Spending habits since Pandemic declaration by WHO

[nrslam | 477]

My fixed costs have been about the same, as expected, but discretionary spending is way down.  Since I mostly only buy games from thrifts, garage sales, and flea markets, and those are all closed, I haven't spent a dime on my collection since early March.  Restaurant, gas, movie, and other expenses are all down, too. My last two credit card statements have shown ~75% reduction in charges and I know I'm not burning thru cash as fast, but things like utilities, taxes, and insurance are the same.

[zeppelin03 | 314]

2 hours ago, arch_8ngel said:

I'm enjoying it.  Yes, you can DIY the hardware and software with something like FreeNAS, but the Synology software is quite good and very user-friendly.

I picked up a DS218+ on sale, as an entry-level device, just to see how much I'd like it.

If I'd known it would work this well, I probably would have sprung for the DS918+ to have the 2 extra bays for later.

The important thing is getting one with the Intel chipsets, though since I don't have mine connected to the internet for off-site use, there is no real need to use any of the transcoding capabilities.

 

 

If you already use Plex, these things supposedly make great plex servers.  I've just been using their built-in video-station software (pipes to "DS Video" as a front-end on Roku, PC, and Android and calls into VLC if the built-in codecs can't handle a file on their own), and I have been happier with that than I ever was with Kodi on my media center.

I'm glad to hear you like the built in player.  Kodi seems nice but visually isn't too great.  The different customizations I've done haven't helped it look user-friendly. Plex handles that a lot better but I don't like Plex pass or some of the way things stream.

 

If their built in stuff can direct stream with subtitles it could be perfect for me.  Also a UI that my wife doesn't hate is a plus.

Edited May 15, 2020 by zeppelin03

[GPX | 1,376]

Personally, I work in the health sector and have been working continually throughout the Covid19 situation. So the income has been essentially unaffected. 

What has changed is more my lack of motivation to engage in buying things of leisure. I think most likely I’m distracted in focusing more in looking after my health, the health of parents and immediate family, close friends and just people involved in the workplace. Perhaps also distracted in trying to find a shop that has readily available toilet paper and tissues! Funny story, I saw toilet paper at a local shop for the first time in like 3 months, several stacks of them. I actually felt shocked and surprised to see so many toilet paper for the first time in yonks! 

I still buy on a weekly occasion, but certainly the overall spending on games is less.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

4 hours ago, zeppelin03 said:

I'm glad to hear you like the built in player.  Kodi seems nice but visually isn't too great.  The different customizations I've done haven't helped it look user-friendly. Plex handles that a lot better but I don't like Plex pass or some of the way things stream.

 

If their built in stuff can direct stream with subtitles it could be perfect for me.  Also a UI that my wife doesn't hate is a plus.

It works with subtitles just fine assuming you rip the movies correctly.

 

I just use MakeMKV and keep everything in that container format.

[zeppelin03 | 314]

27 minutes ago, arch_8ngel said:

It works with subtitles just fine assuming you rip the movies correctly.

 

I just use MakeMKV and keep everything in that container format.

Same. Haven't bothered with handbrake since hard drives are so cheap.

 

Thanks for the info.

[Tanooki | 4,972]

Can't speak for anyone else here, but I put a lot less, could be that last one even.  It''s a guess though.  I've slowed, but it's also in part just a lack of interest coupled with what others on another thread touched on the whole asinine pandemic tax basically with games going irrationally up overnight.  I've bought little, and if second had stores locally were around locally things probably would be a bit different as I don't avoid deals, but in the end I don't know.  Since I hunt for little specifically now it's impossible to say.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

11 hours ago, zeppelin03 said:

Same. Haven't bothered with handbrake since hard drives are so cheap.

 

Thanks for the info.

I would be keeping the raw rips anyway, so handbrake only gets used if the original disc had a weird format.

I think Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is the only movie I have had to handbrake so far to get it to play on a Roku.  Most stuff are common enough codecs that it isn't needed.

 

Once I need to upgrade my setup, I may switch to having a separate disc of handbrake recodes for tablets, so that things are ready to copy to devices for car trips.  

But on the home network, the bandwidth is high enough that transcodes just aren't needed.

[zeppelin03 | 314]

27 minutes ago, arch_8ngel said:

I would be keeping the raw rips anyway, so handbrake only gets used if the original disc had a weird format.

I think Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is the only movie I have had to handbrake so far to get it to play on a Roku.  Most stuff are common enough codecs that it isn't needed.

 

Once I need to upgrade my setup, I may switch to having a separate disc of handbrake recodes for tablets, so that things are ready to copy to devices for car trips.  

But on the home network, the bandwidth is high enough that transcodes just aren't needed.

I've started keeping a separate folder of encodes.  It came in handy on a trip to Japan.  All those small files kept us from buying plane wifi.

A robocopy script mirrors any changes to the drives to an external. I should probably run it again now that I am thinking about it.

My hope is one day I can cut a few streaming services and do it all locally. I have a habit of watching the same stuff anyhow.

Edited May 16, 2020 by zeppelin03

[GPX | 1,376]

Interesting poll thus far. About 15% of the members here are spending more in the recent few months, as opposed to 85% who are spending the same amount or less than their typical spending. If general members here are overall spending less, how come recent auction prices are seemingly going at crazy higher rates? Anyone else confused?

[Gloves | 11,997]

17 minutes ago, GPX said:

Interesting poll thus far. About 15% of the members here are spending more in the recent few months, as opposed to 85% who are spending the same amount or less than their typical spending. If general members here are overall spending less, how come recent auction prices are seemingly going at crazy higher rates? Anyone else confused?

Keep in mind a lot of people responded to this poll prior to the USA getting stimulus cheques. Further, the people here don't necessarily represent the majority of auction bidders. 

[GPX | 1,376]

55 minutes ago, Gloves said:

Keep in mind a lot of people responded to this poll prior to the USA getting stimulus cheques. Further, the people here don't necessarily represent the majority of auction bidders. 

When did the US get their stimulus cheques?

It seems likely the auction bidders aren’t reflective of the members on here. Which is a bit concerning to think that some would-be speculators are happy to chuck up crazy bids without coming onto forums such as this one to better educate on their speculation. Perhaps they’re simply relying on Pawn Stars to help with their evaluation on prices? 

[Mega Tank | 991]

44 minutes ago, GPX said:

When did the US get their stimulus cheques?

The checks have been going out for some time now, but there was not one single specific date for everyone to receive their check. There are a few factors that could affect the delivery:  physical check or direct deposit into your account, correct address/account number and many more factors and then many more complicated factors such as people who are no longer living together etc.

Edited May 19, 2020 by Mega Tank

[Tanooki | 4,972]

10 hours ago, GPX said:

Interesting poll thus far. About 15% of the members here are spending more in the recent few months, as opposed to 85% who are spending the same amount or less than their typical spending. If general members here are overall spending less, how come recent auction prices are seemingly going at crazy higher rates? Anyone else confused?

We're smarter than your usual ebay con men marks.

 

The stimulus package depending how you get paid I think the last of them went out this week or last.  People who are normally taxed and use direct deposit got it the day they started or very close to it.  Those who don't normally file taxes, file them for social security and other entitlement handout programs, those who refuse to do direct deposit and do it all manually with paper still and stamps, they'll have that money now or anytime very soon.  That's why it wasn't like some 1-2wk bubble of stupidity waffling around ebay and the sort and it has come off as sustained for over a month it's because the money was spread out.