How do you afford your bills?

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by penguini

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

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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.

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.

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? :)

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.

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.