4. You Have To Justify Every New Purchase
There are no two ways about it; video games and consoles are expensive. It's sad but true and avid gamers nowadays have to plan their purchase schedule for the year in advance to make sure all crucial new titles on their lists can be bought upon release. For these keen gamers it's just a question of managing spending at certain times to make sure the purchase can be made right away. For some unfortunate players, however, it's not as simple as this. If you're a gamer who has recently found themselves having to sacrifice a game related purchase for something "practical" or "essential" then you may be facing a problem. Younger gamers without families and responsibilities don't have to worry too much about how expensive their gaming habit is. Of course cashflow can be a limiting factor on a teenager's gaming, but as long as there's birthday money from doting relatives and Saturday morning work at a café this can be easily sustained. However, when the more responsible gamers among us may find themselves more and more having to rationalise their purchases. I myself have been guilty of doing this; at times when money's been tight I've had to seriously consider the feasibility of certain games as investments and judge whether they're really value for money - how long will I keep playing it for etc etc. Sadly gamers will all face a point when these rationalisations aren't enough and whatever justifications we may conjure up just won't be enough to coerce the money out of our kid's college fund and into a video game stores tills. .