Set Collectors - Report in your progress!

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

'53 Topps set complete
'65 Topps about 60% complete
'54 Topps--I have the 3 big rookies, both Williams cards, and 32 commons.

I have other star cards from other sets that I think I might build around someday. However, I am getting a little bummed. I really love the idea of set building. In a sense, set building works for me because it allows me to spend a little here and there and not overspend in the short term and stay in budget. But, I know that over the long haul I am spending way more on commons and sets than they will ever be worth almost no matter how I go about it. I am not doing any of this for anything other than collecting fun, but my collecting pendulum is swinging back to just picking up selected cards from the sets that I find visually appealing. If I go this route, I can pick up a nice mid-grade or better star card/rookie every so often and probably eventually acquire most of the cards from the '50s and '60s that I want. It's just that when I am paying off one of the big cards over the course of a couple of months, I get to wanting to buy a little something. This leads me back to commons and the cycle starts all over again!

Can any of you guys who collect on a budget relate to this? If so, how do you handle it? Thanks.