It’s October, so no doubt you can expect to see all sorts of stories and posts about horror and scary stories … like this post from the blog Get Rich Slowly, where author J.D. dared to tread where no man should — into Quicken to see how much money he was spending on comics:

No matter how smart my money choices, I’ve made it a priority to keep detailed records of my finances. Tonight I dug through four years of Quicken data to see if my comic book spending habits have changed. (They feel like they have, but I wasn’t sure.) Here’s what I found:

* In 2004, I spent $1640.10 on comic books. That fall, I decided I wanted to eliminate my debt.
* Apparently my finances weren’t a big priority, though. In 2005, I spent $2810.52 on comics.
* My spending peaked in 2006, during which I spent $3,202.91 on my beloved DC Archives and Marvel Masterworks.
* This year, however, I’ve only spent $807.89 on comics!

My worst period of comic book spending came just before I started Get Rich Slowly. From October 2005 to March 2006, I spent $3519.34 on comics — almost $600 a month. (That money would nearly have been enough to fully fund a Roth IRA!) During this time, I was spending everything I had freed from paying off debts — and my Christmas bonus! — to buy comics.

J.D. goes on to explains the steps he has taken to reduce the amount he was spending on comics, like this one:

I purchase only those titles that interest me. This sounds like common sense, but you’d be surprised how easy it is to come home from the comic book store with a stack of Aquaman books. Aquaman? Good grief.

Common sense, sure, but how many of us get caught in the “I just know it’s going to get better next month, so I’ll keep buying it” trap with monthly comics?

Via The Consumerist, which normally focuses on money matters, consumer rights, etc. but check out the comments section for all sorts of opinions on the comic industry, the differences between manga and comics, and of course Aquaman …

This entry was posted on Monday, October 8th, 2007 at 8:20 am and is filed under Fandom, Industry, News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.