Budgeting for dolls: How much do you spend a year?

i try to put 1/3 to 1/2 of my pay into savings every week, which adds up really quickly. I budget for my weekly bills (fuel, etc) and put the rest into savings. I don't spend money on anything unless I absolutely have to or if I'm having one of the days where I feel like spoiling myself. As for dolls, if I have the money in my account with enough left over to have as rainy day money for emergencies, etc, and it won't completley drain my savings, then I buy the doll. Clothes, wigs, etc come as a weekly basis if I get a decent pay or if I simply feel like it. I just don't let myself go overboard.

 

I buy one doll a year(unless I sell one, then I get 1 new one and 1 to replace the one sold) and have no set price. In 2010 I didn't buy any dolls so in 2011 I want to buy 2.

 

Hmm... My first doll was bought off someone I knew personally, so I had an indeterminite amount of time to save up for her, which I did. I worked out how much I could properly afford (income - bills and neccessities etc) per week, and waited exactly that long before I bought her.
I've always been a scrooge when it comes to my money, so I don't find it hard to budget. I've come across a few dolls (SOOM is a HUGE culprit for testing my determination and bank account) that I've had to really sit and think about can I actually afford it, or am I just trying to justify it. But usually if that happens, I sit and daydream for a few minutes, then close the browser window and go on my merry way. The only exception was when I bought my Puki Sugar - Lissa. I bought her from the marketplace, and she had only just been put up when I found her. She was so cute and I fell in love immediately. Fortunately I happened to have the required funds on hand, otherwise I would have given her up too.
Needless to say, I don't spend a great deal on my dolls. I prefer to sew or make everything for my girls, and I think I've spent a grand total of $15 on clothes for either one of them since I bought them!
That said, I've just gotten myself a new job, with better pay, so I'll have more to spend on my girls... and perhaps a guy to join them soon! (I promised Caitlin that I'd save and get her boy home once I'd had my new job for 6 months... we'll see how my will power holds out with my bank account filling as fast as it currently it!)

 

I don't really budget specifically for dolls, but I do try to be careful about my money. I can generally afford the dolls I want, but I know I should spend my money on other things, like paying down my student loans and such. So every month I have a standard amount that I can keep--everything else goes toward my bills, savings, and paying down debt. Out of that standard then I have to weigh dolls against other things I might like to do/buy in a month. Nothing for a doll will ever touch my credit card. Also layaway is nice, because then I don't spend as much each month and having a doll on layaway makes me think twice about ordering other dolls.

But I do only order dolls I really love and who fit a character...and lately those tend to be limited editions with short ordering periods! I've just really gotten into this hobby and paid down the starting costs in November, and already I've been soomed twiceI'd like to think after this new layaway I'll slow down a bit. I want to sew clothes for my dolls rather than buy and I'm going to fall drastically behind. And as others said before, I want to take more time to develop each doll and really appreciate them.

 

I dun have a budget for my dolls which is an extremely bad thing. I just started this whole BJD thing less than a yr ago and I do not even want to think abt the monies that I poured into this hobby. The LE dolls, clothes, shoes, wigs that i spent on give me the chills.

But i totally cut down on my other spending. I no longer buy bags, shoes, clothes etc... save for the occassional pieces when I really need new ones. I do not own a car, no dependents and liabilites, except for a housing loan in which mthly instalments are out of a compulsory savings account set by my country's government. But sometimes I sit back and thought: I could have saved these monies for something more practical.

Im gg change things this yr. No more impulse purchases and new dolls unless I really really cant get them out of my head. And only one size of doll is allowed for now so that I do not have to spend money on different sizes of clothes.

 

I don't really have a budget that I set in place. I'm at a point right now where I try not to spend "outside" money in the hobby. This means that if I want a doll, some other things from my collections have to go to fund it, or I have to earn the money from another hobby, like selling my needle-felted animals or something.

 

My doll budget is straightforward. No money = no doll stuff. I'm an impulse buyer something bad. Cutting off my cash flow is pretty much the only way to get me to stop. Embarrassing, but true.

 

I spend far far too much, but I make a fair bit off the dolls doing faceups and sewing, so I dunno, it almost evens out, I have also managed some beyond awesome trades in the past to get the dolls I want and love, so you never know, maybe I am coming out ahead

 

Like Nefla, I only buy one doll a year, unless I have no money. Last year there was nothing I wanted to buy, this year money's tight. Depending on my fundings my next big doll-related expenses will be in 2012. I also have a set budget, I'm not crossing.

Perhaps I'm a bit strict, but I know what a money-pit this hobby can be and I don't feel comfortable spending more than that on anything.

 

I'm sporadic with my spending, some times I'll go months and month without buy a doll thing. Then other months I'll spend a huge chunk onfmy monthly wage on doll stuff. I just bought two dolls, joined three group orders and I'm saving for another doll. before that I hadn't bought a single doll item in about a year!

 

Some years I spend more and some years less. One year, I only bought a few tiny ones. I don't actually budget for them. When I have some extra cash and no other pressing needs, I consult my wishlist and may buy a doll. If I happen to have a windfall, I might buy two small ones or one big one. This is my only hobby so I don't spend much on other things.

 

I don't really have a budget as such; my first few dolls were bought with a sizable bonus from work. Others were bought with some of my redundancy pay. Some were bought with inheritance money when each of my grandparents passed away. I sold some dolls which enabled me to buy others. Sales of doll clothing paid for a couple of dolls.

My disposable income comes to about £150-£200 a month, which is enough to do a 2-3 month layaway if a particular doll comes up in the MP. Otherwise my money mostly goes on crafting supplies, some of which will go to make more BJD clothes for my Etsy store - which in turn helps fund my hobby.

 

The doll or items depends on if I have to budget my money or not. Frederick required an insane amount of budgeting, because he was so expensive. At the time I made about $130-$155 a month, so it would have taken forever to pay off to my mom. In the middle of his processing, I got hired at Wal-Mart. During Christmas, I earned like $500 in a two week period so I paid him off easily. Now I make about $400 a month, which still makes it easier to budget dolls. But right now I have a laptop and a con to budget for. After that I can plan a bit more for the Pong Pong I want.

As for how much I spend, I try not to spend too much. If I just bought a doll, I'm not going to buy another right away. I'm going to focus on other purchases.

 

I feel like I've gotten into this sort of cycle/habit where I can't go without making a doll-related purchase each month... I usually wait for winter/summer events to buy dolls, to restrict any big purchases, but in the mean time I go crazy with clothes and accessories. >< I think I got too many dolls last year, so this year I just want to get a body and that's it. Must. Control. Impulses.

 

I too dont budget for a doll. Being that I havent even been at this for a year, I dont have a yearly total. But if my current route is any indication, then it will be more than I care to admit. But then again, the joy of admiring them is worth that total! The only thing I have found myself weak at is I promised myself I would not purchase more than one at a time. If I was to have a doll on layaway, then I would finish that layaway before considering another. Sadly, with regards to this level of self control, I have failed.
But I am only human!

 

I usually spend have 100 dollars a month for doll's, so I either spend it on clothes or save for limited stuff.

 

I don't budget, i buy what i feel like buying :P . I rougly spend around 5000 per year on dolls and clothes? :X

 

Lets see....in 2010 I sold some Disney merchandise to buy two Dals. Then Fairyland released photos of Pukifee Luna, and fell in love! so i was able to get her as a christmas gift. Then I fell in love with Pukifee Pong (Who i turned into my girl, roux) and for Christmas, my boyfriend and dad both helped me to get her! And then I got my pirate tan lati belle from my mom for christmas from someone on flickr SO this Christmas i got lucky lol! So all i actually spent was for wigs, shoes, and clothes.

However i am currently saving for a blank Chloe Minifee to be customised so she will cost $365 blank, then about $90 for the custom faceup and eye lashes, and then clothing...so she will be quite expensive. I will get her, and also save after her for the next Pukifee release which i will buy if i like the doll

so i dont even want to think of the money im going to spend :P

 

Honestly, I never budget for dolls. When I do buy one, it's usually because I have an extra stash of cash lying around, that doesn't need to be spent on something else (like rent, why do I have to be grown up?). I mostly just buy clothing or supplies for the ones I already have, so less than $200 a year?