Collecting and the Costs thereof

I'm a die hard Star Wars Collector. Everyone that knows me knows that. I spend a lot of time on Star Wars collecting sites like Rebelscum and Jedidefender talking to other collectors like myself about our hobby. I use those sites to buy, sell and trade collectibles with people I've never met (but still "know") and get all the latest news about my hobby.

Last year however, someone over at JD had the bright idea of starting a thread where we would all keep track of and calculate exactly how much money we spend on our hobby over the year. I saw my total, and I wasn't happy with it. It was much too high.

This year, I'm doing the same thing, only from the beginning of the year. So far I've spent a whopping $21.50 on Star Wars toys (for 3 new figures)....but with Star Wars Episode 3 toys and Celebration 3 coming this year, I have a feeling that number is going to get a lot higher than it ever should.

This hobby is definitely expensive, time consuming and difficult, but it's also fun. However, in a year like this one (where I'm supposed to be saving for a wedding)...I'm not sure I can afford it. I'm really worried that I'll spend money I should be saving and end up in huge debt at the end of the year because of it. While this normally isn't a concern, I know the wedding is going to take every spare nickel I can store away, and that's a scary concept.

Here's hoping I can somehow balance the two out financially, because in a year when Star Wars Episode 3 is being released, it would be a shame to have to quit collecting.