There are a lot of things that wind up being expensive in life. I don't want to boil down 'furry' into being a hobby, but it has a cost similar to one.

I have a friend who's dumped about that much or more just on Magic: The Gathering cards, hell, I've probably dropped a couple grand on them over the years.
My uncle collects and repairs guitars. each one he has, (and he's got like 8?) cost about 400 to 500 each, not to mention the materials and tools needed to repair them (he got a lot of them in bad condition).

But there are a lot -worse- things to drop money on then Furry stuff. That being said, maybe just pare it back a little? Rather then completely drop out. The fact that you even realized that you've spent a lot of money on this puts you ahead of the game when compared to a lot of other people (and a LOT of other people have spent far more then that. I know one guy who dropped like 11k on JUST a fursuit)

I just can't believe how crazy I got with this all. I just wanted to be a fursuiter because I liked cosplay.

Yeah...I understand what you mean. But, at least the suit is likely the most expensive bit, and now that you have it...? It'll be easier to manage all of it.

Your right. Now that I have things organized and I’m over my crisis a bit, I’m sure I’ll manage much better and be aware of reoccurring poor choices.

Indeed! Plus, if you take care of your Suit, it'll last a long time. I've had mine for almost 6 years now and I can still use it, and it doesn't look like crap. So long as you don't change your character (like I did, wamp, wamp) it'll bring you a good number of years of enjoyment. But yeah, commissions themselves are a money sink. If you get more, I say think about what would give you more then just a -moment- of pleasure. Like...a piece of nice art you could hang somewhere, for instance.

Anywho, yah got your head on straight, so I'm sure it'll all work out!

but you're such a cute kitty, the pics shows it ;)

then again,  thunderstrike23 is right, you can reduce the number of commishes instead of just dropping everything, and he's also right saying that now that the fursuit is paid for, you're more than likely to spend less ;)

but #worthit

At least you aren't smoking crack dude.

Sorry for the long post, I sympathize heavily with you because I've felt a similar feeling before, I just want to help break everything down and reconstruct a different perspective that will hopefully help.


When you say "close this chapter of your life" do you mean discarding or hiding all of what you've purchased already? In that sense you've thrown away that money you've spent. But this is a good start to a road to recovery of bad spending habits, you have to realize there is a problem and then you can address it. You also have to think of the other side like Yukon said, would you have impulsively bought something else with that money that would be negative? I personally have burned a thousand or so odd dollars as a TEENAGER just playing yugioh (Thats a lot for a teenager). I would purchase cards, and lose them or get less value for them later when they weren't worth as much and that led me to look at that spending habit. Currently I have a small stack of cards that would be worth around $10 usd to show for my years of playing the game, I had tried to have my friend sell them off for a refund and they didn't compensate. Eventually I just wrote it off, it isn't like I can magically make the money come back, but I can prevent myself from spending more on it.

Eventually all of this started to boil down on me as how much do I get from what I'm purchasing? I buy a card for $10, does it give me $10 worth of fun? I could have bought a video game with that, or a moderate sized lunch, does it compare? Could it be cosmetic? The value of a shirt? A fursuit is an interesting investment, because you can use it again and again like clothing and it helps you identify with the character you created. It isn't consumable or a one time thing that disappears into thin air, so it has a sort of permanence and if you think you'd enjoy wearing it for what ever reason for a time length long enough to pay for the entertainment of itself? Do you wear it in the house, only outside, only cons, only around guests, post pictures to twitter? Only you can decide how much you use it and if so, that's a good way to spend your money. Trips to cons can be seen as Vacations, everyone needs them, furries just tend to have different vacations in comparison to others. I would go to PAX because I LOVE video games. They are side by side comparable, the only difference being subject matter (and I mean I guess there's always the xxx factor of conventions but that's besides the point, its all part of the experience)

I ask the rhetorical questions to help you consider what can be seen as excessive spending, versus what is seen as expected spending and what can be. When you visit a con, you know you're going to a hotel gathering with many other people to spend time. When you purchase a fursuit, you know its going to take a long amount of time to create and there are materials and that both have a sort of permanence in your life as a life experience or physical use that you can visit again and again. It's almost like buying expensive clothing.

Art is where the real problem with spending comes in, a fursuit you buy once. (unless it breaks or you change your character in which case you REALLY need to be careful, and need a definite clear concise approach to getting one.) Cons are once every x amount of months. You're most likely not going to visit them all, prices vary, cheaper if you share a room, etc... The problem with commissioning art is that... you can do it whenever and you may not even relish what you've got before moving onto the next piece. Telegram stickers are actually an amazing set of things to get if you talk often enough. they show emotion that words have difficulty expressing and can be used again and again. That being said, make sure the telegram stickers have emotion that can be used over and over again like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ for example. "why did you do X" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, "Do you know when x is" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯... As for commissions, it tends to boil down to a small set of ideas that feel "worth" it. For the moment I can only think of Friendship and fulfillment. Friendship is pretty self explanatory, you and a person you've been hanging out with for a very long time want to get something? Perfect, One piece the two of you can enjoy for a ways to come.It can be a small comic strip, a pinup, a small anamation, all are great. It becomes a symbol of friendship. Fulfillment is more of a feeling of needing something to be completed. Maybe this can be seen as you first NSFW picture, or maybe you had a paw fetish you wanted to come to fruition, even a reference sheet to give your character dimension and a face or personality. These are things that you want to get drawn because it completes the idea of your character, how you feel, what you like, etc. These are healthy ways to express yourself.

"How do I stop or prevent myself from spending more, why shouldn't I just stop? How do I determine an whats worth purchasing or investing in?"

Everyone has ideas or dreams or urges and wants to be involved in them, but check what you already have first in your bucket list of stuff before adding another picture to that category. Ask yourself what the purpose of getting another picture is. Check to see if you have one similar before hand. Essentially if you take more time to think about exactly what you want made and who you want it made for and what you believe that picture will do for either your character or yourself, it can heavily reduce spending. Don't get more icon's when you already have really great icons, maybe you get a commission you really enjoyed the face profile of and can use that one as an icon instead. Use what you have to convey how you feel. If you think you're unsatisfied with something, then maybe you should look into rectifying that with a more well thought out picture. Giving artists creative freedom can sometimes hinder the complete feel of getting something done if they don't draw out the scene the way you were envisioning it. That missing feeling will urge you to get another, and another and another. I don't particularly want to point out many specifics but I have an excellent example that you can look at and this may help with future decisions.

You have a series of genderbent versions of Starburst where they have sex in multiple positions:
Set:1
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/25073513/ -my choice
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/25084620/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/24879621/
Set: 2
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/25084581/ - my choice
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/24997032/

Honorable mentions:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/22463901/ - Similar in concept to #1, different character
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/24573168/ - Similar in concept to #1, different character
The first three are grouped together because they are very similar in position, or concept as are the last two. If you had to spend the money again to purchase any 2 of these 5 pictures, which ones would they be?
Personally the 69 I'd say is superior to the cunnilingus one because it gets both ideas done as one, as for the first 3, The first one seems the most appealing.

If you manage to kick back 5 pictures to 2 pictures, you've already reduced your costs significantly. Make sure you don't already have pictures you want being produced, make sure they're done the way you want them done, be specific or detailed. If you don't like the initial sketch, ask for changes, don't be afraid to be a little assertive when your purchase something. YOU'VE worked for your money, now make ARTISTS work for their money. You can reuse pictures for icons (maybe you get a Christmas commission, BAM, Christmas icon), make them a little more personal with people you enjoy being around or admire. Being a Furry is the same as being: A gamer, a collector, a golfer, a fisher... etc. They put their money into something they enjoy for entertainment, sometimes they get something back, sometimes they don't. A fisher can spend 6 hours on a pier and receive nothing for their time, just as a gamer can play an mmo for the same time and receive no drops or progress. Being a furry is essentially being social around other furries. Spending those same 6 hours as a cat, or a dog or a kobold or whatever you are. In all three you receive friends, gifts and relationships, so the difference is how you spend it.

-With lots of Kobold Love, Dev

Sorry it took me a while to respond. I needed to find the time to sit down and read this all, along with thinking up a proper way to respond to such support and dedication to someone you hardly know.

So originally when I first though I was going to get a fursuit at what ever price. I could probably get two years of joy out of it and sell it to someone for like a $1,000 as long as it was in good condition. That way I only spent like $1,500 for two years of enjoyment and that seemed totally worth it.

During me trying to figure out everything and waiting on the suit, I got lost in multiple interests and I kinda knew it was starting to become more than I should be getting myself into. But because I hardly uploaded the art. It was kinda out of site and out of mind, lost in my phone of 7,000 photos. Figured I was budgeting all right as long as I didn’t go over a certain amount each month.

Now with the break down and seeing the real damage I’ve done for what a large percentage was just for momentary pleasure, it just hurts to see how far I fell off my original path.



Your big breakdown on how to stop/slow down is a good way and impressed in the amount of effort that you put into researching all the links. I do have a lot of repeating art and if I could just see that and go back to it in an organized file (it’s like that now), then maybe I can deter myself from making so many purchases.

Thank you so much for all that you have said, I’m still taken aback a bit by the book you wrote me in support and I’m insanely greatful. Thank you so much <3

I guess Its just the way I approach things, I always try to break things down, see what I can cut out and what I value and I feel like it always helps it when I put it that way for others. Sometimes when we see something daunting, we just need to chunk it appropriately to get us back on track and I'm glad I could help with how you feel about the situation~ Also that we cant always do everything perfectly, but we can do it a little better each time. I'm glad to be of help<3