Why is everything so dang expensive these days? Even the hobbies you can do at home add up super quick, it seems.
Keeping up with the latest gaming can cost a lot, and even TV watching has become prohibitively expensive again for many as we’re asked by a billion companies to sign up for endless individual streaming services to watch what we want.
There’s gotta be some cheaper stuff to do, right Reddit?
Not to worry, they’ve got some ideas!
1. Cooking
Cooking can be a pretty cheap hobby.
I mean, you have to eat anyway, might as well enjoy the processes of making your own food.
– Ointenso
2. Writing
I actually have honest talks with myself through writing.
You’d be amazed how much reading your own thoughts can help you.
– Loozka
3. Hiking
Hiking.
Find parks or trails in your area and check them out.
There are a lot of cool places to explore.
– NilsaPhilip
4. Working out
Working out.
Even when stuck indoors self isolating or whatever, there is a lot of stuff you can do without any equipment.
Body weight stuff like press ups, squats, sit ups etc.
– Flygon_S
5. …this!
Chess.
– Xseros
6. Cross Stitch
Cross stitch! Basically pixel art on fabric.
You can get a ton of patterns online for free or just a few bucks, and the thread/fabric for a first project usually runs $5-10 and will keep you busy several hours. (You can buy a beginner kit at any hobby store.)
It’s what I do to unwind every night and I’ve had some beautiful results if I may say so.
– Andromeda321
7. Reading
Reading.
Books are generally cheap and nowadays you can even find lots of classics online for free
– Jorgensen01
8. Embroidery
Embroidery – while there are lots of tools and fancy equipment you can get if you get really into it, it’s one of the cheaper crafts to get started with.
You just need some fabric, a hoop, some needles, and some embroidery floss – you can get started with about $10.
I bought one kit to see if I liked it and then used the leftover materials plus a piece of scrap fabric to start making my own designs.
– goose_juggler
9. Rock collecting
Looking at rocks, collecting rocks, using sandpaper and labor to polish rocks.
– Aninternerloser
10. Arrowhead hunting
Arrowhead hunting.
I think it’s neat to find something that humans made that hasn’t been touched in hundreds or thousands of years.
I live near a river in the Midwest (U.S.) and the farmer’s fields along the river tend to have a good supply of stone-age tools/weapons.
Always get permission first though!
– Dan_mcmxc
11. Homebrewing
Homebrewing.
It’s not necessarily cheap/free, but I was going to spend the money on good beer anyway, so I might as well make a hobby out of it. Once your initial equipment investment is done, you’re just paying for ingredients, which are pretty inexpensive (around 75 cents per beer on an IPA for 5 gallon batches, cheaper for less hoppy styles).
At the low end you can be into the hobby for around $100-150, and for a high quality setup you’re talking $3-500. Ingredients cost me $30-40 per 5 gallon batch, which means I’m spending half what I would normally on craft beer. It takes about a year or 2 to amortize your initial equipment costs, and at that point you’re playing with house money.
Granted, with higher-end equipment there’s basically no upper limit to what you can spend on this hobby, but that basically only applies if you’re someone with gear acquisition syndrome.
It’s also helped me cut my alcohol consumption down (at least since the holidays), because at this point I’m trying to only drink what I brew, which means fewer trips to the beer store just because I feel like it. It’s also a fun creative outlet for me, I probably spend as much time planning my brew days and designing recipes as I do brewing the beer itself.
– duffman13jws
12. Coin roll hunting
Coin Roll Hunting r/crh
You buy rolls of coins from the bank, search them for rare dates, old coins, errors (ie double strikes, off-center strikes), silver coins (in rolls of dimes/quarters/halves), foreign coins.
Then you either roll them back up or bring to a coin counting machine. The only cost is the coins you keep.
– theshoegazer
13. Foraging
I do foraging/wildcrafting in the last few years. So far my only expense was 10$ garden gloves for dealing with extra mean plants. On the contrary, it supplies me with a supply of herbal teas, spices, and [depending on the season] fruit and vegetables and various goods made from them – including ones that are way above my budget, had I bought them in the grocery store.
Caution 1: please avoid eating or using wild plants unless you are 100% certain you know what they are and how to handle them correctly.
Caution 2: Please harvest responsibly. Don’t take more than you need, and make sure not to damage plants along the way, and leave enough of the plant and/or patch to recover and grow again the next year. Leave struggling plants, protected species and nature reserves alone.
– With_Trees
14. Fishing
Fishing.
There’s people that’ll spend thousands but if you have a fresh or saltwater access nearby, it’s an inexpensive hobby to get into that’ll keep you entertained.
– Growbigbuds
15. Reddit
Scroll through Reddit trying to find new hobbies and enjoyment but not actually getting anywhere.
– GiantGeorge14
Sounds fun, I may just have to give a few of those a try!
What other cheap/free hobbies would you recommend?
Tell us in the comments.
The post What’s a Good Cheap or Free Hobby To Get Into? appeared first on UberFacts.