Save Money on Hobbies |
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[Each Monday for the next couple months, I'm going through many of the ways to save money. Read the whole Save Money series. Last week we looked at how to save money on cars.]
Americans spend a lot of money on hobbies. When I went to the Hearst Castle, the tour guide said that William Randolph Hearst had two hobbies, building and collecting. He was quick to point out that this would be a huge problem for most everyone, but it wasn’t an issue for him since he had millions and millions of dollars. I don’t have millions and millions of dollars and the odds are that you don’t either. With that being the case, I thought I’d give you a few ideas.
- Be careful about collecting - Collecting can cost you in a couple of ways. There’s the obvious price to acquire the pieces of the collection and then there’s the cost of storing the item. I collected shot glasses from everywhere I traveled and now that collection is big enough to require a small amount of storage. I should get a display for the collection, but that’s an additional cost. I can imagine that if I collected Beanie Babies during that craze that I would have overpaid for to build and complete the collection and then had sizable boxes in the attic to show for it.
- Blogging is a great hobby - Blogging can be a very frugal hobby. It can be done for free if you have an Internet connection. In fact it can even make me money. Here are ten benefits I have received from blogging.
- Some sports make for frugal hobbies - Basketball and Soccer don’t require a lot of upfront costs. Hockey can get expensive with rink time, pads, and hockey stick. Active sports can provide health benefits (if performed safely), which should reduce health care costs down the line.
- Music and/or Photography can be great hobbies - The initial cost of a camera or guitar can be cheap or expensive. However, there are no on-going costs for either (as long as your camera is digital). Additionally, there are web sites where you can upload a photo and earn royalties. You may get good enough to earn some meaningful dollars as a photographer or a band. You’ll want to watch your expenses and make sure that it really makes sense to upgrade to a better camera or instrument. You don’t want to spend a couple of thousand dollars, if you are only making $100 every couple of months.
- Reading and other entertainment - Don’t forget these ways to save on movies, music, television and books..
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Save money on your hobbies so you can pay off those old student loans. Whether you need money for college now or you are working to pay off personal student loans from years ago make sure to set your loan options
straight and get the best rates.
15 Responses to “Save Money on Hobbies”
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July 31st, 2008 at 8:38 am
[...] Save Money on Hobbies at Lazy Man and Money [...]
May 28th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
[...] Save Money on Hobbies - Back in college, I had a friend who collected Beanie Babies. She spent hundreds of dollars completing her collection. If you add up the value of that collection now, it’s barely a fraction of the money she spent. [...]
September 17th, 2007 at 8:24 am
[...] how to save money. I recommend reading the whole Save Money series. Last week we looked at how to save money on hobbies.] Share [...]
September 13th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
I second running!
Also basketball is cheap!
I would say that running, basketball, and blogging are all tied as my most favorite, cheapest hobbies!
Fixing up an older house that we bought on the cheap is also going to turn out to be a cheap hobby that just might pay off handsomely in the future! (It is only a hobby if you like this type of work, however!)
September 13th, 2007 at 10:37 am
[...] out Lazy Man and Money for some great ideas for saving money on hobbies. My favorite inexpensive hobby: sitting in a lonely, quiet corner repressing painful childhood [...]