$hobbies/interests$

Post Reply New Topic

About how much would you say you spent money on your hobbies/special interests? I personally think any penny spent towards mine is money well spent. Wasted money is money that went towards things like clothes I don't even like and especially those expensive prescription medications I hate to take so much. Yet I could spent twice as much on my hobbies and special interests, and it would be very satisfying. Mind you, some of then can get pretty expensive, especially decorative furniture, carpeting, wallpaper and stuff for my dollhouse, and some of those kitty collectibles can get pretty expensive too, not to mention books and dvds and jigsaw puzzles. I spent about some...well, two hundred dollars a month average. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. What about you?

I've spent $2000 on The Kinks over the course of my life, and it's been worth every penny.

Total? No comment. It's probably a scarier number than I want to deal with.

But I agree: Worth every penny. Not just from the enjoyment I derive from my hobbies (and yeah, they're hobbies), but because of where those hobbies have led me. Years ago I got into metalworking. Talk about a way to drop money on a hobby! But irony of ironies, I applied for a job some time back, and they were looking for metalworking skills along with a bunch of other stuff. This has happened with a number of my hobbies. Some of the most off-the-wall stuff winds up being just the thing someone is looking for.

But even without that, I'd do it all again in a heartbeat.

I have spent a fair amount on hobbies in the past, but my current one, knitting, is fairly cheap.

I have spent thousands of dollars on my hobbies and interests. It is so worth it though.

I spent about 35hounded on computer related stuff in the last year. I bought a new comp (old one was really old) had to get a router, a new UPS for it & I upgraded the ram some(I decked-out on everything except I got minimum ram & slowest processor because I couldn't afford 2thousnad more for the best so I figured I could upgrade it latter & this comp should be more than powerful enough for my uses for more than a few years). I spent another 6houndred on net for the year as well. Computer isn't my main interest but music is. I pirate & find out about a lot of stuff on the net an buy rarer stuff online that I cant pirate.

The way I see it, if it costs real money, it's no fun. If it's no fun, it's no hobby, it's a job. Many of my interests involve collecting and compiling information, which is essentially free, if you don't count your time. I also collect specific objects, but they are not things that other people consider collectible, at least not when I start out, and are purchased at yard sales and thrift stores or even trash-picked. The one recognizable hobby I have--woodworking and home repair--can be very expensive, but most of my tools are used and the materials are scrounged. Enjoying a hobby at low cost is a big part of what makes it interesting for me.

I do my hobby well.

the_curmudge, I don't think I can apply your cost/fun/hobby/job rule to myself. I agree, if it's no fun it's not a hobby. Doing dishes is no fun, therefore it's not a hobby even though it is essentially free. (I'm discounting the cost of the water and soap, but bear with me.) But I see no problem spending money on a book, and then deriving a great deal of pleasure from reading it. It's a lot more fun than doing the dishes, that's for sure! Likewise I see no problem spending money to see a movie in a theater, assuming it's one I think I'll enjoy. It only becomes work if the movie is terrible and I regret spending the money.

Where a hobby ceases to be a hobby for me is when someone else imposes their expectations on me. Here's an example: I already mentioned I do metalworking. I may go out, rummage through my scrap box, find a chunk of something, and use the lathe to turn it into something I wanted. That process is essentially free, though the tools initially cost a fair bit. But hey, it was fun! Now someone sees that, and wants one for themselves. I'm happy to do this because it's my hobby and the process of going from a random chunk of cast-off material to a thing is most of the fun for me. Still a hobby. Aaah, but then they come back and say, "This is too small. I want it a little bigger. Can you do that? And can this be made this way instead of that way? And..." Mmm. Nope. It just turned into a job.

Perhaps 2 thouand on Star Wars related paraphernalia. About the same for musical instruments.

If I had money, I would have a hobby. Xd

If I did, I'd get better equipment: Bigger amp, effect pedals, a couple new guitars, etc.

One of my hobbies is flying, and as any pilot will tell you, money makes a plane fly. One of my "cheaper" hobbies is photography, and even then, I've spent money on getting a DSLR camera (a digital camera that uses a retracting mirror to direct light from the lens to an optical viewfinder) and a few lenses for it.

I spend a lot on my gaming hobby. I wish I could spend more on my hobby of making things from clay, but the stuff I like is a bit more costly than most games these days >_>

I've spend more than three thousand on Science books.

Unless its collecting junk I cant really see a hobby not costing money. The internet costs money, the tv you watch shows on cost money. Most hobbies cost money.

The trick is to get your interests to pay for themselves.

Once you figure out how to do that, let me know.

I don't have enough space for my interests.