Steam summer sale
 

It would be faster and simpler to mug me, because this is going to hurt...

Managed to only spend $75... The worst are games that I've finished, remember fondly and thought I'd never see again. I want to buy them so bad...

In case anyone cares:
FFXIII -- all three of them
The Longest Journey + Dreamfall
Clannad
Metal Gear Rising
Transistor

I use PayPal for Steam purchases. And yeah, my wishlist is another matter entirely.

What's the point of the trading cards? I've always just turned them into gems since they expire, but I don't really know the point of that, either.

FTFY. Also, trading card drops for queue exploration is pure evil.

Fortunately, I don't have any remaining funds in my Steam wallet, and I've managed to be too lazy to add my new credit card to Steam for quite some time. I estimate a 50% chance that I'll make it through the sale without any purchases as a result. That said, Grim Fandango Remastered is very tempting, since I've never played the original one. As for fondly remembered games, I'll probably be in trouble if Fallout Classics Collection gets more than 40% off...

Thanks, now I look like I'm talking to myself...

The summer/winter/etc sale trading cards are similar to regular trading cards with a few exceptions, mainly the expiration date you mentioned, and that there isn't (usually) a level cap on the badges you can craft with them.

(If you were asking about trading cards in general, the badges you craft will let you gain levels. Each level increases your friend cap by 5 (up to 2000), and every 10th level gives you a nice showcase for your profile page.)

Gems can be sold on the community market, or be used to create booster packs, each of which gives you three trading cards for a specific game.

I don't think I've even messed with my profile page. I didn't even have a full profile until I created a second account for loaning Space Engineers to friends.

I'm happy I'm currently not playing any games that I load through steam because I'm pretty sure if I did I would spend way more money then I really need to right now. I got overwatch recently and that was enough money spent on games for a year.

Yeah, I don't normally buy many games, but bored restlessness plus ridiculous deals equals binge buying.