What's your cure for spending too much?

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Lounge' started by jvis, Jan 19, 2009.

  1. jvis

    jvis Member

    Jan 9, 2009
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    #1 jvis, Jan 19, 2009
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2009
    With the appstore, I find it really easy to spend a lot of money, really fast.
    I have spent almost 65$ in less than one month. It's ridiculous.
    Fortunately, now I am very happy with my app collection and I am pretty sure I am never going to go on a spending spree again. (However I am eyeing CarJack Streets/Payback)
    From now on I plan to stay at 10$ per month.
    So I was wondering if you have any ways or ideas to curb spending too much on apps? Does it work for you or is the temptation too much?

    I am going to start a list of techniques for all of the app-aholics (me)

    - Limit to certain amount of money you can spend per month/week/year
    - Finish one game, then buy another, finish that, buy another...
    - One gift card of specified amount per week/month/year
    - For serious app-aholics only!! Go into settings and lock out app store purchases. (In Parental Controls)
     
  2. istopmotion

    istopmotion Well-Known Member

    Nov 21, 2008
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    #2 istopmotion, Jan 19, 2009
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2009
    I tell myself that I need to finish the games I have and that the game (probably) isn't worth it. I try to stick below $15 a month, but this month I've only spent $4 so far, so I think I'm doing better. :)

    I don't buy any games that are similar to another one that I already have. For example, I have Fastlane and I'm not going to buy another racing game like Ferrari GT (although I might have to make an exception for NFS :)).

    Try to get games that will last you a long time. I like word and puzzle games since they usually have very high replayability and they're always fairly cheap.

    Hope that helps :)
     
  3. snow_mani

    snow_mani Well-Known Member

    Oct 20, 2008
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    Melbourne, Australia
    I've been struggling with this for some time. The App Store with it's cheap apps is my addiction. It's taken a few months but I think I might be gaining a little self-control. For me it has been the realisation that I simply cannot afford to keep purchasing apps all the time. Those small purchases really do add up! My Visa card statement has acted as a reality check for me. Also the fact that all my bills and living expenses keep going up and I have to cut back on unnecessary purchases. I now use Appsniper to keep track of apps I'm interested in and this gives me some breathing space to think about if I really want to buy an app. And it shows me any price drops on the apps I am tracking. Of course I still buy apps and I still impulse buy apps, but no where near as often as I did in the first few months I owned my iPhone.
     
  4. jvis

    jvis Member

    Jan 9, 2009
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    Yea, I am in my first month of having my ipod touch so hopefully this craze dies down. I really cannot afford to do this!
     
  5. Mew2468

    Mew2468 Well-Known Member

    Oct 20, 2008
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    My cure: no more spaces for apps, and no apps I want to delete :D.
     
  6. Myrobotwillneverdie

    Myrobotwillneverdie Well-Known Member

    Jan 14, 2009
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    well, this is a little extreme, but I have my fianceé go into the "parental controls" in the settings app, and lock-out purchasing on the app store. That way if I go all spend-crazy, she can slap some sense in me.

    She'll unlock it for me if I can justify the purchase, (i.e. Payback, cause I've been nonstop obsessing about it, and the stupid release date forever now:eek:)
     
  7. snow_mani

    snow_mani Well-Known Member

    Oct 20, 2008
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    That's a great idea. I didn't know you could do that. Is there a similar setting in iTunes (I purchase the majority of my apps using iTunes on my PC)?
     
  8. Fazzy

    Fazzy Well-Known Member

    Limit yourself to $15 a month. Remove your credit card account from the Itunes Store and go buy 12 $15 gift cards ($180). Each month, use one of the gift cards. If you don't use it all, you can use it the next month.
     
  9. Mew2468

    Mew2468 Well-Known Member

    Oct 20, 2008
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    Not if you live in Canada...sigh :(.
     
  10. snow_mani

    snow_mani Well-Known Member

    Oct 20, 2008
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    Melbourne, Australia
    It's a good idea but as far as I know gift cards only work for music in the Australian iTunes store.
     
  11. brewstermax

    brewstermax Well-Known Member

    I only buy $.99 apps, without a gift card. And limit myself to $1.05 per receipt. (6% sales tax). That really helps. Anything over $.99 is warranting a gift card.
     
  12. jecebn

    jecebn Well-Known Member

    Nov 29, 2008
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    I've started using the gift card method as well. I'm limiting myself to a $25 gift card per month. I removed my debit card info from my account to prevent me from making impulse purchases.
     
  13. BulletDev

    BulletDev Well-Known Member

    Sep 20, 2008
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    produce applications under "Bullet Development"
    Vancouver, BC
    I end up spending a lot of money on apps because at first, I plan to write reviews on them at RazorianFly. I'm going to start writing loads of them as soon as possible, but I still don't see a cure for my addiction :).

    I'm hoping that Bullet Skater will help cover the expenses.
     
  14. rIcHrAnDoM

    rIcHrAnDoM Well-Known Member
    Patreon Silver

    Nov 17, 2008
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    Indiana, USA
    I buy alot. I recently won Appsniper, but am having severe probs with that(dev emails fix on the way:). So, I continuosly troll this site to bide my time, and curb buying. This helps because I have been given/won about 15 apps just by watching and reading. PROMOS are my "quit-buying patch", however there haven't been too many this month so I've spent almost 30 bucks now :(. Oh well it's good fun and not as expensive or bad for us as some addictions.
     
  15. Tennisking1o1

    Tennisking1o1 Well-Known Member

    Nov 15, 2008
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    I usually just limit myself to a $25 gift card a month, and stick to them. Works... most of the time :p
     
  16. superbad

    superbad Well-Known Member

    Nov 6, 2008
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    CEO. Reviewer. Beta Tester.
    You need to stalk me?
    i have not bought any app for the past 2 months. i only bought hero of sparta and slotz racer.

    why?

    because of the promo codes here and with my good standing relationship with other developers. you kind of have to build a good reputation for yourself for the devs to trust you and offer their app for you to review/give suggestions on.

    i have been up in arms with these for the last month or so. this alleviates my spending A LOT and it feels good to know im helping other people.
     
  17. TheOZ

    TheOZ Well-Known Member

    Dec 21, 2008
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    Im surprised people are spending so much this month, this is like a "freebie" month since the appstore is slower then usual the I bought two games this month and im doing just fine you just need to take another look at your collection and convince yourself you have enough and space out your purchases. I really want Slotz racer and dugeon and hero, but im trying to space everything out and get my most anticipated before others. Even though I want Slotz Racer and dugeon and hero I know Payback and CarJackStreets and BlueAttack are all on their way so basically I try and prioritize my purchases so far it's been working.
     
  18. G0tsk1llz

    G0tsk1llz Well-Known Member

    Oct 5, 2008
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    Just remove your credit card :(
     
  19. different

    different Well-Known Member

    Aug 8, 2008
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    I buy £15 cards when I need them. Usually I'll wait for a review from several sites - if I don't see one then it's probably something I won't miss. Unless it has a positive reaction here. :)
     

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