How much have you spent on gemstone last year?

[OTL]

I feel so guilty, please do not let me be alone with the guiltiness

Actually I have no idea whether we are allowed to talk about this?

 

[minousbijoux]

Good luck with replies! I can't speak for others, but this is not one that I am at all comfortable answering.

 

[OTL]

Good luck with replies! I can't speak for others, but this is not one that I am at all comfortable answering.

There might be a misunderstanding here, I don't expect anybody to leave a post, just the poll itself is anonymous right? I think it might help with self-cntrol....

 

[SapphireSun]

I wrote in my thread that one of my joys in having my sapphire is that I stayed under budget so I have no guilt or remorse. The worst is having buyer's remorse. Don't beat yourself over it! If you do have a problem with impulse buying please seek out help!

 

[greengems]

I spend more than I could afford and now I have a big 20,000$ debt to my bank wow,I can not avoid it,I am a gem addict
Best wishes

 

[chrono]

Just gems or do diamonds, settings and jewellery count?

Greengems,
Was your post serious? If so, I'm sure you know that this must be addressed. Nobody should put themselves in debt over luxury items.

 

[OTL]

Just gems or do diamonds, settings and jewellery count?

Greengems,
Was your post serious? If so, I'm sure you know that this must be addressed. Nobody should put themselves in debt over luxury items.

Although I am not on debt, but I am struggling every month to save my credit card and waiting for next paycheque ...Does that sound like something serious and needed help?

 

[OTL]

I wrote in my thread that one of my joys in having my sapphire is that I stayed under budget so I have no guilt or remorse. The worst is having buyer's remorse. Don't beat yourself over it! If you do have a problem with impulse buying please seek out help!

I think I impulse buy almost everyday

 

[OTL]

I spend more than I could afford and now I have a big 20,000$ debt to my bank wow,I can not avoid it,I am a gem addict
Best wishes

Best wishes to you greengem, you should avoid further tempatation, I should too...Come one, we can do this!

 

[NKOTB]

One of the respected lapidaries once told me that buying gems should be fun, and not cause stress! This was when I was on maternity leave, with a reduced income, and on the slippery slope of multiple layaways and lots of impulse buying. I wanted more than I could afford at that particular time, and was worried about losing out on specific stones. Well, I held off, and either those stones or better came along down the road. I know it can be hard to remember, but there will ALWAYS be another stone!

 

[FrekeChild]

$10,000,000.

Really? I have no idea.

 

[diamondringlover]

I have spent zilch on gemstones...however I did buy 1 diamond right hand ring...

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I've actually been pretty good, too busy to buy too much! And honestly, my collection is getting really close to my happy place, and so there isn't too much that I see that tempts me these days.

 

[SapphireSun]

Oh OTL and Greengems, I feel for you guys. Please do seek help if these impulse buyings are making you depressed because it seems that they're just masking something else? I'm sure it's a high when you make the purchases, but you're not happy afterwards and you'll find yourselves in financial trouble. You need to work on finding out what will make you really happy, not short term jewelry purchases. Good luck!!

 

[OTL]

The results show most of us are doing really good! And I am quiting...right after I pay the sapphire and the earrings and the cat's eye and the blue spinel and the cuprian that I just hit THE button today....

 

[AN0NYM0US]

When I feel like I may be slightly out of control I take a PS break. I don't even lurk. I just focus on something else. We just bought another house and it needs a lot of work. My bling budget for this year is $0.

 

[VapidLapid]

OTL, if you just hit the button today. then you should have a return window. Do consider returning what you can, while you can. It will make it easier. The gems are better when they don't have guilt and financial suffering attached to them. Slow down, you have a lifetime to put together your collection.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

I did not dip in to the family budget so I did good this year. I do take a break from the forums if I find myself lusting for something that is out of budget.

 

[Lula]

Fortunately, I am really timid when it comes to colored gems, so I tend to be overly conservative in my purchases. The learning curve on colored stones is incredibly steep!

 

[chrono]

It helps to stop visiting vendors' websites. After a while, you even forget to check to see what's new. Another way is to be so incredibly fussy that it takes a long time to find just the right stone.

 

[corundum_conundrum]

This might be a helpful link to those who feel they've overextended on gems. Whether its simply a matter of spending a bit more than you intended, or whether you feel that you are coping with emotions through buying, I think seeking the help of others can be very helpful. Talk with friends, family, a conselor, or a support group about how to modify behavior that you are not happy with. Its is difficult to make changes on one's own.

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/shopping-spree-addiction

 

[Kelly12]

Gemstone really costs a lot.

 

[michellechan2211]

Well, I lurk a lot (on PS) and I rarely buy XD I think living vicariously stops me from biting off more than I can chew.

 

[erinl]

It may be too late for this, but I would budget just like one would in any other area of life. How much do you feel comfortable spending in a year or a month? Probably, a lot less than the total price of the gems you want to purchase. That is a reality that I certainly deal with, and probably most of us on this board do as well.

It is so tempting because you see post after post of beautiful gems, so it seems like everybody is buying with abandon. You don't read about all the gems people didn't buy because they couldn't afford it, and you also don't often read on PS posts about how a certain gemstone maxed out their credit card or may have contributed to their financial peril.

It is also hard because we read about how gems are going up and up in price and becoming rarer and rarer. It has made me a little crazy at times and wanted to buy stones I cannot afford. I have seen a couple vendors say that a certain stone is one of the last they have, they cannot get anymore rough like it etc. If you weren't concerned about the stone's availability in the future, would you be so driven to buy it?

I have been focusing on a small number of gemstones that I really want to include in my collection. I am really really picky, so I pass over a lot of them. Ironically, I am willing to spend more on one gemstone now, but I pass over a lot that are "almost right." Frustratingly, those gemstones are the ones that get purchased in a flash, usually before I get a chance to buy them, which is good for my wallet!

 

[LD]

At the end of the day, gemstones are luxuries that you'll very rarely get back what you paid for them and are not an investment. On that basis, when you go to buy something you can't really afford, ask yourself whether you NEED it. The answer should be no and it's just a nice to have. So save up, if it's still there when you have the money, you were meant to have it.

 

[OTL]

All your kind suggestions should be helpful, but it haven't worked on me yet, I bought another 2 spinels last night....
This may sound a little maniac, but I just want to hold on stones that I like, just couldn't let them go wondering how they look IRL just have to buy them even if that means return, and now I think of it, I actually like them better when I don't have them, when they are on vendor's site, when I am expecting them to arrive. After that I probably play it for a week, and move on to seach new stones. But I can't help myself, especially when it's a very good deal! How can you let go a good deal? OK, I surely do sound like crazy...

 

[LD]

All your kind suggestions should be helpful, but it haven't worked on me yet, I bought another 2 spinels last night....
This may sound a little maniac, but I just want to hold on stones that I like, just couldn't let them go wondering how they look IRL just have to buy them even if that means return, and now I think of it, I actually like them better when I don't have them, when they are on vendor's site, when I am expecting them to arrive. After that I probably play it for a week, and move on to seach new stones. But I can't help myself, especially when it's a very good deal! How can you let go a good deal? OK, I surely do sound like crazy...

Okay look at this rationally then! Let's say you can afford £250 per month to spend on gemstones. How many really really really good gemstones are you going to get for that? Isn't it better not to bulk buy but be choosy? If I look at my early collection I have a wonderful collection of tat - and I mean tat. Native cut, highly treated rubbish that you wouldn't see in the bottom of a fish tank! Okay, I learned from that but I had the budget to do it. There weren't forums like this where I could learn when I started out so I had to educate myself. You've got the knowledge and can ask questions so use that to your advantage and don't end up having to buy fish for that tank!

 

[erinl]

I agree with LD, most of the "good deals" are really not good deals.

OTL, do you ever plan on setting your stones? Thinking of how, or if I will even set a stone has prevented me from buying a lot. It is expensive to set them, and I can only wear so many pieces of jewelry at once. And the more stones I buy the more that delays me setting anything.

I have about 6 stones I really want to set. So I have about 20 more that are not as setworthy. Some of these I have earmarked for projects for my daughter down the road (shes 4 1/2 now). Like I imagine setting a little mahenge heart for her when she is older and able to care for it. However, the other 15-20 are always in danger of being sold by me. I try to keep that in mind when contemplating a new purchase-- will it join the gem bench or be a first stringer!

I have had bursts of OCD in all kinds of hobbies, this one is pretty dangerous because it is so expensive!

I have serious hoarding tendencies in my family-- I will leave it at that. However, I have spent several of the last few years distributing and getting rid of a family member's collection. I have kind of realized that 4 of a cheaper thing do not add up to one of a great thing. This seriously influences my gem collecting.

 

[minousbijoux]

One of the things I notice is that some newcomers to PS feel a need to fit in and seek approval by buying the popular stones. At the end of the day, none of us have to live with the stones others buy. If you are buying what you see as popular on PS then you are probably paying too much; its like chasing stocks when they're doing well: everyone is doing it, so you'll likely be paying a premium.

Almost all of us who've collected for a while say the same thing: "If I could do it over again, I would've slowed down, bought less at the beginning and learned more first." There are a number of reasons people say this. They buy material that is wrong for their purpose because they didn't learn about it (for example, thinking that sphene would make a good ring stone). They let their tastes be dictated by others and buy what's popular, soon learning that just because its popular, they don't really care for it. They buy what they like and as they become more informed and knowledgable, realize that they can't live with windows or badly cut stones after all (me!). They don't differentiate shape when they buy and pretty soon realize that ovals drive them nuts - not because of that Phenomenon That Shall Not Be Named, but because they are so common and the shape drives them nuts (uh, yup, that's me again). They realize that there are almost never "once in a lifetime" opportunities that require their immediate attention; that, as someone else said earlier in this thread, if they pass on a stone, most of the time another one even better eventually comes along.

OTL, please slow down. You have seen enough stones in hand to know what you like. You have learned a lot in the short time you've been on the Board. Now your job is to find the best one you can - color, shape, clarity, cut, size - whatever is important to you. Of course, you can keep on amassing many stones, but don't you think it would be even better to have fewer high quality stones; stones you look at and say "Yes!! This is the One" rather than a bunch of stones that you look at and think: "I like the shape, but only if it was a bit more saturated..."?

I wish I would've taken my own advice - in my case, I still love many of the original stones I bought, but boy did I overpay! And for others, how did I not notice the window when I bought it?

 

[pregcurious]

Another way is to be so incredibly fussy that it takes a long time to find just the right stone.

I fully agree with this. I also have several loose stones, and it bothers me that they are not set. This makes me concentrate on saving money for settings. I find that settings take a lot of thought, and are not impulse buys; this actually saves me money because I have to think a lot before buying (i.e., it takes time, and I avoid impulse buying.)