Do you write a dolly budget?

There was a time when I had a doll budget, but I spend far more money than I'd like to admit on BJDs, so that no longer exists.

 

I do! Sort of. It's rare that I have much to spend, but when I do, I keep track of how much is in my PayPal account and how much is in my husband's bank account (I don't have my own account, so if I want to spend cash online, I have to put it in his account), then subtract as I buy things. This is really only necessary when I have a large amount and need to be sure I'm not cutting into his money by over spending or forgetting what I bought.

 

I do and I don't. If have a little extra leftover, well that just has to go to the dolls. Lol

 

I don't have a dolly budget anymore but my husband and I have set a limit to how much we are allowed to spend on hobbies a year. I track how much is spent each year till I reach my spending limit. Mostly we pull from the part of our budget set aside for trips and dinners out and movie tickets and the like and from any money we get as gifts from friends and loved ones. Last year I tanked my dolly money pretty quickly. The year before I didn't even spend half of what I was permitted!

 

I take any multiple of 5 that's left in my bank account at the end of the work week and add it to a separate savings account. If I have $20 I'll take $15. If I have $6 I take $5. It's my own weird way of budgeting :/

 

It depends on the doll really. I know I didn't budget AT ALL this year (I'm talking three new dolls). The most recent secondhand doll I did budget a bit for, I did (am currently at the time of this writing) a short layaway, so that I hadn't completely drained my bank account, but she is a rarer doll and I knew there wouldn't be another chance at her. That being said, once she is done being paid for I will be a little under where I would like to be as far as money goes, but I can always work overtime where I work so XDD

However, I will DEFINITELY budget the rest of this year. Doing what I did is not something I would recommend.

 

I made a budget before buying my first doll because of the amount I knew I'd be buying and because I didn't want to end up getting confused and doubling up (i.e. buying multiple wigs/shoes/clothes of similar styles). I made a list of everything I liked organised by genre and picked my favourites out of that list within a budget of $1k. Along with the doll, I ended up ordering three sets of eyes, seven full outfits, eight tops, two bottoms, three pairs of shoes, and four wigs, so I'm sure I would've made a mess of something if I hadn't drawn up a budget for it, hahah.

Now that I've set up a basic wardrobe for her and finished going through a bunch of bjd catalogues I've settled into just checking for new products every so often and I'll probably just buy anything that I like as they pop up. I do only budget a portion of my income to luxuries and leisure which I keep in a separate bank account, so my spending is limited, though!

 

I budget for everything. I have a couple hobbies and I don't like to miss out on one of them because I overspend on another. Every time I get a pay check, I open up an excel spreadsheet and split my funds into bills, saving, spending, dolls, figures, and a few other things. Whatever is left over from the bills gets placed into the other things but every section gets a little money placed in there so it accumulates over time.

This might mean it takes longer for me to get a doll but it also means I can enjoy my other hobbies too.

 

I budget -heavily- I also tend to plan ahead a whole lot. If there are doll purchases that need to happen (ie. someone needs new shoes) I will note it down and then prioritize accordingly. I also save up a lot in advance for upcoming releases, if I know a doll will be coming up that I'll want to buy, that is.

That's because all my hobbies are a bit heavy on the wallet though. Between dolls, video games, anime, manga, literature and smaller collections such as my figures and TCGs it tends to get pretty crazy if I don't allocate funds properly. Pretty much everything has gotten a backseat to dolls ever since I got into the hobby but I'm still actively pursuing my other hobbies too, just to a lesser extent.

 

I wish I budgetted! But I tend to listen to be impulsive and listen to my heart more than my brain. There have been a few times I've had to cut back on important things like groceries because of a doll

 

Not really. I know i'm barely into the hobby yet, but i just save what i can in a seperate account and see what i have when the month is over. I've always done that :'D it's.. Not always very efficient. I have a sore habit of just buying things. I love things. Things are nice!

I should start doing what you do thought. Maybe i could afford more beautiful items.. Hmm.. Food for thought for myself here!

 

Oh, I gotta budget xD My current place in the life is very much a budget place, and a place of acquiring doll items in slow motion. (It's kinda nice though because it's challenged me to get creative and make my own things. I've developed a stubborn "I can't spend so much on that, I could learn to make that" streak regardless of whether or not that is actually true lol) I do it in a notebook too~ Separate from my creative doll notebook though because it kinda harshes the art buzz. MATH.

 

Yes, I do budget for them. I set myself a limit on how much I can spend per month on hobbies and other inessentials, so all my dolly-related purchases come out of that. As much as I love my hobbies, they rank very last on my list of financial priorities

 

@NekoNyanMew I'm with you, here.

I actually started a separate savings account so I could keep it out of my main. Funnel a small chunk of change into it every month, automatically, so if I want to purchase something I have to stop and check to see if I /can/. Otherwise I nickel-and-dime myself to death ("Oh it's just a $9 pair of eyes! oh it's just a $20 dress! Oh it's just a $100 wig...!")

That said, hence the citation, I have a baaaaad habit of breaking my own rules. Drain the account and oh I just need a cushion of $20~...that said having a visible amount there, at all times, has helped me cut back on a lot of it. My monthly fun budget!

 

Oh I 100% write up a budget as a finance major in college and even before that I budgeted everything to track where the money goes. Since dolls are so expensive it -to me- doesn't make any sense not to budget it out to determine exactly what I can afford safely.

 

I started the hobby just saving as much each paycheck as possible for dolls, but recently when I started getting into layaways I really calculated things out over pages and pages in a notebook! Making sure I could afford payments, that I'd work enough hours each week, each month (I'm a student so my availability is limited), and that I could still afford the necessities that I cover (gas, food when I'm out, car maintenance costs, school books/supplies, etc.). I wouldn't say I write a dolly budget, as I'll pretty much spend whatever on dolls if I have the money for it But in regards to clothes, I'm a fashion major and I know clothing construction, and what I don't like to sew myself. So I know what i'm willing to drop more cash for and what's worth it for me. Most of my calculating goes into the resin purchases, not clothes.

 

I just fold my dolly budget into my regular household budget. I buy my dolls on layaway so it's easy to just figure in their monthly payments along with everything else that needs to get paid. I purchase their clothes, eyes, wigs etc. with my ordinary personal spending money...in other words, if my dolly needs a dress that month, I don't buy myself a pair of shoes.

 

I do when it comes to obtaining a doll and the initial necessaries such as a face-up, wig, eyes, eyelashes and first complete outfit. After that I do not keep track of my purchases for the particular doll.

 

Eh, not really...well not most of the time. I've gotten to the point that the money that doesn't go to bills or into my savings account is what I can spend money on without guilt! And whatever that is I put some aside for doll stuff. Once I actually get to wanting a sculpt than I start really putting a budget together and scrimping and saving each little piece that isn't going to something else hehe