Wow, this feels old.

It's not about who's in power, it's about a major media figures delusions.

I would like to say I am to spend less and less. Instead, I'll spend less and less on crap I don't need. "Junk Food" budget is at a small fraction of what it used to be, and I'm aiming for zero. Should be better for my health as well.
With a bad economy, and the current heat wave, indoor entertainment (computer games) is the way to go. I did plan to get a game from GOG today for the weekend, but the internet cap is breached and I'm at dial up speeds and old-old-OLD county lines don't give a good speed when it is up anyway.

I'm fortunate enough to be in a situation where I can afford to spend money on most anything I want. That's not to say I spend indiscriminately, because I don't (I only have a couple of vices: PC games and single malt scotches). But I can pretty much afford to buy what I want if I feel it's worth the money. There are some games in the pipeline here (The Guild Gold, Alien Nations, Gothic 2 Gold, Spellforce Platinum) that look interesting, so I'll probably buy them. I don't know when I'll get the time to actually play them all, but I'll buy them and archive them for later. I'm really, really, really, REALLY hoping to see the Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, and Baldur's gate games show up here at some point as well, as they'll be an instant purchase for me.
So, no, I'm not on a spending prohibition, but I HAVE been there and I do sympathize. I hope you guys soon get to the point where you can buy what you like and not have to think twice about it.

Sadly, I tracked down most of the games (Fallout, Freespace) down I would have bought hear about a year ago. GOG would have saved me a lot of time and money though =[. Other than that I just haven't found much time to play the games I do have already.
I'm also waiting for Planescape: Torment to come out.

This. If I wait, the exchange rate will go against me. Right now, I can get games from Steam/Gog for far cheaper than I could this time last year.

You could buy me a new joystick. :D

Sigh, after the spending spree on new clothes, Depths of Peril, Jagged Alliance series and a birthday present, sadly GOG and other retail outlets won't be getting my money for some time :(
*tears stream down lowyhong's eyes as Freespace 2 and Fallout Tactics call out to him*

The only probation I am on is the one I set up the first of the year when i put the entire house on a budget. I get only so much money to use on whatever I wish, and it is normally gone fairly quickly (e.g. Last week spent most it taking a person out for breakfast).

Not really... while I'm still on the lookout for a regular job there's more than enough coming in from advertising (could be even more if Google hadn't banned me /me grumbles... I didn't cheat advertisers, there was simply no way I could put up the ads the way that google asks you to) and occasional jobs. Having said that, I'm always obsessed with good deals, so while I order a lot of stuff, most of it is in the low two digit ranges (just ordered Guitar Hero with controller for €48 including shipping).

I need to do a similar thing because I blew a lot over the break mainly because that was the only time I had to play games.
But since the new year I've already bought:
Gish
Mount & Blade
World of Goo
Pac-Man
Then again It's not like I have anything else worth doing with this money.

ugh... i should be. The Steam sale nailed me for about $60 earlier this month, but I did land the Warhammer: DoW catalogue (as in game + all expansions), the witcher, and darstar one for like a few dollars. I also bought a Arx, sacrifice, and Gothic from here. Now I just got little big planet for Ps3, although I was fighting between that or Valkyria Chronicles. I just need to stop buying games, especially since I'm currently playing through planescape

This depression hasn't stopped my spending, just bought this wee beastie to keep me happy in the spring. Bargains are ther to be had now that dealers are cutting massive deals to get you to spend.

As long as they keep selling used console games, then im probably still going to be buying games pretty regularly. Sadly, buying used PC games doesn't work too well anymore.
If it isn't a Harley, it might as well be a pedly bike. 8-)