World Economics And Stamps

I see in the news that many countries have an unemployment rate of 20% plus at present. I know what pain this can cause. That is for sure!

Have these current times stopped or slowed your ability to continue to add to your stamp collection?

Just interested! KGV

Although I still have my job, I certainly feel the recession in my wallet. I used to buy stamps for my classic Germany collection quite frequently, but over the last period I've had to cut back on the expenses on those. Don't like it, but I can't spend what I don't have.

Hi and Welcome Tinus NL!

In Australia we are not in recession and job security is high with unemployment at 5%.

But the cost of living has gone up on everything dramatically.
This has cut 80% of my stamp budget. I also can not buy very many of the stamps I love to collect.
But it really makes me appreciate the stamps I already have. John

We are always a little strapped for cash, with a young family, etc. So I don't have much to spend on anything. For me its about being creative with your cash and making the most of what you have. Trades on SCF are great and a very sociable way for me to add to my collection. And as John says, making the most of what I have and all I can learn about them. I am allowed the occasional "treat", but my limit is just a few pounds every now and again. I think SCF is great value! All that philatelic knowledge and info, well worth a few pounds of my stamp budget for a donation.

I have not purchased a stamp in the last year.

Many, many of us are in the same boat.
stampgal! SCF is good value for stamping.

I'm not working now that's why I spend so much time on SCF staying at home and waiting for a phone call. I accumulate so much stamps in my stockbooks that putting them in my albums or makings pages for my topical collections can keep me busy for a long time. I shouldn't spend on stamps but lately at the dealer I bought Iceland mnh stamps from year 2000 and onward at 50% cat value. Couldn't resist... It's true when things goes well I spend allot on stamps. For those who say I am crazy I tell them that I don't owned a car witch over a year makes you spend allot of money. I bicycle, take the bus and metro, and rarely the taxi. And most of all I don't watch tv for hours every night. That can get me depress but keeping busy with my stamps doesn't. Daniel

Yep! Stampers are definitely thinking people!

Having the ability to restructure!

To make, positive again!

Some great replies,
I have enjoyed reading peoples experiences
filled with candor.
Buying an expensive stamp won't keep you happy for too
long, if it did, we would all be saving up
It's just the nature of the beast, recognise desire
then dismiss it.
There's lots of fantastic fun to be had with junk stamps,
every one a little story, waiting to be heard.

My stamp budget (modest) seems pretty much the same year after year..i am not a material person..our home is paid for..except for school taxes of course...stamps are really about my only outlet...i would rather have them than a boat, classic car, etc; etc; etc;

Since I've only restarted recently I spent a bit of money to make up for some of the lost years, and also to build on my Swedish, Norwegian and Canadian collections. But luckily I had money already saved up when I restarted so it wasn't a big problem.

But even though the recession hasn't hit me directly (yet), it's becoming more and more necessary to save a bit more than I do every month just in case.

So my budget for the near future will be reduced to my subscriptions to some Postal Administrations and the occasional purchase online. Can't exaggerate.

But sometimes it's hard to control oneself, especially when you don't have that stamp!

The more and more I continue in the stamping world the more I become interested in understanding the history behind the stamps I have (who's/what's on the stamp, why did they do the stamp). Stamps are a wonderful mirror of society and history, and I can't really think of anything except books that gives you the same thing, not even coins.

Andrew, at first the stamp seems to be the thing..but when we stick with it for many years other things begin to reveal themselves... I found myself reading more about stamps than actually hands on working with them...a true love begins...a lifetime is not enough for all the learning thats out there..look at the truly "valuable" stamps...we can not posess them..but we can enjoy viewing and reading about them !!

Phil, I already feel myself going that way. Sure I'd like to have the stamps I like but I know it'll be a near impossible task to do that because the more I see the more I realize there's too much out there!
But the more I see, the more I marvel about stamps.
I buy the stamps, put them in the albums or stockbooks and occasionally pick them up and browse through but more and more I see myself looking at my collection lists, picking up the name of the stamp and going to google, wikipedia or something to understand what the stamp is about, why it might have been issued in that particular year, and particular day, and that's when it becomes interesting.

I have been doing that for new issues already and posting them online, and it's just incredible how much you learn because of a stamp. One example is a set coming out from Portugal about the Peninsular Wars. A series of 2 stamps plus a souvenir sheet, depicting 4 battles from the Iberian Peninsula Wars during Napoleons rage through Europe. I went in search of the 4 battles on the net and learned so much. At times, I feel ashamed when I end up feeling happier about what I learned then the beautiful stamps that made me do the research! hahaha

However, I can't really understand the fascination about the Classics (topic for another thread probably). For example, for Canada I love the pictorial issues form the 1920s with the RCMP horseman, Bluenose, landscapes from Canada, Confederation meetings, etc, but have not appreciated yet the King George or Queen Victoria stamps. I'm not much of a Portrait stamp fan... maybe that's it. I do appreciate the Posthorn stamps in Norway because of the color variations and how they've changed throughout the years!

And now I'll shut up! LOL

What recession?

Barry Soetoro {Barack Obama) said it ended nine months ago?

I just live thrifty - use coupons, watch for sales and don't waste.

One of the great things about Stamp Collecting is that no matter your income there's always something affordable to collect. About a year ago I was between jobs and very cash starved but nevertheless there were always a few extra dollars around (and by few I literally mean a few!) and so I began buying 2-3 dollar lots off ebay while I bided my time. None of these lots were anything remarkable, most people would consider them "rubbish", and yet still these "rubbish items" brought me the same joy and entertainment that I now experience buying 20, 30, and 100 dollar lots off the same site. The recession has undoubtedly affected all collectible markets with premium items now trading for significantly less than they would in an otherwise strong economy (just watch the Antiques Roadshow nowadays where no valuation is quoted without being prefaced by the words "well the economy is in a downturn...") but still I think almost all except the most elite of us will find some area of their collection to complete even if its only of nominal monetary value.