Low Cost Hobbies

[2moretrees]

Does anyone have a hobby which they enjoy a lot and doesn't cost a lot of money?

[genchan]

Birdwatching!! Okay, a good pair of binoculars can set you back a bit and a book of birds in your local area, but once those are taken care of, there are virtually no costs involved. It's also a great way to get extra exercise and a good reason to get out of the house.

[luna-mia]

ummm...the internet?? It keeps me occupied and out of the stores! I also penpal with some of my net buddies.

Hiking, mt biking (once you buy the equipment) -- my dh and I do this alot!

Birdwatching is fun too1

[crosses]

I turned my hobby from an expense into a money maker. My hobby is rummaging around garage sales, flea markets, estate sales and second hand stores. I did this long before the Internet auctions were around, but now my hobby earns me money when I sell some of the things I bought.

[sdc2027]

My roommate fishes, She brings home the fish and we fillet it and eat- the money spent on the fishing liscense pays itself off by the amount of fish we get to eat.

[2moretrees]

Thank you for the great ideas.

[DivaJen]

Some of my hobbies can either be frugal or expensive - all depends on how "into it" I want to get.

Sewing: expensive to start if you don't already have a machine. I can get patterns for 99 cents if I watch the sales at Joanns, and I can get good prices on fabric at their sales too.

Knitting and crocheting: Most all of my needles and hooks have been given to me by family, so my only real expense is yarn. I get a catalog with beautiful yarn in it (read: expensive) but so far I haven't ordered anything. Most of my yarn is the cheap acrylic or cotton stuff.

Gardening: Buying new plants can get costly, but buying small ones in 6-picks or 4-inch pots when possible, or growing from seed, makes your money go a long way. The actual gardening part is free once you have a trowel, some pruners, that sort of stuff. I try to start new plants from cuttings, and divide plants when possible, but I have to be honest - I'm not a very patient gardener.

I used to be into paper arts and rubber stampng - very pricey hobby!

The internet - DivaTribe and tinkering with web sites for my daughter (and now my dog, lol) is a hobby, and while it's not super cheap, it is starting to pay for itself.

[Ima saver]

Well, my hobby for years is walking. Good shoes and you are set!!

[Fern]

Kayaking, just a 1 time purchase.

Most of my hobbies are low cost:
walking, biking, hiking, internet, bird watching, reading (bought used or from library)

[Ima saver]

When I was younger, we played cards almost every night.

[Snoopy2645]

My cheap hobbies are trading coupons online saves me tons of money every year, reading I get books at the library every couple weeks so no money spent on those, & my other one is swimming my mom lives on the lake now so I can go thier for free in the summer saves me a ton the public pools are so expensive with me & my 3 kids going its well over $10 for a day moms house is much cheaper!!!

[jodi]

Cards - unlimited fun for about $1. Hearts, spades, pitch, rummy, pinochle, canasta, even solitaire. If you don't know how to play, get a book out of the library - which brings up hobby #2, reading. Can be done completely for free at the library (so long as you bring the books back on time!).
Walking, playing with my kids, crossword puzzles (if you subscribe to a newspaper, you get a new one every day - but DH and I like to buy the books of NY TImes crosswords - they keep us busy for months and months).

[laceshawl]

i knit for charity. I just let people know I needed yarn, and I'm always being given leftovers or unfinished projects. You can also buy it cheap at yard sales or thrift stores, or I buy old garments and recycle them.

[frugalfarmwife]

Gardening, I start everything from seed, sometimes even seed from the previous years crop. I made a bit of money from this last year selling produce to a few friends. I plan to turn it into an income this year selling at a farmers market and possibly setting up a small produce stand on the front of our property, we are on a state route and have a LOT of traffic from the local "Mcmansion" owners.

kj

[PrincessPerky]

well DHs makes hium money! (though I have yet to see the loot...check his link in signature if you want to know about him)

Mine is reading, free from the library, saves money if you include all the wonderful teaching the kids get out of it. (we don't buy a science curricum or scocial studies, we just go to the library-check the bookreview link if you want more on how well it works)

I also love crossstitch, which I prefer to make my own pattern, so it is rather cheap and usually used as gifts, wouldn't say it saves, but I think fun and nice.

Gaming is another hobby, I think it does cost a bit to have the company over to help play or the new game to try, but we don't let it get out of hand

Gardening for me is a failed science expirament! one that we repeat every year! but hey the kids like it.

[lrjohnson]

I make bath stuff: bath oils, bath salts, etc. It can be low cost, and especially if I make gifts, it's good value.

The trick is finding simple recipes that use cheap ingredients. For example, a nice softening bath salt is ground powdered milk, ground oatmeal, epsom salts, sea salt if available, and some essential oils. I make nice labels on my computer. Our jam we mark as by Monkey Farms, and the bath stuff is by "Squeaky Clean: a Division of Monkey Farms."

Other hobbies are reading (library, "buck a bag" booksales to be frugal) and the Internet.

[PrincessPerky]

I started making baths tuff for mothers day and such, I love the testing part!

Got any other bath recipies? I once saw one for chocolate bubbles, I can't find it, but I think my mother would like testing it out.

[Ima saver]

Thisis something I was told and may not be true. I only take showers unless my husband runs the jacuzzi. I was told to never use bubbling bath stuff in the jacuzzi. Is that true??

[cicy33]

I have also been told by many people to never put anything in a jacuzzi. Not even bath oil. unless it is one in your bathtub? but an actual hot tub you are not supposed to put anything in it like that.

[Ima saver]

I use to go out dancing every week. We paid a cover charge to get in, but brown bagged our own drinks. it was a lot of fun for about $12 and good exercise. They closed down though.