How much do you spend on Lego? Tips on buying?

lego187 · October 2015

I am in my last year of high school and would still love to buy Lego. I want to know how much you spend on Lego out of your budget (percentage wise) and tips on buying, so I can continue buying.

Aerros1 · October 2015

Don't worry about what others spend. Spend what you can afford after paying your bills and putting some away for emergencies.

As far as tips go. See if you can get a toys r us credit card. Shop there on Thursdays and also currently on saturdays. You get 10% off. Also you can stack the monthly 20% off coupon with it. Take a picture of it on you're phone and show the your phone each time. With this method you can only save 30% on one item at a time.

Devastator · October 2015

Omg, i would never encourage a high school student to take out a credit card and go into debt to buy lego. Personally, if i want a set, i work it into my monthly budget or set aside an appropriate amount each month until i can pay cash.

sweetness34 · October 2015

Devastator said:

Omg, i would never encourage a high school student to take out a credit card and go into debt to buy lego.

So you're saying don't use plastic to buy plastic.

tecjam · October 2015

Don't do credit cards! Full stop!! That s*it is evil. Ever wonder why it is so easy to get one?

Save and spend as much as your budget allows you to without having to live off a 20kg bag of potatoes for a month (unless of course you are happy to do that).

If you have a budget plan for each month, work out how much you could put aside without having to lower your living standard, or see if there is something you could manage a little better / spend less on each month.

Most sets are hardly *must buy* sets if you think about it. And those that are *must buy sets* to you you should place on a wishlist and wait and see when the oportunity arises to purchase. Wait for good offers don't impulse buy!

vwong19 · October 2015

Budget? Does that include buying a house to fit all the Lego in ones collection? I suppose I personally spend about $200/mo if I would guess. That is probably how much I spend on gas and maintaining an automobile...

Lego/toys would probably account for ~5% of our income, but I have 2 young boys.

Now if I project that to 2016, will that cover what I aim to buy?
- CMF: $4 X 16 X 3 = $192
- Mixels: $5 X 9 X 3 = $135
- Modular building = $160
- Super hero set: $50 X 10 = $500
- Holiday sets: $100
- Train: $200
- Ghostbusters: $350
- City: $50 X 5 = $250
- Speed Champion: $200
- SDCC: $200 X 2 = $400
- Star Wars = $200
- Minecraft = $150

Total ~ $2850

I do sell some of my new and used sets that I don't want anymore, so that helps to make a dent in the Lego budget. I've phased out many themes my kids have no interest in (i.e. Hero Factory, Cars, Duplo, Ninjago) and replaced them with ones they actively want (i.e. Minecraft, Speed Racers, Mixels).

On on a limited budget I would manage your existing collection to help acquire new sets.

CCC · October 2015

There is nothing wrong with credit cards, if you budget properly and stick to it, paying off the card each month. In fact, you often get many benefits using them - so in the UK, it is possible to get a few percent cashback (I get about £8 per month doing my normal spend using a combination of two cards), plus we also get purchase protection ("section 75") if using a credit card.

Bricklover18 · October 2015

There might be times where you might not be able to afford it at all.

paul_merton · October 2015

Nothing wrong with credit cards if you use them sensibly. If you only spend what you can immediately repay, then you actually end up better off (at least here in the UK; usually you get some cashback, as well as additional consumer protection, and you would never be liable for fraudulent losses).

bluedragon · October 2015

^Same in the US and in most places, I would think.

Yodalicious · October 2015

Credit cards are not evil. You can't blame a piece of plastic for the fact that people have self control issues.

(Unless that piece of plastic is LEGO. Then I totally take back my statement.)

Oldfan · October 2015

As you're just coming out of high school, now is the time to set yourself up for the future. Once you graduate from college or trade school or whatever and get a steady job, I highly recommend you put 10% (or as close to that as possible) of your income in some type of retirement account, either 401k from work or an IRA yourself. Once you have this established, then you can start budgeting for LEGO. Trust me, you don't want to be awash in LEGO but have nothing saved for later!

That said, if LEGO is your passion, even when you're in school you'll probably find a way to cut back on other types of entertainment to make sure you have a little money every month for LEGO. But as others said, don't go into debt for your hobby, and make sure to put something aside every month for retirement once you have some income!

TheLoneTensor · October 2015

paul_merton said:

Nothing wrong with credit cards if you use them sensibly. If you only spend what you can immediately repay, then you actually end up better off (at least here in the UK; usually you get some cashback, as well as additional consumer protection, and you would never be liable for fraudulent losses).

Very true, and credit card companies mostly care about you, not the retailers, meaning they will be on your side in most cases, putting the onus on the retailer if a problem arises (at least that's what I've found in the US).

A note about this. If you don't have a card with decent points or cashback, you are using the wrong card. Using point cards and paying them off every month is one of the easiest ways to make money on this planet.

brumey · October 2015

i spend too much. but cant stop!

MrShinyAndNew · October 2015

I'm going to agree with almost everything said here. Lego is a great hobby but it's expensive and you must budget for your life first. It's fine if you prioritize your Lego spending above all other recreational spending, but first you need to manage your important finances. Just-out-of-high-school is the best time to start saving for retirement. Also it's a good time to go into debt to fund your education, but not much else is worth going into debt for. That, and buying a house.

Once you've got the essentials covered just spend whatever's left on Lego. Don't worry about trying to keep up with what other people are doing. Everyone's priorities are different and we don't all buy/build the same way. Some people buy "sets" and keep them as intact as possible. Some people never buy retail Lego and instead just buy parts on Bricklink. You need to figure out what approach works best for you.

Also, don't worry about "must-have" sets. As a child, it's possible you'll miss out on certain things. For a few years, after the first Millennium Falcon retired and before the 2nd came out, there was no Millennium Falcon. I'm sure some kids missed out on getting a Falcon, because they entered their dark ages before the next one came out. But as an adult you have time to wait for a re-release. Not every set gets re-released but there are always great new sets that will fill the niche. Missed out on the Horizon Express train? Odds are a new train will come out in the next year or two. Etc. Just be patient and don't waste your precious cash on old sets. Often the newer sets are better designed anyway: Lego's designers have learned a lot from the AFOL community in the last 15 years.

Finally, re: credit cards: Definitely use one that earns points as long as you never, ever carry a balance. Always pay it off each month. Pay it off each day, if that helps you budget better. (I used to pay my credit card bill online when I got home from making a purchase). If you pay off the card, you'll get free points and pay no fees/penalties. As soon as you carry a balance you're screwed. Don't ever do that. Chop up the cards if you can't stop yourself.

Averhoeven · October 2015

Agree with the comments about using a card and paying it off. I have 2 cards I use that give me decent cash back (well, my Amex gives cash, my Best Buy gives Best Buy credit which becomes free money the wifey won't touch at a decent rate). Either way, that money is free money to me. The secret is to never carry a balance over month to month or you immediately lose the value of that free cash (and likely more).

bluedragon · October 2015

Still on the credit card issue...

This doesn't work anymore with the low interest rates post-2008 BUT before that, when you could easily earn 6% interest on 2-3 year CD accounts, I used to make quite a bit of money on credit cards.

It works like this:
1. open credit card account with at least 1 year of 0% promotional APR on purchases.
2. max it out.
3. use the cash you would have otherwise spent on the purchases to open a CD account.
4. make your monthly minimum payments throughout the promotional period.
5. close CD account and get your money + interest.
6. pay credit card.
7. enjoy the interest courtesy of the credit card company.

If you have good credit you can be earning interest on tens of thousands of someone else's money. Something to consider for the next cycle...

It requires discipline but it is very satisfying!

madforLEGO · October 2015

tecjam said:

Don't do credit cards! Full stop!! That s*it is evil. Ever wonder why it is so easy to get one?

Save and spend as much as your budget allows you to without having to live off a 20kg bag of potatoes for a month (unless of course you are happy to do that).

If you have a budget plan for each month, work out how much you could put aside without having to lower your living standard, or see if there is something you could manage a little better / spend less on each month.

Most sets are hardly *must buy* sets if you think about it. And those that are *must buy sets* to you you should place on a wishlist and wait and see when the oportunity arises to purchase. Wait for good offers don't impulse buy!

As absurd as it is, in the US you must have lines of credit to increase your overall credit score. The higher the score the more likely you can afford a car and a house later in life. If you do not have any credit to your name sometimes it is harder to get credit lines later for items you may need, at least in the US. Crazy I know, but judicial use and payments of the card will allow you to use and increase your credit score.

CCC · October 2015

^ That is apparently the case in the UK too. It is better to have credit history showing you can normally pay it off, rather than no credit history. Perversely, having a perfect credit rating can deny you some credit cards. Obviously they prefer you to miss the odd payment, as that's when they make money.

Tkatt · October 2015

I only spend money that I won't miss. Since you asked here is my best tip.
I have a method to get about $20-$30 of Lego free every month. Bing Rewards. I never see it mentioned, so either people aren't aware of it or just don't want to bother with it. The Bing search engine has a built in rewards program that gives a point for every 2 searches you do. You can exchange the points for various rewards, but the best one is $5 Amazon gift cards. You are allowed up to 5 accounts per household, I only use 4. Doing searches on your PC will get you 15-20 points a day. You can also get another 10 points for mobile searches. So between 4 accounts I get about $1 a day. It may not seem like much, but it adds up. In the past couple years I've gotten about $400+ of gift cards, and therefore about $400+ of free Lego.

It takes a little bit of work at the beginning. You'll need a Microsoft account for each Bing rewards account you set up. You'll also need an email account to set up the Microsoft account.
Here's the method I've used. Create 4 new profiles in Google Chrome, along with a gmail account for each. With one account go to Bing and sign up for the rewards program. It'll have you sign up for a Microsoft account and then Bing rewards, that should be about all you'll need for the first account(it's been awhile since I've done a new one so some details may have changed) Now you should find a link that says "refer a friend" click it and find the lengthy URL that looks like this
( https://www.bing.com/explore/rewards?PUBL=REFERAFRIEND&CREA=RAW&rrid=_7ed4b7a2-16f0-9776-30e6-6efd1690c84a ) email this link to your 3 other new gmail accounts and then sign up for Bing rewards using that referal link. You'll eventually earn even more points for that first account.
The reason to use separate chrome accounts is to avoid having to log in and out of separate Bing accounts, since chrome and Bing will remember your log in details.
A few other tips-
You can do 30 searches in under a minute if you
1. Disable search suggestions
2. Enter a long search term or a random bunch of letters
3.Use tab to highlight the search terms
4.press the right arrow key to put the cursor at the end of the search terms
5. press delete to remove one letter from your search
6. press return to do a new search
7. Get good at this pattern of key presses and finish 120 unique searches in under 5 minutes a day
8. Don't try and use a bot or cheat to do the searches- they are able to tell and will ban your account

The link I put in above is a referal link from me, use it if you want, or not.

Good luck

TheLoneTensor · October 2015

I'm exhausted just reading that :)

Aerros1 · October 2015

Devastator said:

Omg, i would never encourage a high school student to take out a credit card and go into debt to buy lego. Personally, if i want a set, i work it into my monthly budget or set aside an appropriate amount each month until i can pay cash.

Not everyone Who uses a credit card goes into debt.... You should have read my first bit there. You spend what you can Afford. Using the credit card saves you an additional 10% off. I didn't realize anyone would read it as "get a credit card and max it out buying lego" so I will add this. Pay off the balance every month. This will also help you establish good credit. You can use credit cards to your advantage. Take for instance my Amazon card. I use it for everything and earn points. I pay the Balance every month and they are currently paying 50 bucks a month to use their card.

Tkatt · October 2015

TheLoneTensor said:

I'm exhausted just reading that :)

I had to take a nap after typing it.

crazycarl · October 2015

I'm 37 and spend about $300-500 a year on Lego. Sometimes less. Tip is to get stuff CHEAP!!! I watch for sales and coupons. Also take advantage of the Lego V.I.P. system. Ive saved alot with that and also get to buy things before the public if its a must have. I also limit my collection to what interests me the most. However I would never collect Friends but my daughter loves them so they are being bought now. I have found great deals recently at a Walmart in a low income town where I have bought $180 worth of Friends stuff, for her Christmas, for about $90 out of pocket!!! Just keep your eye out and shop around. I luck out though cause with my work I am in Retail stores every day! I get to look at Lego prices daily.

Legoist61 · October 2015

My wife says I spent too much..., I think I do not spend enough...

ecmo47 · October 2015

Keep an eye on Craigslist. While most people have a pretty good idea of the value of Lego, some good deals can still be had. I've answered many ads and have never had any issues.

goshe7 · October 2015

Best tip on buying? Act like a profit-seeking reseller. The people that are in it to make money are generally the best at finding ways to maximize your purchasing power as well as the fastest to identify good deals.

The only catch is that it requires discipline to break from the herd mentality. While you gain insight into present deals and tricks, you are surrounded by people spending money and jumping up and down over the latest "great deal". It can be a challenge to pass on buying a set you have marginal interest in at a great price.

TheLoneTensor · October 2015

Aerros1 said:

Devastator said:

Omg, i would never encourage a high school student to take out a credit card and go into debt to buy lego. Personally, if i want a set, i work it into my monthly budget or set aside an appropriate amount each month until i can pay cash.

Not everyone Who uses a credit card goes into debt.

But most do. Average US household credit card debt is about $15k.

If you ever find yourself using a credit card for the credit part, you should cut it up immediately.

ryjay · October 2015

No idea, nor do I intend to ever think about it, lol

CCC · October 2015

It is important to check how average debt is measured.

I do about £1K per month on mine. At any time I am normally at least £1K in debt but then my balance might also be £2K if I look just before a payment is made. Simply because it can be up to six weeks before I have to pay the bill from when I spend. The debt isn't cleared until the middle of the month after I make the spend. Yet I always pay it off fully.

It also then depends on whether you average over everyone, or everyone with a credit card, or everyone with a credit card that does not pay off the full balance each month.

There was this report in the Guardian not long ago ...

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/mar/23/average-uk-household-owe-10000-debt-by-end-2016

The average credit card balance stood at £1,021 by the end of 2014, just £39 short in cash terms of its all-time high at the beginning of 2010.

Presumably from the wording that is the average over all (active?) credit cards, not people. It is not surprising. I am constantly that much "in debt", despite paying it off every month. Although I have another 4 or 5 old cards that are never used with zero balance. So should that bring the average down to £200 per card? Again, dodgy reporting without declaring how numbers are measured can totally distort the facts rendering them almost meaningless.

tecjam · October 2015

I stand by what I said that I do not think Credit Cards are a good idea.

Especially for a student who is likely to finish school with a 30,000 Student Load debt and who, if he or she has to pay a monthly credit card bill on top of that and may find him or herself out of work for 2 or 3 months (due to no fault of their own) might easily slide into a downward spiral of simply having ot pay the interest on the debt rather than actually being able to reduce the debt itself.

Telling a stundent to use a credit card is simply idiotic imo, no matter how good with money they may be.

CCC · October 2015

That's probably because you don't understand the benefits. If they are good with money, then credit cards are a positive thing. If they are good with money, then they would not need to use the credit facility of a credit card, presumably using a lower interest loan if they need money.

paul_merton · October 2015

I have no regrets at all about getting a credit card as a UK student. It helped build my credit score, protected me from several fraudulent losses that would have been a struggle to get back if I'd paid by cash or debit card, earnt me loads of cashback over the years, and also helped me get my money back from a retailer that had gone bust. So not only has it helped me earn a little bit extra, but more importantly, it's also stopped me losing a fair amount. Even if you only pay a deposit with your credit card, and the rest of the balance in cash, you can claim the whole amount back from the card company as it is jointly liable. Seems like a bit of a quirk in law, but it's nice to know it exists, and you can also go to the Financial Ombudsman if they don't settle as appropriate. It's all good stuff if you're sensible.

But I've also seen the other side of the story. I knew someone who secretly built up lots of credit card debt, across multiple cards, and ended up killing himself because he didn't want anyone to know and couldn't cope with it on his own. Even his wife had no idea until it was too late. He wasn't working but she didn't know that. He just wanted to keep her happy with the spending levels she had become accustomed to, and there was a point at which it no longer became possible to borrow more money to pay off other debts. A proper out of control spiral. I also know someone who got themselves into a similar predicament, and I only found out about it by chance due to some misdirected mail. They were struggling pretty badly, but a couple of years later, they have now turned things around (with some help) and I'm pretty sure they won't be getting a credit card again any time soon.

pharmjod · October 2015

Problem is many and maybe most kids (and I consider most people under 25 --as an arbitrary cut off -- kids still) aren't even capable of making good decisions with money at that age, ESPECIALLY with plastic money. The delayed gratification skill isn't fully developed. That is one reason why credit card companies go after young people so aggressively. Credit cards can be a useful tool, but largely unnecessary. Cell phone bills, car payments, utilities payments, these all build credit as well.

Patrik78 · October 2015

~100 USD / month. I typically buy 4-5 big exclusives + 1-2 smaller (Ideas) sets per year.

BuriedinBricks · October 2015

Probably around $1,000 a year at this point...but it was much higher in the past. 90% of my budget is based on what's in my PayPal account from selling off other non-lego collections, which has been very little lately because I've been too busy with work/life to do listings. That works out well though, since I likely don't have much time to build if I don't have time to sell stuff.

I reserve credit cards mainly for essential purposes, unless I know I have the cash to pay off a luxury item I'm putting on there right away. It is very easy to get caught up in the "too good to pass up" deals on LEGO that appear every once in awhile, and credit cards can be dangerous there.

The biggest thing that has helped me has been to set priorities and try to stick to them. The majority of my building anymore is for MOCs, so most of my budget goes to BL sellers and my annual lugbulk buy. I've tried very hard to get away from the "buy it because its cheap" mentality.

pharmjod · October 2015

BuriedinBricks said:

I've tried very hard to get away from the "buy it because its cheap" mentality.

This is so true and so difficult. I am right there with you!

Yodalicious · October 2015

^ That was the biggest buying improvement for me. Ignore what's on sale and focus on my want list. I'll shop my want list like crazy before buying to see if I can get a good deal or find a sale, but I won't buy a set just because it's on sale. This has greatly cut down on my spend per year and the number of sets I buy (many of which I didn't want and some I end up thinking are garbage once I've put them together).

Aerros1 · October 2015

tecjam said:
Telling a stundent to use a credit card is simply idiotic imo, no matter how good with money they may be.

Well I guess I'm an idiot for showing a student how to save money and actually come out ahead in the end. but as you said that's your opinion. I think the bigger reason ppl find themselves in debt these days is so many ppl live month to month and put nothing away for emergencies(something I also advised the OP to do in my original reply along with only spending what he can afford after that, that noone seems to be reading). Then when the emergency comes they have to put it on credit and they have no good way to pull themselves out of the hole. BTW without the established credit that person would have no way to have pulled themselves out anyway.

Yodalicious · October 2015

tecjam said:

Telling a stundent to use a credit card is simply idiotic imo, no matter how good with money they may be.

I'd be willing to bet there are a lot of students out there that would be much better with a credit card than most of the working public. As someone that worked in a bank and is back in the financial services industry, I can tell you that people that are bad with money/credit cards/self control/etc. come in all shapes and sizes. The fact that they're a student or not has nothing to do with it. I used to live next to a guy that made close to $250,000 (I know, I was his banker at the time) that couldn't get approved for a mortgage and had a prepaid cell phone because his credit was so awful. He rented the one-bedroom apartment next to mine.

CCC · October 2015

Yodalicious said:

I used to live next to a guy that made close to $250,000 (I know, I was his banker at the time) that couldn't get approved for a mortgage and had a prepaid cell phone because his credit was so awful. He rented the one-bedroom apartment next to mine.

I heard his banker was embezzling all his money to spend on lego :-)

Yodalicious · October 2015

^ I can neither confirm nor deny that statement.

Sethro3 · October 2015

Are there a lot of one bedroom apartments in Dagobah? I would think it would be more of a hut...

Anyway, I agree, people should budget for what they can and buy from there. I have spent more on LEGO lately than I normally have, but as a whole for the year I'd say I spend less and less each year. Granted, it is still probably equivalent to $75 a month, even though I don't buy LEGO every month.

VorpalRyu · October 2015

I've managed to make it through 39 years of my life without a credit card, so they aren't a necessary evil as yet... (Before any says it, yes I know technically the first 18 don't count)

As for our household Lego budget, the less said, the better. My advice, don't pay retail, ever, if it can be helped & I'm not just talking Lego here.

ryjay · October 2015

Can't believe how this turned into a credit card debate.....nothing wrong with a credit card....now, some people using them, that's another story altogether :)

Yodalicious · October 2015

Sethro3 said:

Are there a lot of one bedroom apartments in Dagobah? I would think it would be more of a hut...

Anyway, I agree, people should budget for what they can and buy from there. I have spent more on LEGO lately than I normally have, but as a whole for the year I'd say I spend less and less each year. Granted, it is still probably equivalent to $75 a month, even though I don't buy LEGO every month.

Little known fact, Dagobah when loosely translated is Tampa.

Devastator · October 2015

My comments were only directed towards an 18 yr old who presumably does not have a stable, long-term career and supply of income. I'd give my girls the same advice.

CCC · October 2015

Devastator said:

My comments were only directed towards an 18 yr old who presumably does not have a stable, long-term career and supply of income. I'd give my girls the same advice.

But they have money to spend on lego. So it's better to have a credit card, pay with that and then immediately pay it off, rather than paying with cash.

pharmjod · October 2015

That is a gross oversimplification and still poor advice for a young person in my opinion. But whatever.

TheLoneTensor · October 2015

^ I agree. I think paying cash for things is a critical piece in understanding how to effectively use, and not use, credit (cards or otherwise). The younger a person learns this the better.

CCC · October 2015

Kids start learning about using cash at what about 5-6? In the school curriculum here they start getting introduced to the idea of coins pretty much as soon as they can count. It might be seen as tokens or counting pieces rather than real money by kids that young, but even so by about 8-10 most kids I know of start having their own money to spend on comics or toys. So they are learning about budgeting and paying with cash for quite a few years before they are allowed to have a credit card.

How much do you spend on Lego? Tips on buying?

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