All very recognizable feelings here. I think it's fair to call it what it is, it's an
addiction. I quit smoking but this is a lot harder to shake off...
And yes, buying online can make you forget how much you're spending. Why else do I regularly feel guilty about the fact that I put too much money in records and that I simply can't shake the urge to hunt vinyl?
Although it's never just buying records that gives me a bad feeling, it's looking at bad stuff that never got played or that I'm tired off. That's why I go through the stack regularly and sell what I don't play or don't need to a friend who sells record to sponsor his sound. Guess I could get more of my money back when I would put them on eBay but then it would still be time-absorbing and I just can't bother too much.
Another good tool to stay conscious of what I'm actually spending is to make an excel-file with name+price of everything I ever bought. First time I started doing that, the total sum kept me out of my sleep before I was even half way through
Some people here say they will have 'enough' when they reach 5000 7 inches, must say I never have such a number in mind. I find it rather important to know what you have and make sure you really like it and play it...I guess everybody collects because he's a DJ, or do some people collect just for the joy of having the records?