A question about hobbies

[Richard Hakluyt]

I have no idea 

[mongers]

Good question, no idea.

Bikes aren't a hobby, just a mode of transport for me.

Stamp collecting for me isn't really a hobby and in some ways it's just a financial transaction, these things have an explicit values so you could just buy tomorrow everything to complete whatever it is you decide is your collection.

I've largely given up on book buying as I have so many and plenty still awaiting reading.

Also, I've pretty much run out of albums I still want to get on cd, so that's way down on what I used to spend in my youth.

So overall perhaps not a great deal nowadays.

[merithyn]

I guess it depends on what one considers a hobby. Personally, I'm considering money spent in a year beyond basics like food, shelter, transportation, and money going into savings. If that's the case then I'm probably near that 15% mark but that number can very depending on where you put my alcohol budget.

I was thinking of specific "things" rather than anything that isn't essential. So, like reading, guns, artist supplies, woodworking.. that kind of thing.

Not to say that drinking can't be a hobby; I just wasn't thinking along those lines.

[merithyn]

Good question, no idea.

Bikes aren't a hobby, just a mode of transport for me.

Stamp collecting for me isn't really a hobby and in some ways it's just a financial transaction, these things have an explicit values so you could just buy tomorrow everything to complete whatever it is you decide is your collection.

I've largely given up on book buying as I have so and plenty still awaiting reading.   

Also, I've pretty much run out of albums I still want to get on cd, so that's way down on what I used to spend in my youth.

So overall perhaps not a great deal nowadays.

I'd argue that bikes and stamps count as a hobby for you. My car is transportation in that I only use it to get from Point A to Point B. Your bike, on the other hand, is that as well as your mode of unwinding, which is kind of what I see a hobby as.

And stamps are... well, nothing but a hobby. There's no real use for them other than to have and to hold and to trade and to buy and sell.

[mongers]

I guess it depends on what one considers a hobby. Personally, I'm considering money spent in a year beyond basics like food, shelter, transportation, and money going into savings. If that's the case then I'm probably near that 15% mark but that number can very depending on where you put my alcohol budget.

[grumbler]

It's a sunk cost, so you might as well pour yourself another one.

[/grumbler]

[merithyn]

Oh you guys make me feel a ton better!

I was thinking that 10% was a LOT, but that appears to be on the lower end of things.

[mongers]

....

And stamps are... well, nothing but a hobby. There's no real use for them other than to have and to hold and to trade and to buy and sell.

Actually, all the stamps I buy can still be used for UK letters and postage, and almost exclusively are now worth less than than their face value for said purpose. 

edit:
you can buy pretty much buy any GB stamps from the last 42 years at less than their face value; something arrived this morning with old postage stamps on the envelope, one from 1972 cost 3p then and is implicitly worth less than that now. 

Many of the pre-decimal 'Elizabethan' stamp are worth little more than confetti, I'll send you some if you want. 

[merithyn]

Actually, all the stamps I buy can still be used for UK letters and postage, and almost exclusively are now worth less than than their face value for said purpose. 

edit:
you can buy pretty much buy any GB stamps from the last 42 years at less than their face value; something arrived this morning with old postage stamps on the envelope, one from 1972 cost 3p then and is implicitly worth less than that now. 

Many of the pre-decimal 'Elizabethan' stamp are worth little more than confetti, I'll send you some if you want. 

Ah, so you actually don't spend much money on them; it's more time that you spend?

[mongers]

Actually, all the stamps I buy can still be used for UK letters and postage, and almost exclusively are now worth less than than their face value for said purpose. 

edit:
you can buy pretty much buy any GB stamps from the last 42 years at less than their face value; something arrived this morning with old postage stamps on the envelope, one from 1972 cost 3p then and is implicitly worth less than that now. 

Many of the pre-decimal 'Elizabethan' stamp are worth little more than confetti, I'll send you some if you want. 

Ah, so you actually don't spend much money on them; it's more time that you spend?

Well yes, but at our age sister, you could say the same about most of our activities. 

[crazy canuck]

If hobbies means reading, cooking, drinking wine and travelling then a lot.  If hobblies also includes kids then I have very little left over.

[lustindarkness]

Well, gaming I buy one game a year, a new console every new generation, maybe a few headset and controllers every few years. So gaming maybe $100 a year.

Airsoft, I borrow my son's rifle, or my brother in law's. Big games may be $20+, plus a bunch of BBs. So maybe $100 to $200 a year.

Now, the expensive hobby: off-roading + camping. The truck is my daily driver, so I have no idea how to separate it into a hobby, modifications, maintenance, gas. Camping supplies, food and gear. How about the bigger events/expeditions, I can only afford those every other year. Last year it was over $3k, and most of it was gas! I plead the 5th on this one. 

[merithyn]

Well yes, but at our age sister, you could say the same about most of our activities. 

I sew and do bookbinding, so the materials are actually quite a bit for me. But yeah, ultimately, it's the time sink in them that's the bigger deal. I'm working on a dress right now that I've already put about 20 hours into, and I have at least that left to go on it.

Most of my money goes to attending events where like-minded people are doing the same stuff that I do. The events themselves are relatively cheap, but the travel to and from will get you everytime.

[CountDeMoney]

Oh you guys make me feel a ton better!

I was thinking that 10% was a LOT, but that appears to be on the lower end of things.

Since I decided to skip the whole wife and kids thing in life, my usual hobby expenditures are substantially higher than 10%.

[Valmy]

Since I decided to skip the whole wife and kids thing in life, my usual hobby expenditures are substantially higher than 10%.

At least I will have a homemade gaming group available to me for a few years

[crazy canuck]

Since I decided to skip the whole wife and kids thing in life, my usual hobby expenditures are substantially higher than 10%.

At least I will have a homemade gaming group available to me for a few years

It is very short lived. But ymmv