Needles & Grooves

A sustainable number/goal seems like it would be individually dependent on income and goal of your buying (eg collecting, listening, etc). Do you budget for want-based spending and then dedicate a portion of that to records or blindly purchase?

I made a Google Sheet a year ago for this reason. Stopped editing it about 8 months ago once I realized Discogs is good enough.

It all depends on space, commitments, and other expenses. For me, once I hit 500, that's it. For every record that comes in, one goes out.

Why did this make me feel I should do the same....
Counting 7” and boxes as 1 I’ve bought 203 this year. This is not sustainable!

Don't ask me this question.

Hahaha! You could make me feel better about my 203 though @Skalap

I started a similar list and stopped in March. I already had bought +200 records... The last record in the list is The National : I Am Easy To Find (pre-ordered and added to to the list on March 5th). Does it make you feel better? EDIT: I am wrong, there are RSD releases so the list ends mid-April. I don't feel better at all.

Yes, much! Haha!

I don't set a fixed budget - I may feel a bit irresponsible spending so much on records but generally my record spending money is money that would be allocated to fun/entertainment anyway and otherwise would just be saved (but more likely squandered).

I think the problem for me is that I'm not listening as much as I'm buying and I'm buying more because so much stuff is getting pressed and may actually be difficult to come by later. Since May I've actually only played 55 records (kept track of via the instagram).

Purchases > Spins - so my backlog keeps getting bigger and I hardly have time to revisit some older ones.

I am on the exactly same boat as you. I am buying records after listening on Sportify or following our good people here but I sometimes don't even open the shrink. On top of this, I think most the records I purchase have quite small presses and I don't want to miss the opportunities to grab one when I have the chance (J-Jazz records, UK jazz scene and other confidential stuff we share here).

I've been keeping a spreadsheet tracking my purchases this year, too. Bought about 50. When I tallied it all up and realized I could have bought myself a really nice guitar instead, it was kind of alarming. I've been slowing down, though, and I would actually recommend keeping track.

A sustainable number definitely depends on a bunch of factors, but I have in my head about a record a month. That's probably as many as I actually *want* to have on vinyl forever. Too many purchases are impulse and I don't care about them much after a couple months. Focused now on curating albums I'll likely enjoy for a long time.

I don’t even want to talk about it.

It’s got me thinking that the way we diet is all wrong. Like I’d probably be more successful and create more sustainable change in my collecting habits if I were to limit my purchases instead of stop them for a while.

I limit my purchases, your strategy won't work.

Don’t burst my bubble!!!

I am just trying to help There is ALWAYS a deal, a bundle offer, a discount code that will show up JUST when you reached your limit! ALWAYS!

Oh and sometimes this show up on the 9th of the month.

I remember when I had a spread sheet and then realizing that in my first year back in the hobby I averaged over 1 album bought per day. We called ourselves to the office and had a long talk, we curbed our spending in order to get the equipment we wanted, then went with a "Quality over Quantity" mentality.........this has helped me enjoy the hobby much more