Dolly Math

Oh yes, I'm aware how much I spend. In fact, compared to food on groceries/eating out and whatnot, I'm more aware of my expenditures with my dolls than my normal everyday expenditures (I'm trying to change that, too!).

It's also true that when I think how much they cost versus how much normal, practical things cost, yes, I guess you could say that it's impractical spending. However, what my mother has always told me, and what I believe, it's not what you spend, but what you can afford and what you value. So if you can feasibly afford it within your budget and it's something that you deem of high value to you and your life, yeah, I believe in spending money on it.

Not to say that I don't experience buyer's guilt (especially directly after buying a doll), but in retrospect it's money well spent. Now I'm focusing on budgeting out my expenses for things other than personal purchases!

 

Around $750, but I'm just getting started.

 

When I moved recently, I had all my dolls with me in two bags. Five dolls and a head. About $2500 worth of doll on my body, hanging from my shoulders.

Then there's still $1600 worth of doll that I haven't received yet.

I will guesstimate that as far as wigs and clothes and remnants and such, I have spent around $600 or 700 over the past 5 and a half years.

That's nearly $5000. I mean, by the time this year is up my dolly collection will be worth about that amount. BUT that's not how much I've spent. My parents bought my Cyndy as a get well/birthday/Christmas present, and Dali was also a gift, so roughly $1200 of that was money I did not spend. Still ... that means I spent over $3500 on my own. And most of it in the last year. Yayyyy jobbinz. (Cost of living in Tokyo is high, but I don't go clubbing or drinking and I don't eat out. Tada! Savings.)

Sometimes I do think about how I could have saved all that ... and people accuse me of wasting money. But those people have expensive cameras and cars. So I try not to listen to them.

 

How much money have you spent on BJDs all together?

If I'm not already trucking towards $3000, I'd be very much surprised.

Did you realize until now how much, in total, you have spent on this hobby?

I've got a rough idea of how much I've spent on my dolls in the less-than-a-year I've been really into BJDs but I'm not really bothered by it. There are way worse things I could be spending my money on. I don't have any vices, like smoking or drinking.

 

Hm, I couldn't give an exact figure, but it's probably hovering somewhere above $2000 at the moment? I know I've spent over $1000 on the dolls alone (including default outfits & faceups etc that came with them), but adding up all the other bits and bobs is tough, all the individual pairs of shoes and eyes and wigs, etc etc... Especially since it's been over a two year period, and since I don't live in the US I can't always remember whether the amount I had in my head for a certain purchase was in USD or AUD (and the AUD has fluctuated a lot over the past two years, between a low of about 60 cents US and a high roughly equal to the USD). When I really thought about it, I probably have spent a bit more than I realize on my dolls (I would have estimated probably $1500-$2000 but I'm pretty sure it's over $2000 by now). If I buy the two dolls I'm wanting at the moment (and clothes, wigs, etc for them) then the amount will probably roughly double.

But... I can afford it. I'm not a student, I have a full time job, my husband earns a good income, and we're certainly not living from paycheck to paycheck. In fact, I've spent more on lolita clothes for myself than on dolls so it's not even my most expensive hobby. Sure, there are probably individual purchases I regret- like an outfit that doesn't fit right or eyes that I don't use and could probably sell on, but on the whole I don't regret the money I've spent on my dolls. Realistically I probably would have ended up spending it on something or other anyway- clothes, food, books, DVDs, etc. If I divide an estimate of $2000 over 2 years (it's actually been a bit longer than that), it works out to about $2.75 a day (which might be a cafe coffee, a candy bar and bottle of soda, a cute hairclip, etc) or just under $20 a week (which might be a cheap dinner out, a DVD, a book, an import CD, etc). When you think about it, it would be easy to spend that much money on things like snacks and magazines, but I feel like I'd have a lot less to show for it in the end!

 

Eh, well I know exactly how much my collection's currently worth but I enjoy them and I'm not spending outside of my means so it doesn't bother me at all.

Honestly though, threads like this always just strike me as "oh hai look I've spent waaaaay more than you~ nahanahnahnah" anyway because I'm pretty sure that most if not all of us are very much aware of exactly how much we're spending, it's not a cheap hobby and we all knew that upon entering it. If you enjoy your dolls, does it really matter what else you could have spent the money on? Unless of course you're neglecting bills and such...

 

I've got a lot of random mix and match clothes and shoes so that I can't even guess at what I've spent on those, but for the dolls themselves, wigs, eyes, and their "signature" outfits, it's about $2640. Truth be told, I'm surprised. I'd thought I'd spent a lot more over the past two years.

I really don't mind it. I have a steady, well-paying job and very few expenses at the moment (I was a student until recently and am currently living at home. I pay rent, but it's low), so I'm enjoying having hobby money while I can (don't get me wrong, I'm not draining my savings! ).

Anyway, if it weren't dolls I'd be buying videogames. And at doing "doll stuff" gets my butt out from in front of the computer once in awhile!

 

LOL I am like you; I started in May. I just realized that I am at over $1800, but that is before clothing, faceup supplies, wigs, shoes(is there anything as cute as shoes for tinies?), furniture, dishes, and other props-including a pirate ship for my tinies. I don't think I will add up the rest. I will just keep playing.

 

How much money have you spent on BJDs all together?
Right now I'm at about... hmm... only $450US. That includes pretty much everything including shipping and taxes. But that's all for one Yo-SD sized doll (including accessories) and an SD head. Granted, I haven't done much customization yet, so the total isn't very high.

I also didn't include the Soom Alk I'm getting because I didn't spend anything on him. My mom bought him as a birthday gift for me. But if I DID include him, that would bring the total to:

$797US

Did you realize until now how much, in total, you have spent on this hobby?
Yeah, I did. I'm still under a grand too! XD Though after Christmas that total is going to skyrocket. ^^;

 

I used to keep very good track of what I'd spent...but then I just stopped because it's kind of better not knowing, lol. It's probably $2K-$3K nowadays, but I can't be sure. The math is much too difficult and confusing at this point. I resold and bought dolls with the same money repeatedly...I think the same $350 went through 3 dolls before being put down as a deposit for an apartment. XD And when I got it back, it probably got put into something else.

I think as long as you're having fun, and you can afford it, it's not a big deal. I mean, people don't usually sit down and add up all the money they've spent on restaurant dinners or shoes or CDs/DVDs/video games.

 

Coming into the hobby I had just spent ~$800 on my first doll alone :S Clothes and wigs and eyes probably another $200. So $1000 for now but I'm planning on another (at least) $900 for an Irvin and ~$400 for a YoSD. Curse you Volks for your really really ridiculously good-looking resin.

 

I've spent a fair bit, but not nearly as much as some others. My collection is very small because I have been in and out of some very tight financial situations; I was duped into a long flat lease by an ex and so for a while spent more than half my year's working income on my rent. I couldn't really justify the purchase of luxury items when there were so many other things I _needed_ to maintain my body. I am now in a better financial situation and have happily rejoined the community.

 

I've spent roughly $3000 on my four (plus one I sold). I don't keep track of what I sell, as usually money I gain through selling dolls doesn't go back into my hobby so... Yeah, about $3000 in total.

Do I regret it? No. Am I surprised? No. Do I care? Not one bit.

I love my boys and at the end of the day, I'll happily spend whatever money I can on them so long as I can pay my bills.

 

Hm...probably more than my husband would care to think about. ^_^"

I have to say though, since I discovered BJDs I hardly spend money on anything else anymore and it has made me realize all the silly things that I used to waste money on. Now when I pick up something I think, "I could put the price of this toward a BJD...and would I miss not having this thing?" Answer: usually "no".
So while I have spent my chunk of money on BJDs, I think it's given me a good priority gauge in my overall spending. I know what I do want, and that means that I have to save for it. And, of course, the price of everything else I used to buy does not make its way to my BJD fund...but I'm glad that I have a system for thinking about it now. ^_^

My dolls give me a lot of joy. I don't think I've wasted my money.

 

How much money have you spent on BJDs all together?
On dolls alone without accessories it's close to $5,300 dollars, that price include the $300 that I just spent on my LTF Ante and the $1,200 that I'm about to spend on my dream doll, a Volks Ruby. With accessories I have no idea, most likely under $250 dollars because I buy my clothes and wigs cheap or I make my clothes.

I've earned $3,500, so I figure I haven't done that bad. That and I'm going to spend next to $2,000 one dolls next year because I have three more that I want, two that are $480 and one that's roughly $800. Tanned resin is going to be the death of me.

Did you realize until now how much, in total, you have spent on this hobby?
No, but I'm pretty sure people would be upset. Because for some reason people in my family feel my money is there money, but that's a different story all togehter.

 

How much money have you spent on BJDs all together?
I keep a spreadsheet detailing everything I've bought for my BJDs, including eyes/wigs/clothes/shipping. This comes in handy as I'm learning to instill discipline and a budget in all aspects of my life. The total for me is $797. I have two dolls and one more on the way with that total, so not bad at all.

Did you realize until now how much, in total, you have spent on this hobby?
Yes. I've started the spreadsheet when I realized I wanted to get into this hobby. It is still a startling sum to me, but I've spent more on other things. Ask me if I've totaled up all the manga I've bought over the past 5-10 years? Ask me if I've totaled up all the DVDs, books, clothes, dinners out and movie tickets over the past 5-10 years? I think that total would knock me out. XD

And, I am the kind of person who plans a purchase, saves and then buys. So, each time I plan to buy a new doll, the total will be added in without regret or remorse. *smile*

 

6-7000 alone on the dolls not including the thousands I KNOW I've spent on clothes, shoes, wigs, accessories.

And yes I'm well aware of how much I've spent in the last 3 years, and completely aware that I totally could have paid my car off over a year ago if I hadn't spent the money on dolls.

 

I'm at about $1200... With none of my dolls being very well dressed yet! I expect it'll top out at about $2000-$2500.

I'm definitely aware of the cost and keep pretty good track of what I'm spending. I have to as a grad student!

 

I'm coming up at the end of my first year in the hobby, and I've been incredibly lucky that I haven't had to pay for either of my two dolls (well, one is still on his way). They've been presents from wonderful people who know how wishy-washy I am about making large purchases.

Outfitting them, however...I've still been rather frugal. I've commissioned two wigs for a total of $50 and bought faceup supplies for about $40. All clothes have been handmade except for a shirt and a pair of boots totaling $15, and I've bought one pair of eyes for $6. Other small incidental costs included, I've maybe spent about $150 on doll-related things in the last year.

Of course, this will all change once I buckle down and finally buy a doll myself. ^.^;;