Points of Articulation

yo go re

Welcome, friends, to another look at my wildly mis-spent finances (or perhaps my wildly misplaced values). Like last year, I started at the beginning of the year and kept track of everything by day. Why? Just for your entertainment, really - as well as my own embarrassment.

As predicted, I seem to have gotten less stuff this year. Rising prices, dwindling selection, all that. But enough preamble! To see the full article, click here. If that's not everything, then it's darn close. There were 122 days in 2009 where I bought something, and the majority of those trips involved multiple purchases at multiple stores - that works out to be a purchase every three days. However, I did a much better job of sticking to my budget: in other words, I was still way over, but I wasn't way way over. Obviously the effort I put into staying on-target helped.

Last year, Toys Я Us was the #1 spot where I bought toys - this year, Wal*Mart pulled alongside, creating a tie. Looking at the breakdown, it was TRU's decision to start carrying "collector" lines (like Minimates and NECA) that kept them in contention, which really says that choice was a smart one.

The biggest surprise for me this year was that I bought nothing at Suncoast or Hot Topic. Both of those used to be pretty reliable outlets for toys, but this year? Not so muc. That may also be related to TRU's wider range of products: they start pulling business from "market six" stores like those, and those stores stop ordering, falling back on their main revenue streams. Only one figure from Spencer's? I got more toys mailed to me from Ireland than I bought in a mall this year!

Here are some numbers:

• Total number of purchases: 352
• Total number of figures: 568
• Total money spent: $3,345
• Average spent per purchase: $9.50
• Average spent per figure: $5.89
• Average per month: $278.75; 29.33 purchases; 47.33 figures
• Average per week: $64.33; 6.77 purchases; 10.92 figures
• Average per day: $9.16; .96 purchases; 1.56 figures
• By store:
  • TRU: 78 purchases
  • Wal*Mart: 78 purchases
  • Target: 58 purchases
  • Comicshops: 51 purchases
  • Kmart: 14 purchases
  • FYE: 13 purchases
  • Five Below: 9 purchases
  • Spencer's: 1 purchase
• Longest gap between purchases: 10 days (Jan. 31 - Feb. 9)
• Most days in a row with purchases: 4 (Oct. 17-20)
• Most expensive day: July 1 ($291.34)