In 2007, people spent 23.4 billion dollars in DVDs. Based on my calculations, I contributed somewhere between $200-$300 to that.
I did so, buying such noteworthy and cinematic and television classics like:
I used to be rather proud of my DVD collection. It wasn’t always my favorite movies (in fact, I don’t own any of my top three movies: “Shawshank Redemption”, “Fight Club” and “Happy Gilmore”), but movies I felt, that at anytime, on any day, I wouldn’t mind watching.
Somewhere along the way, though, I lost that. I got caught up in Black Friday sales at Circuit City (explains season one of “My Name is Earl”), $5 DVD specials at Best Buy, and the biggest offender 3 for $20 previously viewed DVDs from Blockbuster.
What it amounts to is a twice a week habit of staring at my DVD bookshelf thinking I will find something I will want to watch, and resulting in a begrudging and reluctant grab for “Saved By the Bell, Season 3 and 4” episodes. Which I watch for about 10 minutes, only to nearly give up on life and decide I would rather lie in bed and force myself to sleep, then torment myself with this attack on my brain.
Don’t get me wrong, I love “Saved by the Bell”. I owe much of my life experience and knowledge to its educational, yet entertaining character studies of high school students, but, at this point, it isn’t meant for on-going viewing.
Electronics, including DVDs, are probably my largest vice when it comes to spending money. I spend, waste a lot on the latest gadgets. My room is consistently 10-15 degrees warmer than the rest of the house because of all the heat my purchases generate.
Every time, I think I don’t need anything else, I find something else. At some point, I will need to stop. Or I will end up with more copies of “Elizabethtown” and “The Matador”, or other movies I hadn’t seen prior to purchasing, on my hands.
What are your spending vices?