There are lots of things that people waste money on, but I want to talk about something that I used to waste money on. Movies! Do you have a DVD collection that rocks? I have noticed that people take great pride in their DVD collection, and you often hear them proclaim it’s greatness with enthusiasm. I used to be one of those people that collected movies, that was at least until I realized how much money I WASTED on movies that I hardly ever watched. I started asking myself if the value was worth the expense.
People like to brag about their collection because they feel it gives them some kind of advantage over those that do not collect movies. With the resources available to rent movies at extremely low prices, or watch movies free online I consider it a waste of money. For starters, there are places like Netflix that allows you to pay one low price to be able to watch multiple new movies each month. At Kroger, there is a machine that allows you to rent new movies for $.99, called Movie Cube.
What about those of you who pay all that money for cable television? You could record movies that you like and have them to watch later for no cost. Sure that’s old school, and you won’t have that cool new DVD case to showcase your movie, but at least you will save some money.
How many times do you watch any movie that you have in your collection? With all of the new movies coming out on DVD every month, who has time to watch the old ones? I watched a few movies from my old collection a few times when I was bored but do those rare moments justify the expense? I don’t think it does. Movies lose value and are a very poor investment and use of your very hard earned money!
- OLD Movies on sale at $5.00 each. (It takes a LONG time for any movie to reach the $5.00 price. Usually it is because the movie is seriously old and outdated, or just stinks all together.)
500 movies x $5 = $2500
By renting one movie a week for $1.00 it would take you over 48 years to spend $2500 on movies!!
- Blockbuster Movies on sale at $10.00 each. (I used to buy these more than anything. 2 DVD’s for $20 sounds like a great bargain.)
500 movies x $10 = $5,000
By renting one movie a week for $1.00 it would take you over 96 years to spend $5,000 on movies!!
- Brand New Movies - New movies can cost as much as $30. Usually between $20-$30. (I can think of a million other things that $30 could buy that has more value than even the best of movies.)
500 movies x $20-$30= $10,000-$15,000
By renting one movie a week for $1.00 it would take you over 193 years to spend $10,000 on movies!!
What if instead you had any one of these amounts in savings? Instead of watching old movies you coud watch your financial situation improve. Watching your savings account, that does go up in value, is a whole lot more rewarding than being abe to impress others with a robust DVD collection. Just a thought…
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Ha – I was once one of those people as well, Brad. And I stopped for the same reason. There are some DVDs that I watch multiple times but the majority of my collection consists of the 2 for $20 fillers that I would get at Blockbuster and never watch again.
The figures that you included above are staggering. Naturally, I wish I could have all the money I’ve blown away on DVDs find a way back into my pockets – but I’ll settle for the habit I broke of buying those movies
Paul
Exactly Paul! There are some greats out there that deserve a second, third, fourth and fifth watch. If we ONLY bought those there would be no problem but so often we get caught up by the part of us that wants to sport a collection. LOL I myself, didn’t quite have 500 movies but I certainly had enough to make me question my financial sanity. I know some friends that constantly brag about there growing collection. When I look at it I don’t see movies I see dollar signs that could have been used to save an emergency fund. LOL
Dave, it is crazy how much we are willing to waste when we do not pay close attention to the details of those transactions! CRAZY bro!
Those are some awesome stats to see how easily it is to spend so much on movies. Thanks for sharing Brad! Great reminders!
Dave
LifeExcursion
Brad,
Great points! DVD’s haven’t been a weakness of mine, but CD’s were a different story. I used to buy CD’s just because the cover looked cool, or to complete my collection of a particular artist. I’m glad that I’ve been able to change my habits, and it’s always nice to have a reminder.
Ken
For me it was (in this order), music cd’s, then video games (spent a lot but was willing to trade them in after I played them as opposed to collecting them), and then movies. Actually I stopped buying movies and started buying only full seasons of the shows I liked. That got expensive FAST!!
I do miss playing video games though. I sold my 360, as well as my big screen tv to help pay down my debt. (PAINFUL!!)
Brad:
Nice job on the math. It’s one thing that’s hard to argue against (although some folks manage to). It seems that there’s something driving us to be proud collectors.
I think it’s expectations. Whether it’s a CD or a DVD, if you think it’s going to be a good movie or album, you’d probably want to own it. If it turns out to be something not so hot, you’ve wasted your money. What’s the solution?
We use NetFlix, but we also buy DVDs that we enjoy. That’s one key to the solution – we don’t have unrealistic expectations because we have seen it and we know what we are buying. We want to see it again, but not pay for it (or go get it) again.
The next key in my solution is that we buy the DVDs at garage sales for $1 or $2. If you can get them for that price, then the only difference between keeping or tossing is the space it takes up in your house.
No matter your approach, your points are well taken – we are gathering and paying for stuff, and sometimes that stuff is just a bit burdensome, whether we’re talking about space, cost or having to move it around with us.
One other consideration – our stuff, especially movies, takes up our valuable time. Think of the price we pay there!
Clair
WOW! That is quite a collection in that picture! My wife has a collection, but I don’t. I think it’s a waste of money to buy, when Netflix or BB Online is $15/month.
Less junk and clutter, the better!
That said, movies is one of the cheapest forms of entertainment. Thank goodness for movies!
I’m currently in that phase where I need to buy all the movies in the world (just bought 42 dvd’s yesterda… from blockbuster and $5.00 movies from wal-mart).
Thanks for posting this…
Really helped me open my eyes
I agree that movies are a lot of money but I still like to collect them, besides it actually saves me money because its the only thing I really spend money on. Also I buy them at a pawn shop usually for $4 and it’s buy one get one free, then I save the rest of my money. Also it will last longer than any clothes or jewellery or anything else id but for that matter and it’s something everyone can enjoy!
I like having something I worked hard for in my hand and the rest of my money I do save goes towards education, food, housing, and other extras. Therefore, I’m not losing anything by having a dvd collection but that’s my opinion. 
Hard to argue with that Leah.
Buying them from a pawn shop would definitely be the way to go. For me they were a waste of money because once I’ve seen the movie the chances of me watching it again are extremely slim. There were the select few that I could watch a couple times but most of the time that wasn’t the case. Most of the time by the time I was ready to watch them again, I would have been able to do so for free anyway. Plus there are so many new movies that are released it’s hard for me to want to watch older movies.
It’s why they call personal finance “personal” though.
We tend to build our financial habits around what we value so it’s no wonder there are so many different ways to do it. I say, if you love movies and truly get something from collecting them, go for it. 
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.