How do you afford your bills?

[penguini]

I only have 2 accounts, and I still don't understand how you people who 5-box afford it. I mean thats several thousand $ for the computers, $75 a month for accounts, plus the $100 to start 5 non BC accounts. Now while my job does pay, it doesn't pay THAT good. Ya'll must have extremely good jobs, I know Xzin does since he owns a business(es).

[mmcookies]

let me ask you this instead
how easily do you accumulate gold in wow without farming?
some people spend money as fast as (or faster than) they can get it
for those people, it doesn't matter how much they make, it won't ever be enough

on the other hand, $75 a month shouldn't be a big deal even if you're making only $15/hour
(unless you have a family or high maint gf)

i know someone who used to order pizza every weekend, now he only does it once a month.
that's $60+ right there, plus he's eating much healthier.

[keyclone]

multi-boxing software solutions (keyclone) can also keep your costs down. instead of paying 5 * 1500 ($7500) for your setup... you can get away with 3 machines... one in the middle for your main, and a left & right setup running 2 each in split screen. 3 screen total. that brings your hardware cost down to $4500.. saving $3000.

some people run 3 per box... dropping costs further... adding more boxes as they can

also, remember to 'recruit-a-friend' for your clone accounts... saving you at least 4 months on your main.

[Zaelar]

I spent less than $2000 on hardware, and only a small fraction of that was for wow(a ram upgrade). My two computers get used for things other than boxing, and the main reason I'm now 5-boxing is because of the second computer that I got for unrelated reasons. 3 accounts were $80 each(w/ bc upgrade), last two only $20 each(no bc on them yet). I only recently upgraded to a five box, so I've only been spending $45 a month on accounts, which will be $75 starting November.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Along with what others have stated:

Wow subs per month = $75USD or so
PC equipment = free or very inexpensive if you work in or make friends in the PC industry
Power bills = not enough to waste much time calculating

Now, consider the cost of other things you do outside of WoW.

PC games = $39-60 for a few days of playtime, not including online fees
Console games = $60 each
One night at the pub = $100 easy
Dinner at a decent steak restaurant = $40 (per day; one person)
Dinner at a cheap steak restaurant = $20 (per day; one person)
Lunch at most decent restaurants = $30 (per day; one person)
Satellite/cable/FiOS TV = $39-100/month
Internet broadband = $50-100/month (sorry, basic cheapie DSL won't do it for 5-boxing)

The point is that you can very easily save enough money to pay for this hobby by cutting out a few other non-needed spending habits if you're that close on money.

[Bradster]

I still don't understand how you people who 5-box afford it.

Here's a write up on why I Box, mostly because I don't have much money.
http://www.bradster.net/fivebox.htm

Short version. I work 2nd shift. When I get home nothing is open. Nothing to spend money on. Only option I have at that hour is goto the bar. Which I'd spend way more then $70 one night there.

For me it's a money saver.

[zanthor]

I'm a geek, I have three PC's in my house right now, and enough parts to build another one or two depending on what works...

Every 6-12 months I upgrade my PC, some component gets replaced, some component gets moved down to my 2nd machine, and that cascades to the 3rd one... spare parts depending on their quality are either compiled into another machine and given away or saved for repairs...

As far as the subscriptions, I spend $30 on a cheap date at the movies with my girl... that gives us two hours, maybe three, of entertainment... I spend $60 on WoW accounts per month, that gives us 6-8 hours per week of entertainment together...

Saves me money hands down.

[beyond-tec]

a night at the club = 10 - 15€ to get in + 30 € for drinks.
a night at a cafe / bar = 30-50€ for drinks

I've done this every friday and saturday before I started with WoW.

8x 40€ = 320€


WoW = 12,99 € / each account

12,99 x 5 = 64,95


when you paid the WoW Keys and the BC Expansion it's quiet cheap.
64,95 € / month = 16 € / week

where can you have so much fun for 16€ a week? :)

[Zseth]

I just have my sugar-momma work for all the bills and I just pay for my computer entertainment value. Lol, nah, I have a pretty good paying job and receive a substantial disability check from the Army every month that I use for my hobby, since it is pretty much the only activity I can do with my disability.

[Djarid]

I think the point has been made ;)

I would just add that it always seems worse when there is a fixed commitment going out of your bank each month rather than the incidentals which almost go unnoticed as they are spent in a less planned way.

[Team_Supa]

Fixed commitment beats the incidentals for sure if you have no time outside work or finish work at abnormal hours like some of the people here and myself :P.

[penguini]

Now, consider the cost of other things you do outside of WoW.

PC games = $39-60 for a few days of playtime, not including online fees
Console games = $60 each
One night at the pub = $100 easy
Dinner at a decent steak restaurant = $40 (per day; one person)
Dinner at a cheap steak restaurant = $20 (per day; one person)
Lunch at most decent restaurants = $30 (per day; one person)
Satellite/cable/FiOS TV = $39-100/month
Internet broadband = $50-100/month (sorry, basic cheapie DSL won't do it for 5-boxing).

Thanks for reminding me how expensive life is :P

[Picticon]

How can people afford to smoke? Assuming 5$ a day per pack, that's 150$. All going up in flames.

Seems the poor people I know always complain about not having money, yet smoke like crazy. WTF.

People rag on me for paying 100$ for a game, but I can AFFORD it. I'm not behind in any bills, I have no loans, a nice retirement package saved up, and decent amount of money in the bank. Don't ever accuse me of "wasting" money, especially if you smoke or drink. bah!

[unit187]

some kind of sigs cost <1$ per pack

[The IT Monkey]

some kind of sigs cost <1$ per pack

OMG my signature costs me money?!! How many are in a pack? Does this include my online signature?

[grettir]

Hrmm, well, I guess it depends on your age-job.. Multiboxing for me is a rather cheap hoppy compared to the stuff my friends are into, motorcycles, cars, golf and horses.

Even my wife doesnt complain at. To compare, the payment of my car per month would pay like for 30 subs or so.

If you are in high school or collage, then just do those thing well and do the multiboxing crazyness when you can afford it easily.

[Ticks]

Forget the money, I can't believe how much time I spend on this game!

[Bunny]

I agree with most guys here:
getting the hardware is one thing. I already had 3 computers when I decided to 5 box. Two of them are pretty old but wow needs so little performance they work okay. I was comtemplating buying a laptop anyways so my only real investment was getting a second laptop.
For the money I need for the accounts I could take my girlfriend to dinner about one or two times and taking one hour of a guitar/golf/whatever lesson nets more than the money I invest in a wow account in a month.
So actually it is pretty cheap.
Bunny

[unit187]

some kind of sigs cost <1$ per pack

OMG my signature costs me money?!! How many are in a pack? Does this include my online signature?
doh I misstyped... I meant cigs (cigarettes)


Forget the money, I can't believe how much time I spend on this game!
I wish I could spend that much time for wow :P
work + sport over wow atm...

[Picticon]

Your SIG says you live in Moscow, so maybe CIGS do cost 1$. (See what I did there? :) )

Here in Michigan, USA, the average cost per pack is 5$.
http://tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0207.pdf it actually says $5.72, but I think that's a bit high from what I've seen.

[Xzin]

Some people race their 150k+ Ferrari's around a track and are ok with paying 30 - 50k+ when/if they crash. Some develop space ships for commercial space travel. MOST people don't do that but even if only 1% do.... out of 300 million in the US alone, that is 3,000,000+ Even if .01% do that is 300,000 people.

Granted, most people have debt, little to no savings and work for a living. But not everybody lives the same way.

All that said - WoW is an incredible deal in terms of cost per hour of entertainment. I just picked up an Xbox360. I will probably use it only to play Halo 3 and then will either sell it or keep it for a very small amount of other games. That was about $400 for what will be something like 10 - 20 hours of enjoyment. Some people (Sam, looking your way) can spend $400 for an hour with a hooker. Some people spend $15 for a movie for them and their date. WoW is $15 a month, plus power and computer "use" - so figure $30 - $35 if you also throw in ISP fees. If you sleep 8 hours a night and play the other 16 (unrealistic to be sure) then you get nearly 500 HOURS of entertainment potential per month, for that $35. That works out to be 7 CENTS per hour.

This is a huge over simplification of course (one usually needs to work, to pay for housing, etc) but still. The takeaway is the fact that WoW is SUPER CHEAP to play compared to most traditional activities.

It doesn't really matter what it costs as long as it makes you happy and you are not piling up debt to make it happen. Money is just a tool people. It can't make you happy but it certainly helps to facilitate the process and it makes life much easier to live. But you can't take it with you. Enjoy life and do what makes you happy.

[MrLonghair]

Now regarding power bills.

I dualboxed steadily for a month before going "Ugh. Azeroth." and giving up, this had no impact at all on my power bill. Nothing.

Does this sound crazy to anybody else? The second box consists of an old 15" LCD and a 350w Socket A machine.

Maybe it's some Swedish thing.

[penguini]

From y unit on to infinity, i pay $3 a unit.

You pay $infinity!

[Ughmahedhurtz]

From y unit on to infinity, i pay $3 a unit.

You pay $infinity!
Compile warning: variable not declared prior to use!

[edit] God, I'm a nerd.

[Bradster]

For power bill I got meter to test it, just haven't yet. I'll be a bit more proactive on getting the power costs to you guys.

As for smoking I both box and smoke I guess that makes me very rich?! See what you guys did?! Now I got to have one. *BRB

[Suribusi]

I only have 2 accounts, and I still don't understand how you people who 5-box afford it. I mean thats several thousand $ for the computers, $75 a month for accounts, plus the $100 to start 5 non BC accounts. Now while my job does pay, it doesn't pay THAT good. Ya'll must have extremely good jobs, I know Xzin does since he owns a business(es).

I quit smoking.

-S

[Xzin]

My power bill (with 12 computers, AC running full blast, 12 monitors (6 of which suck 700+ watts in total) and everything else went up about $400 a month. Where I live, power costs around ten cents per KWH. I have found when I don't run but my main machines and use powersave modes on my monitors, it costs about $150 more per month. Granted, these were in the middle of summer so AC was running full blast and AC takes A LOT of power.

There are ways of doing this for far less power and keep in mind this is an overkill setup. Most people who add 5 computers and a bit of cooling will bump up $100 - $150 a month most likely, depending on power save modes, use, if you turn your computers off or not, etc.

[Lance]

I find wow to be very cheap (even with 5 accounts) compared to other things. I used to go out on the piss alot (maybe 8x a month) and each time would cost at least £100 a time. So £50 a month compared to £800 a month is great. Plus no hangovers. :)

[trigemina]

Plus no hangovers. :)

Maybe I'm just old, but after playing WoW all night I feel worse then I would if I just had a hangover :/

[Ukon]

well. i do only have two accounts. so my school scollershit(stipend in norwegian) makes up for the gaming things.
so it isn't really a problem to me.

[Tealuin]

I only have 2 accounts, and I still don't understand how you people who 5-box afford it. I mean thats several thousand $ for the computers, $75 a month for accounts, plus the $100 to start 5 non BC accounts. Now while my job does pay, it doesn't pay THAT good. Ya'll must have extremely good jobs, I know Xzin does since he owns a business(es).


First and foremost I'm finally out from under most of my debt. Paid off the truck mid September and in August paid off all but one of my student loans.

I also have great benefits at work, since I work for my ISP/Telecom. :) Including being able to get an interest free loan for a computer(s) that comes out of my paycheck for up to a year.

I think I spent under $4k, my place is already wired with 20 amp circuits and landlord's wife is an electrician, and it's 50 degrees or colder for more than 8 months of the year where I live. :wink:

I did go a little over a month before getting the computer loan started, so a bit extra from the fees on the CCs. Meh, I saved a bunch by switching to Geico! ... just kidding. I did make some killer deals, including free shipping on the computers and the monitor stands to Alaska which saved me a ton of dough.

[Steph]

My reasoning is the same as already stated: WoW is cheap entertainment, even if you play just one evening per week.

You can run your WoWs on super flashy PCs and have some awesome screen arrays or go the cheap route and grab some obsolete hardware to run your other sessions as I did.

The bigger question is about the time spent. I like to think that our hobby is just like nearly anything else clearly beating getting drunk in front of the telly, which generally seems to be an accepted way to spend the evening.

[Tonuss]

I only have 2 accounts, and I still don't understand how you people who 5-box afford it. I mean thats several thousand $ for the computers, $75 a month for accounts, plus the $100 to start 5 non BC accounts. Now while my job does pay, it doesn't pay THAT good. Ya'll must have extremely good jobs, I know Xzin does since he owns a business(es).

It only seems like an outrageous amount when you consider it by itself, and not in the context of normal costs of living. $75 a month is less than half of my cable TV/Internet bill, for example. I go out once or twice a month with family and/or friends, and I probably spend between $30-100 depending on what we decide to do.

I have a good job in IT that pays pretty well, and I have relatively modest expenses and low debt. So I can splurge on stuff like WoW accounts (and that cable TV/Internet bill :p ). Computer hardware is a hobby, so I've got two very good computers to use for multi-boxing, and they save me on heating expenses during the winter, too!

[crazycat]

im 15 and im abouth to duelbox, i started saving up from when i was 12, working on the farms on the summer, and working in the supermarkets, im abouth to upgrade my ram to 1.5gig more and a friend of mine has a realy good computer left for me, all i got is 3 computers from the dinasoar age whitch cant even run 1 wow, i got a offer for 1 for 20 euro,. so from that 20euro i can buy another wow acc, that ,makes my total of accounts on 3, when i 5box on 1comp i do it on private servers, it may be laggy and bugged on private servers but its a great way to test 5maning and learning to do it. for no fee at all, but nothing is better than the real deal.