Have I tamed the beast? Reflecting on how well I've done (or not) with 4 boundaries: money, space, theme, and time.
Since becoming an AFOL (Adult Fan of Lego) one year ago, I've been really into Lego. To the point that I've thought about giving up the hobby. But I wanted to give it a shot and see if I could tame the beast of obsession.
Six months ago, I wrote a three-part series on obsession and contentment. In part two, self-control, I mentioned four boundaries I've set for this hobby: money, space, theme, and time.
So, how well I have stayed within my four boundaries?
1) Money
Good: Making Lego share the same pool of funds as books and games
was a smart idea. It makes me really feel that something's gotta give.
After a year of this, I'm motivated to cut my Lego budget by 50% in 2024.
Good: I've stayed within budget for 6 months now. Only spent what I saved specifically for leisure.
Dubious: But if I wrote a list of every Lego expense ever made, I'd probably be appalled. While within budget, it's still more than I have ever spent on leisure.
Good: To be fair, some purchases were made with the aim of reselling almost immediately. I've sold 9 minifigures, 6 tiny bundles of parts, 1 complete set, and 1 set-without-minifigs.
Neutral: Most of my leisure budget went to Lego. That's 3,000 yen per month, or USD 20 by this year's dreadful exchange rate.
Obviously not enough to pay for all those purchases, but I was lucky to have several big sales (e.g. we sold our PS4!) and financial windfalls (e.g. an episode of dumpster diving where we found a large bag of valuable plushies in the apartment trash area, mostly Pokemon).
I also allowed myself to spend 5% of freelance income on leisure (and 5% to the husband as a thank-you for looking after Miss S while I worked).
2) Storage
Neutral: I've exceeded my designated space of "two storage boxes and one display cabinet." But that's OK, because it encouraged me to start selling sets, not just minifigures and small parts.
Good: So far, I've listed 3 sets for sale and one has sold.
Good: Still sticking to my rule of "no more than one Winter Village set." In fact, the set I just sold was the Elf Club House, in case I'd like to buy the Viking Village (21343). The latter isn't a Winter Village set, but it fits a wintery season. Anyway, the point is that I intend to keep my collection from encroaching on more space.
Okay: I'm allowing myself to expand from one to two display cabinets! Then I can enjoy my purchases longer before they get dismantled and either sold or stored.
Bad: I broke my rule of "no more Star Wars." I've gotten sucked into collecting a few more minifigures, and they're not cheap. But the problem is not that I'm spending more money (though licensed sets are indeed more expensive); rather, I'm spending too much time on market research to buy and sell Star Wars Lego.
Good: Other than Star Wars, I haven't strayed beyond the themes of "houses with trees," "medieval," "rustic," "outdoors." My sets tend to have at least 2 or 3 of those elements.
Dubious: Oh, but I did buy three discounted Lego Friends sets . . . in name of my daughter. I've given her one already, an age 4+ set. She's still not quite ready for it. The other sets are for her sixth and eighth birthday, shhh! I secretly enjoyed building and photographing them. And gained a strong appreciation for the Friends line, which I'd previously dismissed as too girly for me. But anyway, no more Friends sets for us. Though I might buy a few small polybags to give Miss S' older friends . . .
Good: I'm proud of myself for not buying a single Modular Building. Whenever I'm tempted to buy the Modular Bookshop (10270), I say firmly, "NO. MODULARS." Because one leads to another.
Good: I've also held off on buying more Botanical sets or getting into any Creator 3-in-1 sets (though I might bend on the 31120 Medieval Castle. It might be a good investment for my daughter and can be transformed into so many different alternate builds—okay, let's stop that train of thought RIGHT THERE.)
4) Time
Bad, Very Bad: With this boundary, I always fail big time. It's not a well-defined boundary, so I might need to create dedicated, strict time slots for checking Lego news, reviews, and resale prices.
I spend way too much time looking on Merukari for good deals, keeping tabs on rival sellers, or just browsing for fun. I check the Legoleaks reddit and other news sites compulsively. Maybe it's a symptom of ennui? Think I need to spend more time on creating.
Year two: Less is more
When I thought about quitting the hobby, the husband suggested giving it two years before slowing down or stopping. He said it's worth experiencing both the good and bad of what a toy hobby has to offer.
Still, I'm cutting my Lego purchasing budget by 50% next year. I'll still supplement that with sales, birthday gifts, and 5% of freelance income.
The other half of my leisure budget will be protected for books, games, and Lego MOC instructions. MOCs encourage me to make use of what I already have.
Why I'm cutting my Lego budget
So, one reason for slowing down on Lego purchasing is return to cheaper forms of entertainment.
Gaming, for example, offers more hours of engagement for a fraction of the price. I only buy indie games on massive discount (when they're down to $5 to $20) and rarely ever get AAA games or first-party Nintendo games.
Another reason is the rising cost of Lego, especially outside of the United States. Sets are more expensive due to the recent exchange rate, which I suspect will only get worse.
Plus, I picked an unfortunate time to enter the hobby: roughly a year ago, Lego raised prices by a significant percentage. For instance, my first big set, the Ideas Treehouse (21318) jumped from $200 to $250.
Yet another reason, the most important one, is to help me refocus on life goals—especially writing. I need to get into disciplines and a mindset that help me improve as a writer.
By the way, I'm joining the Nanowrimo challenge (National Novel Writing Month)! But instead of writing 50,000 words for a novel, I have the modest, realistic goal of writing 10 minutes per day.
I'll still be posting Lego photos! Though I've gotten uncomfortably obsessed with Lego, I'm happy it's at least helped me keep writing, even if it's just blogging here.