I recently moved into my first ever, pay-your-own-bills, MY apartment. It's a tiny little place that's old and apparently terribly energy inefficient. I got my first electric bill and it was OUTRAGEOUS, like the price of 2 Imperial Raiders I was going to preorder on MM. And I realized...

I might not be able to get the Imperial Raider EVER. At least not for a while... Is this adulting? I don't like it.

If you don't like it, then it's an adult thing.

Ha ha! Welcome to adultland! You will swiftly learn to manage a budget. Or get a second job...

Second job? I'd rather have a second Imperial huge ship.

"With ships this big, we don't need jobs." -- FFG Design Team on the Imperial Raider

Turn the heat down.

After about 15 years as an "adult" I've learned that it's better to forgo lunch to buy toys. It also keeps me in pretty good shape.

Turn the heat down.

Pretend your on hoth.

Turn the heat down.

Pretend your on hoth.

Sleep inside a tauntaun

As a college Junior, I'm not looking forward to this whole "adulthood" thing. It's progressively getting worse already.

Turn the heat down.

Pretend your on hoth.

Sleep inside a tauntaun

As a college Junior, I'm not looking forward to this whole "adulthood" thing. It's progressively getting worse already.

They expect you to PAY for stuff. And I'm not just talking rent and food. Shampoo? Gotta buy it. Toothbrushes? Cost money. Toilet paper? You better start cutting back.

Also I hesitate to call it "heat" because I rarely turn it up over 63, and I've begun turning it off at nights. But I refuse to go full Hoth until FFG gives me Snowspeeders!

Turn the heat down.

Pretend your on hoth.

Sleep inside a tauntaun

As a college Junior, I'm not looking forward to this whole "adulthood" thing. It's progressively getting worse already.

If you do well in college, you can get a good job and be able to both do the the adulthood thing and afford the Raider.

Switching to more energy efficient lighting goes a long way as does covering your windows to prevent heat loss. Your energy bill in the winter (depending on where you live) will be dramatically higher but you'll see a nice cut down in the summer, so that's your time to buy. Alternatively sell your organs, I got a buddy who needs a kidney.

Turn the heat down.

Pretend your on hoth.

In all seriousness: this!

I lived in Pittsburgh for grad school and learned to wear several layers of clothing, and I still have the fingerless woolen hobo gloves that I used to wear while typing papers. Heat really is a luxury that you can get by without.

And yeah, sometimes a funky narrative in your brain, like pretending you're on Hoth, can make it more fun.

First you get the studies

Then you get the job

Finally you get the raider... or the girl­... or if you're lucky, a girl who will accept your love of X-Wing and let you buy a Raider

Eating out less can save money, as well.

Also, learn to bargain shop, and ask for things like Amazon gift cards. I bought two Most Wanteds, two IG2000s and a StarViper for about $15 out of my own pocket, along with the opportunity cost of not using those gift cards for other things. I also bought my Tantive and GR75 through gift cards and waiting for sales. It helps make an expensive habit a lot more affordable, and frees up cash to spend on other things at the FLGS.

Pretend your on hoth.

Sleep inside a tauntaun

Here you go.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/bb2e/

It's the light saber zipper pull that makes it art.

I think you'll also find that the Raider isn't a real necessity.

This game remains really good value, even at lower levels of investment, which you've probably already invested in. It's probably an overall better idea for you to not only scrimp by turning down the heat and investing in energy efficiency, but to take that savings you make and keep it in savings.

Because there's another part of adult life: unforeseen circumstances. You'll want to be covered for those.

I recently moved into my first ever, pay-your-own-bills, MY apartment. It's a tiny little place that's old and apparently terribly energy inefficient. I got my first electric bill and it was OUTRAGEOUS, like the price of 2 Imperial Raiders I was going to preorder on MM. And I realized...

I might not be able to get the Imperial Raider EVER. At least not for a while... Is this adulting? I don't like it.

Eh no worries young one... once you have your first "professional" job making decent scratch, you can buy all the toys you've ever wanted for the most part lol.

I have an actual theory on this that I have shared with my buds; I've been going to the San Diego Comic Con for almost 10 years now, 7-8 years ago getting a badge was simple and there were more than enough to come by... then something odd happened... all us 30 somethings who grew up in the pop culture 80s era of Star Wars, Transformers, etc. started making decent cheddar and all of the sudden you cant buy a pass to SDCC for less than 5 hunsky. Point is, the money will come and when it does you'll have all the toys you could possibly want...

but then you'll probably have a spouse by then that makes you hide all of your collectible sh*t away anyways due to the embarrassment it may cause lol... so you're pretty hosed with or without money.

came expecting porn

was disappointed

Switching to more energy efficient lighting goes a long way as does covering your windows to prevent heat loss. Your energy bill in the winter (depending on where you live) will be dramatically higher but you'll see a nice cut down in the summer, so that's your time to buy. Alternatively sell your organs, I got a buddy who needs a kidney.

I live in Arizona and have an average sized house. Our summer electric bill will be around $225. That's keeping the house just under 80 degrees. But our winter electric bill is hardly ever more than $40.

I recently moved into my first ever, pay-your-own-bills, MY apartment. It's a tiny little place that's old and apparently terribly energy inefficient. I got my first electric bill and it was OUTRAGEOUS, like the price of 2 Imperial Raiders I was going to preorder on MM. And I realized...

I might not be able to get the Imperial Raider EVER. At least not for a while... Is this adulting? I don't like it.

but then you'll probably have a spouse by then that makes you hide all of your collectible sh*t away anyways due to the embarrassment it may cause lol... so you're pretty hosed with or without money.

Having been married almost 19 years, I think that hookers might be cheaper in the long run, unless you want kids. And as soon as you get the wife and budget thing figured out, kids will wreck any budget.

I promise I love my wife and kids though.

I recently moved into my first ever, pay-your-own-bills, MY apartment. It's a tiny little place that's old and apparently terribly energy inefficient. I got my first electric bill and it was OUTRAGEOUS, like the price of 2 Imperial Raiders I was going to preorder on MM. And I realized...

I might not be able to get the Imperial Raider EVER. At least not for a while... Is this adulting? I don't like it.

Eh no worries young one... once you have your first "professional" job making decent scratch, you can buy all the toys you've ever wanted for the most part lol.

I have an actual theory on this that I have shared with my buds; I've been going to the San Diego Comic Con for almost 10 years now, 7-8 years ago getting a badge was simple and there were more than enough to come by... then something odd happened... all us 30 somethings who grew up in the pop culture 80s era of Star Wars, Transformers, etc. started making decent cheddar and all of the sudden you cant buy a pass to SDCC for less than 5 hunsky. Point is, the money will come and when it does you'll have all the toys you could possibly want...

but then you'll probably have a spouse by then that makes you hide all of your collectible sh*t away anyways due to the embarrassment it may cause lol... so you're pretty hosed with or without money.

I had to lol at that. When we got our house I told my wife that I was going to put up some posters in my office. Little did she know that meant about 10 posters, a giant map of the world and a shelf full of my collectibles. Needless to say, she keeps that door closed when we have company over.

Turn the heat down.

Pretend your on hoth.

Sleep inside a tauntaun

As a college Junior, I'm not looking forward to this whole "adulthood" thing. It's progressively getting worse already.

If you do well in college, you can get a good job and be able to both do the the adulthood thing and afford the Raider.

Lolololololololol

I recently moved into my first ever, pay-your-own-bills, MY apartment. It's a tiny little place that's old and apparently terribly energy inefficient. I got my first electric bill and it was OUTRAGEOUS, like the price of 2 Imperial Raiders I was going to preorder on MM. And I realized...

I might not be able to get the Imperial Raider EVER. At least not for a while... Is this adulting? I don't like it.

Eh no worries young one... once you have your first "professional" job making decent scratch, you can buy all the toys you've ever wanted for the most part lol.

I have an actual theory on this that I have shared with my buds; I've been going to the San Diego Comic Con for almost 10 years now, 7-8 years ago getting a badge was simple and there were more than enough to come by... then something odd happened... all us 30 somethings who grew up in the pop culture 80s era of Star Wars, Transformers, etc. started making decent cheddar and all of the sudden you cant buy a pass to SDCC for less than 5 hunsky. Point is, the money will come and when it does you'll have all the toys you could possibly want...

but then you'll probably have a spouse by then that makes you hide all of your collectible sh*t away anyways due to the embarrassment it may cause lol... so you're pretty hosed with or without money.

I had to lol at that. When we got our house I told my wife that I was going to put up some posters in my office. Little did she know that meant about 10 posters, a giant map of the world and a shelf full of my collectibles. Needless to say, she keeps that door closed when we have company over.

You felt my pain through that eh

I recently moved into my first ever, pay-your-own-bills, MY apartment. It's a tiny little place that's old and apparently terribly energy inefficient. I got my first electric bill and it was OUTRAGEOUS, like the price of 2 Imperial Raiders I was going to preorder on MM. And I realized...

I might not be able to get the Imperial Raider EVER. At least not for a while... Is this adulting? I don't like it.

Is this life advice time? It feels like life advice time!

First: you are never going to marry the most awesome woman in the world, because I already did.

Turn the lights off in rooms you're not in. And the heat doesn't need to be higher than ~65. And Air Conditioning costs even more than heating does. Also: your drier is freaking expensive to run. Holy chao is it expensive! If you have a desktop PC, turn that off also, when you're not using it.

Debt: debt is how people own your soul. Debt is ok, if you can actually cover all your debt with cash on hand, but as a rule, debt is a monster that will perpetuate itself.

Don't kid yourself about how effective Torpedos are. They offer a terrible ROI.