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On the other hand, I have a special wall display for minifigs I greatly care about, mainly due to nostalgia.
As an example, I've been a grad student with the minimum salary for the last 7 years, with no family riches or millions of dollars laying around beforehand. And yet despite that, I was able to survive, save money, AND most of all, get all the modulars (bar the very first two), all of Overwatch, 2 super fancy Technic supercars, all of Galaxy Squad, a bunch of City sets to fill up the modulars, tons of road plates, a few Ideas sets, tons of trains, enough Star Wars to build a good platoon, and ALL of Vidiyo (that one series that's so overpriced). All that, and it's quite a lot, within the last 3 years.
So without judging people, I really wonder where people waste their money so that they can't even select a few lines of Lego and keep up. I can't imagine how people who don't have to pay tuition on top of their minimum salary can't save up enough for their personal hobby. It's worth the few sacrifices: it makes you happy and increases your quality of life so much.
I did some quick math: since I don't drink coffee, beer/wine, and don't smoke, it ends up saving, if I use a low estimate of 20$ per week for coffee, 20$ of alcohol a week, and 10$ for one pack of cigarettes a week, something close to 2500$ a year. That's a LOT of Legos, plus one healthy lifestyle by skipping on those other things... And it's not difficult to get the same amount by cutting slightly on other indulgences.
In a couple weeks I'll be making my annual trip down to my local Lego store that I worked at as a second job for 4 years which helped pay all of that off, and treat myself to the Space Shuttle Discovery. I've gone down on Columbus day each year since I stopped working there, but only make it down once, maybe twice the remainder of those 12 months. I've been looking forward to the Disco; the modulars are the only sets I regularly keep up with these days. I don't have money to frivolously throw around with 2 kids in daycare, a shed that just got reroofed, the HVAC/AC/Hot Water Heater that was recently replaced, a car to pay off, a patio we just put in, a 95k home addition hopefully soon, a wedding in Tennessee coming up, and any number of adult things that cross my path. Heck, I just spend 70 bucks on a pair of toilet seats yesterday - and apparently could have spent almost triple that. And something tells me you don't yet appreciate how quickly you need to replace those rapidly-growing children's clothes.
For the kids, I'll give you some points there. I don't know quite all the expenses that come with it, and I'll give to you that daycare can be expensive. HOWEVER, as far as I know, you can't make kids alone, so the game changes quite a bit when a second salary enters the picture. And as is my main point, having kids is also a choice. You decide entirely when you get them (bar some very dark cases we won't cover). If you decided to get kids when you couldn't provide for them, complaining about LEGO on a forum is probably a bit of a waste of your time and you should be doing something else...
I wrote my first message on this topic exactly because it's an unpopular opinion, and that I'm a minority in all regards, even more so that I've been student debt free for years already. My minimum salary can alone provide a decent apartment, cover food for a small family, and potentially even get a single car for transportation of said family. My partner's salary goes entirely to luxuries, even if it's also a minimum salary. It's not as hard as people let it believe. Sure people have different realities, but the average person can make smart choices and build up a life at the proper times so that things fall into place properly. I chose to spend some of my "scarce" money on Lego for multiple reasons, the loneliness during the pandemic not helping, but let my testimony be an example that you certainly can afford Lego even during those "tough" times as a grad student. And in a few years I'll come back and see if life really gets all that much harder money-wise, once I get a stable partner and kids...
My life situation has some similarities to Phoenixio. However since many years ago, I decided not to compare the detail of what money has to be spent on in life generally, to what’s budgeted for Lego, on our forums. There will always be someone that seems to have a bottomless bank account out there, but there will also be someone that does the best they can with just a simple mixed box of old Lego. Not a massive fan of generational put downs so I wouldn’t want it to come to that.
On Mayorca’s original subject I agree in most respects. But I still try to collect some things in full where possible - CMFs for example. I’ve built up a big Star Wars collection since 1999 but I’ve never intended to own all the sets and only buy the ones that interest me the most nowadays. I am trying to get all the VIDIYO sets and tiles from the first waves though. There’s your unpopular opinion - I still really like that theme but it’s primarily for the designs and minifigs rather than the app compatibility for play.
Most Lego city layouts are boring.
Many layouts I see online have the same formula: a handful of modular buildings, some themed sets like Haunted House or Sesame Street, a Sanctum Sanctorum, a train and/or monorail around the outside edge, and some filler vehicles and minifigures.
I honestly get much more excited by custom layouts and dioramas with a story that you can follow, than seeing the same few thousand dollars in official sets sitting stoically on some tables.
I bought my 1st car 7 years ago, I was in my mid 30's. You think things are a choice and your right but there is a point where you have to realize things become essential. For me it was when my son was 3 and we loaded his stroller onto the bus and I was pinned down by the groceries tearing off my wrists. When you have children you will realize the necessity of being able to get them to the doctor fast should the need arise, or being able to get them faster to pick them up from school. There is a time when I would argue a car becomes a necessity. Also not every city has good transit and most towns don't.
For starters you can purchase apartments aka condos in cities.. You may not be responsible for repairs but fact is when I rented I paid twice as much for rent for a place that was half the size of my house, I'll take my mortgage and repairs any day. There is also the building wealth factor.. I prefer to pay into myself and my families future rather then flush that money down the toilet with landlords/rental companies. Always buy whether it is an apartment or house once your able (unless it is now with the housing bubble, your in Canada too and that is bad lol).Phoenixio said: This made me laugh so hard.. My 10 year old the condom broke... My wife had a IUD put in so this would happen and low and behold as of this week I am expecting my 2nd. Choice lol.. Life is full of surprises and your view is very young.. As you get older you will learn nothing can be 100% and to roll with the punches. As for the IUD check the odds, I had better odds of winning the lottery yet here I am with baby #2 on the way.
I work for the federal government, I have worked for the government long before my kids where born or cars where bought.. Like your thinking I choose times to save money to progress but have always made a good living. My kids will always be provided for including there tuition and living as I do not want them to be held back by the debts I had to deal with when I was younger from school.
Last but not least people will always gripe about cost, if we don't then companies will become less competitive and we will pay more and more.. You live in Canada too, have you not ever thought that you where being taxed to much??
To the others arguing against my case, I understand that there can always be surprises. Broken condoms cases exist (although I could argue that they chose to perform in a duo instead of solo, risks included...), but part of my point is that we're told so young that the college/university phase sucks, then that the first job part sucks, and so on... So far I've gone through those with relative ease, passed through the "debt" phase properly, managed to survive well, all while coming out of my dark ages... So I'm curious to see why each next step is always considered the worst... Maybe I'm underestimating things, but maybe I also did things right too. Who knows. I'll give you an update in twenty years, so hold on until then, I should have a testimony on the house/kids part by then! :P
The other problem with flying lessons was that I'm just about too short to reach the pedals and see over the instrument panel, even in a teeny tiny Cessna 152 ....
I don't have an unpopular Lego opinion. I think I'm fairly mainstream in the things I like, Lego-wise. I'm sure I'm far from unique in that regard. Although I do think I couldn't muster up the space or the energy to create a decent Lego city. I'm not sure that's an opinion though...
I drink tea, probably 4-5 cups a day. To think if I cut that out and just drank hot water instead I'd be able to buy myself one SW battle pack every six months.
For the board games, I suggest you visit boardgamegeek.com, it's the biggest database on board games in the world, and once you figure out how to use it, you'll be able to find the games you want, in the style you want, with any prerequisites. Finding games when kids are involved can be tricky, as you need something that will hook them without being too complicated. If you want to try D&D without investing into it too much, I'd recommend trying Castle Ravenloft (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/59946/dungeons-dragons-castle-ravenloft-board-game ), or any other in that series, as they are official D&D-based board games. Should give you and your kid an idea about liking the genre or not. I'd otherwise look into The 7th Continent for a good exploration game, Maximum Apocalypse for rogue-like rpg-adjacent post apocalyptic games, or Heavy Hitters, if you just want to enjoy huge pre-painted mecha battles. There's also Primal, an upcoming munster-hunter semi-rpg that could be worth checking...
I can’t speak for everyone but building my very own LEGO city was a childhood dream born from pouring over and over on all those amazing setups in the catalogs. Seeing it everyday gives me immeasurable joy as I suspect others similarly feel about their own layouts no matter how big, complex or custom they are.
And In my experience, a city layout never stops evolving as you continue to tweak things in between the less frequent major redesigns. That’s one of the best parts about being able to build a city. I’ve probably fully redesigned things 4 or 5 times before finally settling on what I suspect is my final general vision.
And when I started out, it may have been a bit boring to some with mostly modulars and some road plates. But I kept building and adding and building. Laying down train tracks. Ripping up train tracks. Over and over. Even after the first few designs, it was still mostly just a thoughtful organization of actual LEGO sets. Those who know me know that I’m a big collector but haven’t really MOCed since my childhood. But then, years and tweaks and full redos later, I started to create.
I built an ocean with waves and a beach. Then came BURP Mountain, followed by a custom extended hospital, and a farm, and a Taco Shop and a Pizza Restaurant. And then I managed to take my rails off table and declining elevation to a wall bench train yard. Then I built my first inclining tracks and ocean bridge. Four months ago I added an elevated Metro rail. Four weeks ago and after many, many BnP and PAB orders, I added my first custom building to the modular rows, a 16x32 high rise office building.
It might be unpopular, but I love LEGO cities, in all shapes, sizes and complexities. Because I know that so many of us are chasing those childhood dreams. And because I know that even the smallest, most generic LEGO city brings someone so much joy. And because I know that tomorrow, or maybe this weekend, that LEGO city is going to change again (through addition, subtraction, reorganization or customization) as it continues its journey to become what is was always meant to be.
My desire to own anything Town dwindled as every make believe game we played revolved around his spaceships coming to town, blowing stuff up ("Aliens are masquerading as citizens! Quick, bring out the laser guns!") and then flying off.
I'm not bitter. But it has left a mark...
FWIW, I got bought Space stuff eventually, but it was the bases, not the ships I got. I finally got spaceships when my brother got bored of Lego, but that just meant I had no-one to fly my ships around with. He was rather jealous of my L&S ship though #6780 - made me smile. For a while.
Just because people are from the same generation it doesn't mean they are in the same boat. Some might be smarter, while some might not be too bright. Some might finish computer engineering and land a good paying job immediately after graduation, while some might finish gender studies and be practically useless in the real job market.
It's obvious that the first one will cover his loans quicker (if he is willing to do it, of course) and have a more sustainble lifestyle than the other. I'm not saying this is the case for the particular folks that were debating, but there can be so many circumstances affecting this context that both of them could be right from their respective positions.
Poeple's contexts are so very different, starting from their initial social status, personal abilities and ending with own intelligence. This leads to some people being able to being better managers of their own lives than others. For example if the poster you are refering to did pay off his loans so fast, i doubt that future expences that might creep up will affect him too much, as his financial gains are expected to grow as well.
I just see lack of empathy on both sides. One could understand that others might have a lot more expenses, or lower income or a combination of them.
Others could understand that some might just have it better either income wise or expenses wise.