I knew a girl who I became friends with because of our mutual interest in Ayu, and she was a relatively new fan whereas I had been a fan since I 2003. Not a big deal, really, except that she owned Ayu's entire collection because she was filthy rich. Let me clarify that, her PARENTS were filthy rich. I don't think she ever held a job in her life. That was the most annoying thing: seeing someone else - a fan of only 4 months - with her ENTIRE collection (first press Japanese releases and everything), when I only own maybe 16 DVDs and CDs combined because I've been working hard my entire life just to afford the necessities.
While I love Ayu, I could NEVER afford to buy her CDs upon their release. $30 for an f-ing CD??? Hell, that's 3 weeks of groceries for me. It all depends on your priorities and necessities. A lot of people on this forum live with their parents and don't have student loans yet, so they don't have to manage their finances to include things like, ya know,
living. Although if your priorities DO include getting the latest Ayu CD right away, then you could budget and save for it. I choose things like laundry detergent and shoes that don't have holes in them with my savings. And if you have a good job and work hard for your money, then hell, you deserve that first release Ayu CD!
Or, ya know, you can just have incredibly filthy rich parents. Whatever. But then having the whole collection doesn't mean much unless you're showing it to someone. Just sayin'.