an extra $250+ to spend at the end of the year on a very nice bonus coin. I will allow my self to save the $35 for the following week if I decide not to buy anything or would like something a little nicer, but if fail to spend the full $35.00 during each week the remaining balance gets rolled into the accruing bonus money.

I'm hoping this exercise will teach me some restraint when it comes to buying coins and also help me hone some more accounting skills by having to keep track of balances and making deposits, etc.

Also hoping to ease the all out assault on my wallet, I'm 26 and feel rushed to collect everything. I need to settle into a better, slower, more controlled groove.

 

I know that feeling. I got married last year and I knew it would be harder to buy coins afterwards, so I was really buying heavily before the wedding. After the wedding I didn't slow down as much as I expected, but I know we will probably have children in the next few years and then I'll really have to cut back, so I still feel like I need to get everything now. It's hard to collect when you are at the stage of life that you have a lot of holes in your collection and not a lot of money.

 

My little life situation dictating my slow down is my own wedding next year. I feel the exact same way and realize that the responsible thing to do is to slow down and take care of my future wife's needs and to make this wedding as successful as possible, but part of me also wants to keep buying as I see my window closing quicker and quicker as well. At least if I can cut my spending down considerably and have a little more control she might let me hang onto it for a little while longer. I hope anyway.

 

You should be allowed to have your hobby which makes you happy, but you will probably find that you have to cut back more than give it up. When you have another person involved in your financial decisions it can be harder to justify if it seems like any money you spend on yourself means less money available for the family. I try to do my eBay shopping when she isn't around and hope she doesn't notice all the packages I get in the mail, but eventually I know it might be an issue for us if money gets tighter. Growing up is tough ...

 

I constantly tell mine that at least it's a 'savings' so to speak. We can always sell some of it if things ever got tight, that's part of the reason I do it anyway. I am far better at saving silver and coins than dollar bills. Dollars are easy to spend, but I can't walk in Best Buy with a 10 oz bar and an MS-66 Walker and come out with anything important, even though there is considerable value there.

 

Spend more time at the library or borrowing books from the ANA library. Reading about coins can be almost as good as holding them in your hands. It's not the same, I know -- but I can spend hours pouring over an interesting historical numismatic book.

My guess is that when you get to college, not only will you not have a lot of time for coins, but you'll also likely be distracted by other things (e.g., socializing). I took a 6 year break from coins when I was in college and graduate school. Once I was gainfully employed, I enjoyed the return to the hobby all the more -- and was actually able to afford coins I only dreamed of owning in middle school and high school.

You have your whole life for the hobby, no need to rush it along. Take your time, and enjoy the ride!