Overextension of the wallet

freshmasterfresh

So after I spent more money than I had on this sweet headphone amp and then waited a week for it to arrive from China and pass through customs, I eagerly opened the box and plugged it in only to discover that it doesn't work. From what a bunch of other people have said, Little-Tube has good customer support. So far it does not appear this way. I posted a topic on their forums on Tuesday at 7:00PM my time, or 10AM on Wednesday by their time. I really hope there is just something loose inside that I can fix, but I really do not want to get screwed over by these guys.

I'm impressed with the weight and superficial build quality of the unit, and it is supposed to sound really good. If any of you are intersted in getting one of these depending on how they handle this situation, or if you just want to help me out, please let them know that you're watching. I'm not trying to break their servers or anything, though. Please keep it repsectful and low-key if you are inclined to lend me some support.

Thanks.

EDIT: It looks like everything is going to turn out okay.

David wrote:

Hello Daniel,

Alright please send your Little Dot II++ via Ground shipping to:

-snip-

And we will cross-ship you a replacement. Once I receive your LDII++ I will also reimburse you for shipping as well. Once again I apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced.

Best Regards,
David

taliosfalcon

I bought my 360 on my credit card when i had no job and less than 100$ in the bank, figuring I'd get a job and a paycheck in time to pay it off, thankfully I did. Although it helped that for the last few years edmontons job market has needed people so badly you can't trip and fall without landing in a job

Dusda

I walked into Gamestop last week to move my $5 reservation from Chocobo Tales to Forza 2...and walked out with reservations for Bioshock, Halo 3, Metroid Prime 3, and Smash Bros Brawl. I survive entirely on loan disbursements, which is basically whatever remains of my funding after tuition rapes it.

*sigh*

LewieP

I apologise to everyone I have made any money.

AbsoluteZero

I have a hard time finding jobs.... but I'm not dumb enough to spend more money than I'm good for.

That said, virtual console means I'm not using the soft toilet paper.

Robo Beat

Funny. I'm in law school, and I have no money for games. I'll graduate in a few years, and then I'll be raking in teh cashes, but I'll have even less time in which to play the games I'll be able to afford.

That sucks.

DarkSymphony

I bought a PS3 launch day (which, I honestly don't regret at all as odd as that may sound) and then, unhappy with how it looked on an SDTV, I bought a 32 inch wide HDTV. $1200. that's alot of money. my god

but, things are ok now but sweet jesus, when you look at it like that...1200. that's just a shitload of money for 2 very non essential things.

freshmasterfresh

Yeah, looking at the total cost of your gaming 'investments' can sometimes be pretty frightening. I remember when I totaled up the individual costs of my PC upgrades over the course of about a year. When I realized I could have bought a nice little car with that money, I decided to focus on more rewarding things. Not long after that revelation I predictably had a brand new video card sitting happily in my computer. The only thing that actually stopped me was quitting my job (and the obsolescence of AGP).

BaronVonSnakPak

tell me where you bought a 32" hd widescreen tv for $600.

you tell me now godammit!

nonplussed

I've spent many a dollar on frivolous things that relate to gaming, none more so when I spent a year and a half working at GameStop. Being on the up and up on everything video games and being surrounded by them will cause a total loss of willpower, which is why I'm glad I don't work there any more.

That being said, my worst purchase now sits in my garage collecting dust. When Capcom did a re-release of the Steel Battalion game and controller in anticipation of the online component, I was all over it. 250 dollars and a disappointing online experience later, it now serves as a constant reminder of how I should be wary about anything too awesome because it may very well be too good to be true.

Qorzm

Dusda wrote: »

I walked into Gamestop last week to move my $5 reservation from Chocobo Tales to Forza 2...and walked out with reservations for Bioshock, Halo 3, Metroid Prime 3, and Smash Bros Brawl. I survive entirely on loan disbursements, which is basically whatever remains of my funding after tuition rapes it.

*sigh*

Gamestops didn't have Metroid last week, and we still don't have Brawl in the systems.

Robo Beat

nonplussed wrote: »

That being said, my worst purchase now sits in my garage collecting dust. When Capcom did a re-release of the Steel Battalion game and controller in anticipation of the online component, I was all over it. 250 dollars and a disappointing online experience later, it now serves as a constant reminder of how I should be wary about anything too awesome because it may very well be too good to be true.

QFT. What a waste of money that was. The game was cool, but not $250 cool.

devoir

World of Warcraft while unemployed, not studying and vegging out.

I'm more of a tight ass now I've got loads of disposable income, which I guess is a good thing. *eyes holiday to the US for PAX*

zanetheinsane

I bought my NintendoDS while I was unemployed with like $600 in the bank. I sort of had a job lined up in like 2 weeks so it wasn't too bad. I also just ordered that R4 almost immediately after reading that DS Homebrew thread and I'm supposed to be saving for a new PC.

Now I just recently bought Pokemans, I'm probably going to cave in and get Puzzle Quest because I cannot resist it any longer, and what the fuck SimCity on the DS? Yeah, I've got to have that. :x

Nintendo won't let me save any money.

Fantasyrogue

I bought my DS when I was unemployed and in December, right before Christmas. I was so broke after that (and the Christmas shopping that followed) but I've not regretted it at all, I love my DS.

I'm usually not a big spender though, I have to spend a lot of time convincing myself it's worth it to buy the games I like or I never buy them.

RainbowDespair

Back when I got my first decent paying job out of college, I was definitely like this. Doing stuff like spending an entire month's paycheck on a nice new gaming computer, whereas I could have spent half that money and still gotten a decent computer or another time when I bought an Asian PS2 and a number of import games. Now that I just got married a couple months ago, I'm trying to be more responsible. For example, we're moving next month and planning on ditching our current TV (which is old and dying) and buying a new TV soon after we move in. We were considering buying a small HDTV for $600 or so, but now I'm thinking we'll just buy a regular SDTV. Yeah, my 360 games won't look as nice, but I'm sure we can get an SDTV that is substantially better than what we have now for $200 or less and when you're not made of money, saving $400 is a big deal. Plus, I spend more time playing the Wii & the PS2 than I do the 360 anyway.

cemetery man

Man, don't buy an SDTV. You'll regret that in like a year or something and have to buy an HDTV then. That would be a waste of money, so buy the HDTV now and it's a future investment. Just look for an open box deal or something like I did, I got a 30" widescreen for $454 that was an open box deal.

Mr_Grinch

I'm in quite a bit of debt which i amassed from a year in university and an alcohol addiction problem, so I pay that off at £200 every month. So I try to be frugal, but shiny technology just wins me over some times.

I bought a 360 after seeing the demo of Dead Rising (£300), I then bought a 32" HDTV for xmas so I could read the text on dead rising. After reading the mac thread in here and moving to a new house which saved me a little bit of money, I decided I needed a macbook. £800.

The Wii looked fun. That was a birthday present. The extra games and controllers however weren't. £90ish.

I was crap at Guitar Hero, I decided to get better. £45

The there's the small matter of the 20 to 30 xbox 360 games I own, the second xbox I bought as a media centre for my upstairs tv. My upstairs tv.

Oh and I had a bbq the other day and we wanted 2 player Guitar Hero so I picked up another ps2 guitar.

I like technology. My wallet doesn't.

And I have to spend £500 today booking my holiday with the gf.

Oh and I'm off to pembrookshire on Sunday which is a drive across the country.

I hate money.

LewieP

I am getting much better at budgetting myself these days, running my blog helps too actually (Timesplitters 3 for £2, that'll be my spending for the week thanks)

I'm currently living on about £140 a month after accommodation. About £80 of that is food, the rest is going out/buying prettiful things. Hopefully at this rate I will finish uni debt free and ready to enter the property market. I'm also not only finding great deals on my blog, but I average now about £2 in referral commission a day from it, and it's only going up. At the moment I'm just spending that back on the retailers site (but I'm saving up real hard with amazon, in about 3 months I'll hopefully have enough for a 360)

My only major extravagance recently was my Wii. I had £200 emergency money in the bank, and a new Zelda classed as an emergency, got a Wii + zelda at launch.

I also recently bought a graphics card, an X1600pro, but that was only £25 in a clearance sale with a £10 off £30 voucher.

My rule of thumb these days is -

Under £5, buy it, buy it now.
Over £5, think about whether you really want it more than other similarly priced stuff.
Over £20, if you have spare money at the end of the month, treat yourself.

mausmalone

I totaled up my Wii spending so far and came up with:

$250 on Wii
$25 on component cables
$470 on games
$60 on shop channel

---

$805 on wii total

What I spent on car maintenance this weekend:

$396 on 3 tires (one blew a few months back, so it was already replaced)
$42 on wheel balancing
$45 on tire warranty
$64 on wheel alignment
$200 on new outer tie rods
$65 on labor

---

$812 on car this weekend

As much as it sucks to have to do that much on my car at once, it was necessary. My tires are about 15,000 miles past their rating and needed replacement and my tie rods were all worn out. Nevertheless, I worry I'm spending too much on games until I realize that the cost pales in comparison to the expense of simply owning and maintaining a car.

Carnivore

When I first got World of Warcraft I spent the 40 quid for a 6 month subscription, cause it was fun.

About 2 months in I quit and couldnt get my money back, which pissed me off.


Man what a crap game.

Rook

LewieP wrote: »

I'm currently living on about £140 a month after accommodation. About £80 of that is food, the rest is going out/buying prettiful things. Hopefully at this rate I will finish uni debt free and ready to enter the property market.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

PikaPuff

Hmmm... PikaPuff, waste money? O rly?

March 05': $1000 24" Monitor

July 05': I upgraded my PSP and couldn't downgrade to use the newly released homebrew. Solution?

November 05': NIS Released Prinny Plushies

Jan 06': $1000 32" TV, also pictured is a second LCD bought for my spare computers (2 bought for around $400 each.)

Fall 06' DS Game Collection (Blank spaces were games borrowed out)

CoX, anyone?

Not Pictured:

-Wii get! $500+ At wii launch including 8 games
-360 Get! A month after the wii get.
-PAX! $1000+ spent

LewieP

Rook wrote: »

LewieP wrote: »

I'm currently living on about £140 a month after accommodation. About £80 of that is food, the rest is going out/buying prettiful things. Hopefully at this rate I will finish uni debt free and ready to enter the property market.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I am sorta buying a house next week. It's just the mortgage is in my parents name, since they actually have a credit rating, I'm actually paying the mortgage, just splitting it 4 ways with mates at cost. When I graduate, I intend to stay living in student-esque accommodation, but charge market rate to people that aren't my mates. I put up with living with students for a while, whilst my equity in the house slowly grows.

PikaPuff wrote: »

March 05': $1000 24" Monitor

splooge.

Please tell me you have played Ikaruga on that.

Mr_Grinch

By the way, $50 to fill up that car? If I could fill up my poor little Peugeot 106 for $50 I'd be utterly over the moon. Costs me over £40 ($79) to fill up a 9 gallon tank (I think my peugeot is 9, could be 10)!

Rook

LewieP wrote: »

Rook wrote: »

LewieP wrote: »

I'm currently living on about £140 a month after accommodation. About £80 of that is food, the rest is going out/buying prettiful things. Hopefully at this rate I will finish uni debt free and ready to enter the property market.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I am sorta buying a house next week. It's just the mortgage is in my parents name, since they actually have a credit rating, I'm actually paying the mortgage, just splitting it 4 ways with mates at cost. When I graduate, I intend to stay living in student-esque accommodation, but charge market rate to people that aren't my mates. I put up with living with students for a while, whilst my equity in the house slowly grows.

Well, technically I think getting your parents to buy a place for you counts as cheating. But it's hopefully a sound investment.

Mr_Grinch

Well, providing he's paying the mortgage I don't see a prob. It's the issue I'm having at the moment, I could afford the mortgage payments on a place but I just can't raise a mortgage. I could get ABOUT £125k but there's nothing even remotely around that in this area, take in to account that I'd like to pay off all the debt I've racked up and that drops to £115k.

PikaPuff

LewieP wrote: »

PikaPuff wrote: »

March 05': $1000 24" Monitor

splooge.

Please tell me you have played Ikaruga on that.

Yeah I did:

I lied to make you feel better.

Frosted Butts

I bought my 360 right after I graduated college and luckily it kept me entertained for the 8 months I was unemployed following.

Doronron

I spend too much money on PC games. The unfortunate fact of the matter is, I still get some enjoyment out of them, but once I've beaten a game, I am unlikely to replay it unless it has some method of random level generation. This becomes a financial drain in two ways. One, I find myself going to Fry's at least once a month looking for a game or two that meet my interests at the time. Two, I keep track of unreleased titles, and there's always a steady list of 'must-haves' that get budgeted into my finances.

While I have yet to overextend my monthly budget, I realize the time and money spent on these is disproportionate to the entertainment I receive -- and they certainly provide no productive value.

The sad thing is, this year I see myself spending around $200 on must haves (plus the amount of time they will take away) -- that's $200 I can expect. I don't know what I'll find myself splurging on next month or the month after that in addition to the planned purchases (X-Men II and M:UA were splurge buys). December of last year, I was seriously considering switching from PC to Wii. Not gonna happen at this point.

In all honesty, the ideal solution would be to stop playing games entirely. This would resolve the financial issue and free up spare time spent surfing these forums and playing the games (I spend more time surfing at work than playing at home). The problem is: I still enjoy playing them. I will continue to enjoy them upon Hellgate's release, Empire Earth III, UFO: Extraterrestrials, and the expansion packs for Civ4, HoMM5, and MTW2. Spore as well, for next year...

EDIT:

There's more to it than this, actually. PC gaming is a readily available means of winding down after work. As a result, a weekend doesn't feel like a weekend unless I've spent a few frantic late night hours in-game.

Rhesus Positive

I spent £38 on Pokémon Pearl, buying it at an inflated price at a specialist game store just so I could play it early. Of course, that means that I have nobody to trade with, what with no wireless network handy.

I'm also trying to live off as little money as possible for the next month so that I have enough at the end of term ot buy my girlfriend a DS Lite and a game. Luckily I have loads of food stockpiled, drastically cutting down my living costs, and who needs to go out and buy drink when you have Pokémon?

wunderbar

I just bought a dreamcast when I have $2800 worth of work on my car on June 4. Not a smart idea as now I need more than 3 games for said dreamcast. I was really hoping pokeymans DS would keep me occupied until I pay for the car repairs.

The sad part is; is that pokeymans really are keeping me occupied, and I still bought the dreamcast.

Hevach

wunderbar wrote: »

I just bought a dreamcast when I have $2800 worth of work on my car on June 4. Not a smart idea as now I need more than 3 games for said dreamcast. I was really hoping pokeymans DS would keep me occupied until I pay for the car repairs.

The sad part is; is that pokeymans really are keeping me occupied, and I still bought the dreamcast.

See, it's times like this when you need to take a responsible and adult look at the things you want and really evaluate if it's worth it or not.

Of course, if you're like me, you probably do that and then say screws to that and buy it anyway, then skip lunch for a month to make up for it.

Mr_Grinch

I'm also trying to live off as little money as possible for the next month so that I have enough at the end of term ot buy my girlfriend, a DS Lite and a game.

I read that as above. The addition of a SINGLE comma completely changes things.

Doronron

I can see the purchase of a Wii and a small library of games as a good way to transition into a more casual approach to gaming.

I have yet to figure out a way to justify a $400-$800 expense on gaming only stuff in an effort to ween myself off of gaming in general. :P

freshmasterfresh

Sounds like the only way to go.

Think of all the money you'll waste on gaming if you don't buy those games to wean yourself from the financial burden of gaming!

JihadJesus

Frosted Butts wrote: »

I bought my 360 right after I graduated college and luckily it kept me entertained for the 8 months I was unemployed following.

I did something similar but less costly. I bought a used GameCube with 5 games for $70, and that lasted me for eight months of unemployment (combined with some awesome $6 titles). Then I got a Wii for my birthday, followed by a full time job. So now I finally have a next gen system and moneys, and absolutely zero time to enjoy it.

Nissl

Doronron wrote:

I can see the purchase of a Wii and a small library of games as a good way to transition into a more casual approach to gaming.

That was my goal too. But I wound up playing the thing and wanting more depth in my games, so I went out and bought a 360 and a surround sound system, which led to me buying an HDTV, I mean if you're going HD go balls out right? After all the extra controllers, cables, etc. are bought it'll be somewhere north of $1600, not counting the wii.

It's pretty much wiped out everything I've saved up during grad school except for the money I saved to visit friends in China and Hong Kong. I'm trying to persuade myself it's an investment for the future and I get to enjoy it both now and later when I'll make much more money. Honestly it's just that there was nothing good looking for PC or Wii coming out until fall and I was bored.

Well, thank god I started putting my allowance money into mutual funds when I was 15 to save for retirement. (No really, I suck like that.)

Dusda

Qorzm wrote: »

Dusda wrote: »

I walked into Gamestop last week to move my $5 reservation from Chocobo Tales to Forza 2...and walked out with reservations for Bioshock, Halo 3, Metroid Prime 3, and Smash Bros Brawl. I survive entirely on loan disbursements, which is basically whatever remains of my funding after tuition rapes it.

*sigh*

Gamestops didn't have Metroid last week, and we still don't have Brawl in the systems.

*blinks*

I can't believe I wrote that. Must've had something to do with not sleeping over the weekend. I only reserved Forza 2, Bioshock, and Halo 3. Maybe I meant to say "I would have reserved those two if I could have?"

Shadowfire

Dusda wrote: »

Qorzm wrote: »

Dusda wrote: »

I walked into Gamestop last week to move my $5 reservation from Chocobo Tales to Forza 2...and walked out with reservations for Bioshock, Halo 3, Metroid Prime 3, and Smash Bros Brawl. I survive entirely on loan disbursements, which is basically whatever remains of my funding after tuition rapes it.

*sigh*

Gamestops didn't have Metroid last week, and we still don't have Brawl in the systems.

*blinks*

I can't believe I wrote that. Must've had something to do with not sleeping over the weekend. I only reserved Forza 2, Bioshock, and Halo 3. Maybe I meant to say "I would have reserved those two if I could have?"

Did you reserve Mario Strikers, maybe?

Accualt

Currently I'm being tempted, oh so painfully tempted, by this:



If I hadn't bought three of the Origin statues last month I'd probably take the dive but I'm soooo broke right now. Thank god it is summer, the lack of new video game releases gives me a chance to save up without being tempted.