Why do you think Magic: the Gathering is amazing compared to other games you could play?
Unfortunately, I lack the ability to properly communicate the experience of playing Magic as opposed to other games. I can point to a few aspects of the game, though:
1) It's not static. Magic changes all the time because new cards are released every few months. Chess and Go have been Chess and Go for hundreds of years, and they've been studied to death. Relative to other classic games, Magic is a game that gives more rewards to experimentation and discovery.
2) There are random factors in Magic. This adds excitement; to paraphrase a saying about American fo...
On ChrisHallquist's post extolling the virtues of money, the top comment is Eliezer pointing out the lack of concrete examples. Can anyone think of any? This is not just hypothetical: if I think your suggestion is good, I will try it (and report back on how it went)
I care about health, improving personal skills (particularly: programming, writing, people skills), gaining respect (particularly at work), and entertainment (these days: primarily books and computer games). If you think I should care about something else, feel free to suggest it.
I am early-twenties programmer living in San Francisco. In the interest of getting advice useful to more than one person, I'll omit further personal details.
Budget: $50/day
If your idea requires significant ongoing time commitment, that is a major negative.