Comic Budgets vs. Comic Readership

[BobBretall]

So it looks to me like it is a matter of trying to maximize the revenue from each active comic book reader... making sure that he has enough choices so that he runs out of either money or time but never runs out of comics to buy!

That's a great quote, Frank!

[zack kruse]

1: Do you budget by dollars or number of titles?

Dollars. But, I'm pretty flexible--especially if there are a bunch of trades, hardcovers, or collectibles that I really want to get. Although I generally try to stick within a a general budget, but I have no compunctions about going outside of it to try a new title.

2: Do you budget by week or by month?

Monthly.

3: Do you budget based on when the comics are ordered or when the ship?

Ordered. That's the time when I see the amount of money that is going out and it's the easiest way for me to get a hold of just how much money I'm spending. But, if I were someone who just strolled into the shop every week without pre-ordering, then I would likely budget on a weekly basis.

4: Do you budget separately for comics versus trades versus hardcovers?
Nope. I order them all together as it is and I have plenty of space built into my monthly budget to accommodate any extra trades and hardcovers.

5: Do you include things other than comics/trades/hardcovers in your budgeting?
I have space in the budget for collectibles--but I don't always use it. So generally that money just doesn't get spent or is used on extra trades or comics.

6: How much do you budget for comics?
$150-200 per month for my complete order.

7: Do you have any particular comics that you exclude from your budgeting?
Not generally, but there have been instances where there have been multiple big ticket items being offered in a particular month. In those cases, I just "made room", as it were.

8: How hard of line do you put on your budgeting? (Is it okay to go a little over or not?)
I really try to put a hard line on it--but I regularly find myself going a little over

[HassanT]

8: How hard of line do you put on your budgeting? (Is it okay to go a little over or not?)

Tough question because it's a new imposition. But I'm very disciplined so I suspect I'll be able to do this with ease. I hadn't really spent much money on back issues for years until the podcast world re-ignited my passion two years ago; so it'll just be like going back to how I operated three or four years ago.

I feel that the comics podcasts, along with DCBS, has increased the number of comics I purchase and read every month. Before podcasts and DCBS, I was spending at most $100 per month at a LCS. Now, there are months where I spend over $300 at DCBS.

I need to start to cutting down for the time being. With the economy being as it is, I want to increase my savings/ cash reserves. Previously, I didn't say I have a budget, but now I trying to keep the next order under $150.

Hassan

[aSh]

1: Do you budget by dollars or number of titles?
I Budget by dollars, but alow some room for expensive relases such as Omnibus or Absolutes.

2: Do you budget by week or by month?
I buy through DCBS, so I budget monthly. I try for $150 a month, but I use that as a round figure, so that on expensive months can go over budget, while light months can very under. So use the rainy day budget.

3: Do you budget based on when the comics are ordered or when the ship?

Ordered.

4: Do you budget separately for comics versus trades versus hardcovers?
No.

5: Do you include things other than comics/trades/hardcovers in your budgeting?
I don't really buy toys or collectables. I am only intersted in the stories.

6: How much do you budget for comics?
$150 a round figure but I stay between $90-200.

7: Do you have any particular comics that you exclude from your budgeting?
I would break my budget for Rick Remender (which probely won't happen.)

8: How hard of line do you put on your budgeting? (Is it okay to go a little over or not?)
It's ok, I can resell anything I don't really want to keep.

[Just Bill]

1: Do you budget by dollars or number of titles?

Definitely by dollars.

2: Do you budget by week or by month?

Orders are placed monthly, so that's how I budget. I also have monthly shipments.

3: Do you budget based on when the comics are ordered or when the ship?

Ordered.

4: Do you budget separately for comics versus trades versus hardcovers?

Nope, they are all a part of the comics budget.

5: Do you include things other than comics/trades/hardcovers in your budgeting?

No, usually if there is a toy or statue or something that I want, that is in addition to my comic budget.

6: How much do you budget for comics?

My budget has been shrinking quite a bit lately. A year or two ago it was between $150 to a max $200 a month. I then tried to cut back to under $150 if at all possible. Now I'm shooting for $100 a month. It's a hard number to hit, but now I've sort of come to the realization that I am really enjoying the comics that I already have - re-reading Next Men, SiP, the Ultraverse titles, etc... between that and my two longboxes of unread material that's building up (not counting trades) - so I'm rethinking what I order in the first place now. My current order looks to be about $70. That could seriously be a record for me.

7: Do you have any particular comics that you exclude from your budgeting?

No.

8: How hard of line do you put on your budgeting? (Is it okay to go a little over or not?)

As you can see, I usually have a pretty large "zone" that I consider a budget anyway... but I've been known to go over. Again though, with my current mentality concerning my comics already in hand coupled with the economy, I'm less likely to go over budget than ever before.

Budgeting has always been hard if/when an Absolute or something pops up on the order that month... I wind up finding out how attached I am to certain titles when that happens.