I’m always curious to learn about someone’s hobbies. I mean, think about it. People might spend their free time knitting, playing Bunco, crossfitting, flying remote control planes, rapping, collecting stamps, or white water rafting. Some hobbies cost nothing, swimming in the local lake. Others have significant upfront costs, like cycling, but have minimal recurring expenses. While others are a never-ending money suck, skiing/technology/yoga.
I started thinking about what my hobbies are and how much money they cost me and decided I’d rank them from “most expensive” to least expensive.
1. Fixing up our house. There were very virtually no red flags on our home inspection report. But that hasn’t stopped us from dropping thousands of dollars in the first few months on making our house more personal to our tastes. We upgraded functioning appliances, painted all the walls, painted/added hardware to the kitchen cabinets, ripped out the basement carpet, and the list goes on and on. None of these things absolutely needed to be taken care of, so while some might argue it’s not a hobby, I’d argue it sure looks like one. I spend most of my free time on these house projects and enjoy (for the most part) doing them. We’re probably spending $2,000+ each month right now, but by the end of the month we’ll be spending virtually nothing since I’ll be out of the country for almost two months.
2. Young Life. You remember that crazy outfit I showed you in my last blog post? The one where I dressed up as Chatterbox Charlie for a youth group event. We are pretty involved in Young Life and as a result, spend a ton of time (and money) on it. From buying costumes and game supplies, to hosting 30 puberty stricken high school kids for game night, costs can add up quick. Probably spending around $100/month on YL related shenanigans.
3. Internet. I’m not ashamed to admit it, I spend a good chunk of time on the interwebs. Whether that’s writing this here blog (which costs about $100/year to maintain), catching up on Google News, or mindlessly surfing Facebook/Instagram more than I’d ever care to admit, I don’t think I can get by without access to the net. Fortunately, my internet service is covered by my employer so that means this hobby is virtually free…unless you count all the things I buy on Amazon… haha.
I could go on with things like Skiing or dining out, but the three listed above are probably how I spend the large majority of my free time. What about you? What are some of your primary hobbies, and how much do they cost ya?
Yeah, I think I would probably class the “internet” as a hobby. A hobby which probably takes up more time than it should….!
I’m somewhat of a foodie so a great deal of money goes there, a lot actually… I really enjoy a good car audio system which tends to have a high initial cost but tends to last me quite a while. I buy music legally so that tends to be an accompanying money leak. The bill I hate the worst is the smartphone bill along with the expensive phones that go along with it. While I do find smartphones incredibly useful, I hate duplicating internet costs with my home internet which I can’t seem to cut like I did the phone line.
Web design (which turned into a business in the past 4 years), blogging and digital photography in my case.
I wouldn’t classify “Fix your home” as a hobby. I certainly spent a lot of my time with the upkeep of my home, yard work etc, but never considered it a hobby. 🙂 I read and and play video games with my children.
I recently went through my finance tracker (at the end of September) to learn that my “hobbies” were sucking my bank account dry. I love to dine out and eating out was the number one money drainer in my hobby list. So, I had to go back to my old ways and kill most of my dining out ventures. My wife and I were eating out 3-4 times a week. We have now trimmed it back to once (Sundays for football).
Sports is another hobby, but watching them on TV doesn’t cost me much. However, do I list sports as an expense on Sunday since I go out to a bar for wings and beer to watch football, or do I list that under “dining out….” Hmmmmm I list it under dining out for my financial tracker.
My other big hobby is…. wait for it…. geek alert….. Comic Books! I was a huge collector for years and then fell out when it was costing me too much. About 3 years ago I got back in (like an addict) and now I am all in. I spend too much on them and don’t even have the time to read all the ones that I buy. We all know what that means… Ryo needs to cut back or stop cold turkey on comics. They currently cost me approximately $60/month…..
I love singing in a Broadway show choir-think Glee for adults 🙂 Our season runs from September to June, and membership is around $200/season, so it’s a pretty inexpensive hobby in my view. The only other expense is a bit for costumes/props (maybe $30/season tops). This includes weekly rehearsals, all music, professional director and accompanist, and 4-5 performances per season. I can’t think of anything else that brings me this much joy and works out to $5-6 a week! I also love to read, and lately I’m addicted to e-books downloaded from the library, which is totally free.
My hobbies consist of working out, my blog, and watching tv while I read articles on my computer. My gym costs are part of my apartment rent. Internet is expensive but we use it for everything since we don’t have cable.
Hmmm I enjoy blogging, but it is also a part of my side business so I don’t know if you can say it is a hobby as well. Either way, I do love it! I also love trying new restaurants, going for bike rides, and working on our house.
Ice hockey ($600 for 20 games), Computer games which I get uber cheap trough Steam, and equally nearly to Ryo I recently got back into Magic the Gathering. Besides being nerdy, it’s really expensive! I dropped $100 last month on cards. The one good thing is that they tend to retain their value for the most part so I can always sell them at a later date.
I spend a good chunk of money on my dog. It’s worth it.
“Properly trained, a man can be dog’s best friend” – Corey Ford
Children: expensive and time consuming. 🙂
I agree that home repair/remodeling can be considered a hobby, but it is a hobby that saves you from paying someone else to do the same work. Of course Home Depot will gladly help out in providing classes on additional projects that you didn’t know you wanted to do at home.
Let us see, the most recent hobby/project was making a bunk bed for the kids. Just a little bit cheaper (but more expensive if you count my time, thus a hobby) than buying it from a big box store, but it has the customizations that I couldn’t find on any commercially produced bunk bed (like solid 4×4 & 2×4 construction, soft closing drawers, bottom as a water bed, top as a different size, stairs that are also drawers with shelves filling up the rest of the space under the stairs/drawers).
Of course I still have the hobby of beekeeping, though besides the initial investment in getting the bees and boxes this year they have mostly taken care of themselves (we’ll see come spring how much I’ll have to invest in replacing the hive(s) that perish.
Hobby: cars.
Cost: a lot.
My Hobby is Bowling, once a week for 36 weeks at $20 a week, plus supply’s ( finger tape, Rosin Bag) another $20 bucks for the year. I get a little prize money back at the end but it doesn’t come close to what I spend. I haven’t bought a new ball or shoes in 15 years, I try to keep my expense down.
Motocross. This is probably my most favorite hobby and definitely the most expensive. I’m not sure on exact numbers that it costs me per year but for each race there is a $10 gate fee per day (x2 for me and the wife just to get through the gates) and $25 each class per day (x2 because I race two classes). Normally this comes to around $250-300 per weekend of racing. Add that to repairs (which for the most part I do myself) and yearly AMA and District Fees I’m betting anywhere from $2500 to $3000/year to support my hobby. This year will be a little more expensive because I’m in need of a new bike, which will run about $7200. The math is kind of depressing but it’s totally worth it to me (and also the wife so far).
I also bought a house this summer and totally consider making improvements a hobby – its something I like to do (mostly) and I am refining skills and learning lots of new ones. I consider it one big creative project – creating the home I have always wanted.
Aside from house stuff I am a big reader but spend only $10-$20 bucks a year on bargain ebook downloads and library sale books. Everything else is borrowed from friends or the library.
I recently took up sewing. Already had the machine but paid for classes. In general you will spend way less buying premade stuff but I don’t mind the cost of materials or time because I am enjoying it so much. Which is kind of the point of a hobby, right?
I like to mountain bike, but my other hobby is making random stuff (electronics, mechanical devices, accessories for my GoPro). It could be quite expensive, but along with this, I write DIY/hacking/engineering subjects, which more or less covers my expenses!