Honestly, Nora's spot on about the stress part. I've seen friends get so caught up in cover hunting that they forget to actually read the books. Like @elliot_wright2, I only grab variants if the art really speaks to me, but even then, it's easy to overspend. Tbh, the best collections are the ones where you remember the stories, not just the covers on your shelf.

Totally get your point about publisher sorting for universe events. I tried the character method once and it was a mess during big crossovers like Marvel's Secret Wars. Had to dig through Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern boxes just to follow one DC Crisis story. Now my long boxes are all Marvel, DC, and indie splits. Saves so much time when you want to read a whole event in order.

Totally get that bundling idea, it's a smart fix for the weird guilt. I probably check out online way too fast when something seems convenient. Making a cart wait until it's actually full helps a lot.

Absolutely. Did a four day trip to Seattle with just a carry-on last fall. Wore my one pair of black jeans the whole time and just washed a shirt in the hotel sink one night. The freedom of just walking off the plane was worth it alone.

My cousin runs a small IT shop in Denver. He had a client ask him to recover deleted files from a company laptop last year. The client hinted they did not own the laptop anymore. My cousin said no and explained the legal risks. That client was upset at first but came back six months later with proper paperwork. Now they send all their data recovery work his way.