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  1. The Financial Woes of Hanging out at a Comic Shop
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  3. Woe to the nerds and geeks that know all the names to every character in the DC line up, but have no clue how to balance a check book. Avert the gaze of children from the table top player, whose fetish for modeling space marines has left him in four digit debt. Let not man, woman, or child fall victim to the expensive collecting of shiny foil upon the cardboard cards inked with beasts and elves. For all of these are the follies of the comic shop goers. But wait, how do things that bring joy and entertainment to so many cause debt and discord. For this, little Jimmy Fizzl’wits shall show us.
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  5. One day as little Jimmy was walking home; he notices a new store that has erected itself along his route home. “Butterman’s Phantasmal Keep of Comics and Games” in big bright red letters circles its large front window. Innocently enough, Jimmy walks through the large double doors into the lobby of the shop full of curiosity. He is met with several long shelves lined with comics galore. Spying one that catches his fancy, he takes it to the front counter and purchases it from the large gentle man who must be the one named Butterman. Unbeknownst to him, that first comic book purchase was the beginning to all his financial woes that shall accompany him in his early adult life.
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  7. For as time goes on, little Jimmy has now outgrow the “little”, and is now just Jimmy Fizzl’wits. Just as he has grown, so has his collection of comics and related comic novelties. So enthralled by the comics and characters, he spends most of is money on purchasing all things related and special to them. When he heads to high school, he barely has enough money for a proper lunch, having spent most of it on getting the latest issue of “Gunthok : The Wayward Warty Wuzzle” and “The adventures of Shelly Shamrock”. So is his hunger for these items, that he has paid a pretty penny for the limited edition Gunthok plastic replica battle-axe, and barrowed all the money he could from his friends to get all three special collector shirts of Shelly Shamrock.
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  9. Oh but it does not stop there sadly for Jimmy. As he spends more time hanging out at the Comic Shop, he befriends some of the players that play and sculpted their models in the back of the store. Enticed by their games and merry laughter that flutters all about the store, Mr. Fizzl’wits purchases a starter kit for one of the table top games . . . with a credit card he had just received yesterday in the mail. Thinking to himself, “Oh I can just pay this off quickly with the money from my new job at the pizza shack”. Forgetting that graduation was just around the corner, he needed to repair his old beater car, his parents asked him to purchase some items for the house, and he needed to repay his friends for lending him money.
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  11. Now poor Jimmy Fizzl’wits is paying for comics and models all on credit, due to his friends no longer letting him borrow money from them. His parents are quite upset with him that he hasn’t purchased anything for the house to help out, and his car desperately needs its brakes checked. And on top of all that, he has several bills from the credit company, cellphone company, and others that he needs to pay with what little he gets from his pizza job. BUT STILL he continues to purchase the comics, collect the models for his game, gather the paints and brushes, and just barely manages to get by each month on what little he has left over from paying off all his bills and essentials.
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  13. Is Jimmy sad? No not really, his love for these items and the friends he has made at the comic shop have all kept his disposition quite cheery even with the debt. He is slightly depressed by his poor spending habits and debt, but nothing a second job couldn’t remedy. The second job instead leads to him spending more time working, and less time enjoying his hobbies and the company of his friends.
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  15. It isn’t till Jimmy is in his mid-twenties that reality finally sets in. He is working two minimum wage jobs to pay off a large amount of debt he has created. There and then he finally stops the horrible addictions that he has created. Severely cutting back on all the comic subscriptions, laying off buying the latest and greatest models, and only buying special edition anything when he absolutely has the money to burn. Literally, money he can put in a trash can and burn with no regrets. Putting his life together, exiting his fantasy realm of pleasure, and laying axe to this dragon of debt he has created.
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  17. He now seeks out to collect free things from the comic shop or companies that make the models for his games. Jimmy reassesses the purchases and subscriptions he has, dropping all those that he can really live without. Not really breaking off going to comic shop, but instead, saving the gas and food money and not going to comic expos every time one arises.
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  19. This story may seem quite out there for an example of financial debacle of a comic shop regular, but it does happen. I, the author, have experiences some of things Jimmy has experienced, and have seen many of these things happen to quite a few people that I know or have befriended at my local comic ship. I wouldn’t want to take back any of the time or money I have spent, for it all brought me friends and lots of great memory, but I do wish I was wiser about my purchases and not have bought any of them with credit.
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  21. Hobbies and games all can be enjoyed to their fullest by any person willing to spend the time and money, but moderation is a must. Spending too much time or money can lead almost anyone into a dark place of debt and depression. Learning to curb ones appetites for delights and pleasures for their respective hobby can greatly save them from a world of pain and sadness. Simply asking the question “Do I really need or want this?” can sometimes ultimately make or break the bank.
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  23. All of this can apply to any hobbyist. It can apply to the car enthusiast who just spent several thousand on a new engine, and now can’t pay their tuition. It can apply to the computer geek that has just spent the last twenty four hours awake, working on a new operating system he has tweaked and modified. This can even apply to bird watchers that spend tons of money on equipment and transport to see a dodo.
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  25. And I know everyone loves a happy ending, Jimmy Fizzl’wits is living a happy life now. Learning from his horrible financial mistakes, he has paid off most of his debt and has even repaid all of his friends. With a lot of kisses and apologies from him, his parents have decided to help him get into college. He still spends much time at the comic shop, but less money on all his hobbies and more time just enjoying the time spent with his friends and Mr. Butterman. Jimmy also uses his life learned lessons to make sure no other person or child makes the same mistakes as him. He takes pride and happiness in defending the wallets of others from the financial woes of hanging out at a comic shop.
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