Since I have been collecting lighting, I have been falling into credit card debt a number of times and had a compulsive lamp purchasing addiction because of lamp bans and discontinuations across the world and having the urge to stock up on traditional lamps since I have a desire to use them every day in my future home.

Has anyone fallen into debt all because of compulsively collecting lamps and fixtures and spending too much money on them?

Sounds like you need to cut up your credit cards and never touch one again.

Well I have to confess that I was a little low on money recently, and thought if it is really a good idea or not to buy a box of my beloved surplus color metal halides. Did it anyway, hehe (pictures to follow, some interesting specimens here). 

But going into credit debt? A big no-no for me!

Hello,

I found the hobby by side activities like giving afterschool classes or similar things. But also by buying and reselling stuff or repairing electronics. This money goes in the hobby pot, and when it's empty, it's empty.  I generally don't use my day to day money for the hobby. It would never come to my mind to use my credit card to buy stuff on pump.
It's just not worth it to ruin your life. At the end you collect something because it's hobby. And at ends is just some fancy shaped glas with gas filling and metal impurities. There is no sense in having a hobby without having a functioning life-a home-family-food.
At then end you have to arrive at the point, when the pot is empty it is empty. finished. You cannot save everything nor can you own everything.
Apart from that my Advise would be to make yourself a bucket list. For example I want:

Osram HBO with palladium heat shield
Soviet reflector incandescent
Soviet metal halide
large UV source (several kW)
Osram Na/10 spectral lamp
osram HCI-TS 250W
Philips CDM-T250W
...

So i systematically search for these lamps. The average price at the wholesaler varies from $25 to $2.500. I set myself a pain limit for example:
HBO lamp may be used. Max price $75 + shipping 
Also for example, a single CDM-T250W lamp is around $40. If there is a 5 lamp set for $100 I will buy that. I will resell 4 lamps for 35$ by that i not only got my lamp but actually also made a bit of profit.
 
So i declared clear rules how i will do it. And I will be able to emphasize what it will cost and when i will be able to finalize the purchase.
I do not search for lamps generically. You find too much stuff you do not have. You think its only a bit. $5 her, $15 the somewhere els $3.99... and at the end you will see wow, many small things add up...

If you perfect however the planning system, you alway have so much fluid money, that when this Sunday at the flea-market i find a 1905 double carbon filament lamp for $40 i can buy it. Or maybe I can buy the decommissioned 2kW MH ballast from the local sport team for $20 because they changed to LED.

best regards,

Alex

I hope I am not late here, but from my perspective the main issue with my MA SOX project is not really financial, but more of frustration as I have spent over five years finding a highway authority who will supply me the parts to restore full-length MA90, MA50 and MA60. Perhaps I will know for sure about the energy costs, when I turn on the lanterns for the first time.

Sounds like you need to cut up your credit cards and never touch one again.

Did that a few years ago when we finally managed to get debt-free. Never spend money you don't have is my advice.

Long time ago I used to think I need this, that and theese lamps in large quantities since I will going to be using those one day there, there and there. All these years later I've realized that it's not going to happen. I have never taken a loan or used credit for lamps but there are few times in the past when money used for lamps could have been used better.

I have also realized that in the end, if used as intended, the amount of spare lamps I need is way less than I have. All the excess lamps just take up space.

I’m collecting lamps now for about 35 years and in all these years I’ve built a solid acquaintanceship with all the utility companies around me since my childhood and I could even strengten them when I started to work as a power grid electrician and light planner. Most of the lamps and all kind of fixtures I got for free or at least I had to pay a very few money. In my teen age I had to work for getting expensive HID lamps or provide some replacement parts for defective street lights as a trade and that helped to expand my collection and learn to work even if it was somehow illegal as I was mostly under the age of 16.

Now I sometimes buy lamps at our local auction sites but even here I’m paying not much. I never took out any loans as it is not a common practice in general.

I know of an American collector who has been collecting incandescent lamps for roughly 67 years and has been collecting fluorescent lamps for about 54 years!!!!

Here is a documentary about him:

https://youtu.be/Qk9MGW-tbGc

(Reeling back in the topic)

Sounds like you need a budget! ( https://www.ynab.com/ )

I have a pot where I put spending items such as lighting, and make sure not to overspend.
I assign 20% of money to it each time I get paid (which is usually bi-weekly).
Currently, I am living with my parents (which also limits the amount of space I have available),
so I don't have any other expenses to worry about. The rest goes to savings and tithe (which is 10%).
I plan to only use cash, or when cash is impractical, a check.
I may use a credit card (with a spending limit) for a month or two to build a credit score, though.

With this plan, it should make it so that I never go in debt (except for big things like a house).

Looks a bit like the program we use, Ace Money, although ours is PC based. We always know to the penny how much money we have in all our bank accounts, and even the cash in our purses 

 All of my eBay purchases are made using an eBay pre-paid gift card . I spend a set amount on the card . When the card is empty , I'm done until next payday ! Besides , I'm still really nervous of using credit cards online !! This way , if someone hacks my card , All they'll get is the small balance on the card !

Thanks to a little something called trash picking, I've rarely had financial issues.
While trash picking, I also do street scrapping which is my main income right now and it really pays off.
More recently, I've started to collect bottles and cans so I'm ready to go for when Victoria's 10c refund scheme starts on November 1.