Poll: Has Inflation Impacted Your Stamp Collecting Efforts?

I'm enjoying the fruits of working 60 years so now I buy whatever I want to.

To say that is to diminish the collecting efforts of young people. You don't think I wish I could buy as I wish? With the world going the way it's going I'll likely never have big money saved in the bank to buy thousand dollar stamps. It's a shame that a hobby like this should have a cost of entry. The way prices on stuff keeps rising just shocks me, for example I was doing some catting of early Thailand and in my 2017 pdf the price on one stamp is 125$. In my 2021 Classic it's 200$. Cmon

I doubt that Thailand example has anything to do with general inflation. Southeast and South Asia is developing and people get wealTheir. As people from that region get more disposable income, they can afford buying stamps their countries issued, Where formerly the stamps were bought by a few American and European collectors, now demand is high 'at home' among a larger population interested in local postal history.

Interesting results thus far with 36% of respondents saying that inflation has impacted their stamp collecting to some degree and the balance not feeling any impact. I had no idea what to expect but thought that given the need for disposable income to engage in any collecting hobby a good percentage of respondents would not find inflation to be a factor in their collecting decisions. 36% is not a trifling percentage and I wonder if that increases as time goes on with inflation unabated and the economy of at least the United States in recession. There are so many variables and factors in play that this simple poll raises more questions than it answers but I thank everyone for their responses.

PS: Personally, I have cut back on discretionary spending for things such as hobbies. In the Northeast it now costs almost $1400 dollars to fill a 275-gallon heating oil tank, electric bills have increased by 25% in MA (new regulated adjustment), gasoline remains high and of course there is the cost of groceries which is now well exceeding the rate of inflation.

I will survive but many of my neighbors in my small town of 1,000 people are hurting badly. For them the inflation "tax" is particularly cruel. None of them collect anything except perhaps recyclable cans and bottles from the roadside.

PPS: Please keep responding and thank you again if you have already participated.

I'm retired, my cost of living is increasing, income isn't, and my investments are approaching a melt down. Most of what I need for my collecting interest is on the high-price side. So...yep I'm probably not inclined to spend as freely as in the past. But I'll still keep looking for some unrecognized treasures that are out there.

I was one of the ones that said "not at all".
The current state of the economy and inflation HAS impacted me, as it has impacted most people in some way.
The factory I work at has been directly affected by it. They can not get raw materials or parts fast enough, so production has slowed tremendously. And customers just aren't ordering electric motors. All of this has made it so that we are only working 3-4 days a week (8 hour days). So, yeah, it affects me monetarily, in general.
However, since I've never been one to spend large amounts of money on individual stamps, I can still find bargains even on my newly restricted budget. It helps to be an opportunistic buyer, and just wait until bargains present themselves to me. The last "larger" collection I bought, like 3 years ago, I am STILL working my way through. At that time I told myself I needed to slow down on big purchases until I get somewhat caught up with what I had.
Also, more than a year ago I stocked up on mounts, hinges, printer paper and an extra toner cartridge. I could literally work on what I have for the next 5 years and not run out of material or supplies.
I only go to 1-2 shows a year anyway, so that hasn't changed either.
The one thing that has really been affected is the amount of extra time I have to play with my stamps. Since I am only working 3-4 days a week, it does allow me to have much more free stamp time.
In a nutshell, it hasn't affected my hobby with regards to my hobby spending.

Likewise, I still have drawers and boxes of auction lots unopened from 6 years ago.

I also stocked up on Toner ($13 a refill)
and half way through my 5Kg box of mounts.

It feels all so strange, a few years ago, there were queues of the unemployed.
now, we cannot find a tradesman anywhere.

The next town over, a lady is advertising $5,000 cash to erect her kit garage,
19 weeks in, still no takers.

My situation is the same as Al Gator. I don't expect to buy a stamp until well into 2023 and it's going to be a lean, modest Christmas. I have been deleting auction house emails without reading them to avoid temptation and tossing newly received catalogues into the bin without opening the envelope. Until my 401(k) recovers, I'm on a diet, and I estimate that present economic policies have added three years to my retirement timing.

I am retired/disabled and on a fixed budget. Prices for food, gas, clothing and just about everything as gone up and left less money for stamps. Inflation has changed how I collect somewhat, but not much.

To me, the effect of inflation has to take in how or why you collect. I find my greatest joy in the hobby in sorting and organizing stamps. I love getting 1,000s or even 100s of stamps and putting them in order. I don't care about stamp value or completing a country from first issue to last and having every stamp issued. I am a topical/thematic collector and pick and choose what I want to keep. The rest goes into a box, never to see the light of day as far as I care.

However, because of the raising cost of stamps and life essentials, I am not buying as much as before. Instead, I get to spend more time working with what I have and creating/designing my own album pages. I have also started doing more research and learning about specific stamps I might want to buy.

So I guess I could say that inflation has made me more focused in my collecting. I'm more deliberate and cautious in my spending and not just buying everything I see.