How To Keep A Hobby From Becoming Too Expensive

*This is a collaborative post on how to stop a hobby from being too expensive 

When it comes to monthly budgeting, the hobbies you enjoy are probably the last thing you’ll consider inputting into the spreadsheet. However, they should always be included to ensure you’re accounting for all your monthly expenses properly.

Prices vary, but back in 2008 a study found that the average UK household spent nearly £300 a year on their hobbies. Seeing as we’re now in 2024 and have seen record inflation in recent times, this average is going to be a lot higher these days!

Keeping the cost of your favourite activities in line with the rest of your spending can be a tricky thing as well. The more practiced you become at something, the more you’re going to want to do it, the more equipment and materials you’re going to need, and the bigger your projects are going to get.

The cost of all this is going to rack up quickly, especially if you’ve been known to pick up a new hobby once a month! Which is why it’s so important to use tips like these when it comes to hobby related spending. Make sure the things you love don’t become too expensive for you; pricing yourself out of fun is not healthy!

Cancel anything you’re not actually using

There’s a lot of hobby related subscriptions out there. Cross stitching or crochet kits you can get in the post, seed packets and related gardening items that are delivered once a month, magazines that drop straight into your inbox – you can subscribe to a lot of things to support your hobby.

However, the average cost of monthly subscriptions per household is around £42. In a cost of living crisis, that’s not an amount to sneeze at. And with around 75% of British people paying for subscriptions and then never using them, this is purely wasted money that’s being sucked out of your budget!

For some people this means cancelling Xbox Game Pass if they haven’t downloaded any games from it in a while. For others it’ll mean cancelling their gym membership after missing out on 5 Zumba sessions in a row. Don’t trick yourself into thinking you’re going to need either of these services soon; if you haven’t used them yet, you’re not going to suddenly use them in a week or month’s time.

So head into your bank account and get rid of any unessential direct debits you’re not making use of. Similarly, check your email inbox for notices from subscription services you pay for through your card or gateways like PayPal.

Really, even the most affordable of subscriptions make an impact on your budget in the long term. Say you’re spending £5.99 a month on a hobby magazine that never gets read, but you then cancel it in January just after the new year – you’re going to save yourself £71.88 by the end of December!

Realise when you’re experiencing hobby FOMO

You don’t need the latest tools, sets, or materials. You don’t need to buy everything those how-to tutorials tell you will be useful. You don’t need everything that creative influencer you follow recommends. Nine times out of ten you just need the basics and some time to get used to using them.

Think about this when you’re approaching your hobby with a budget. Are you buying something because you actually need it? Or do you think it will be good to own just in case? If it’s the latter, it’s time to stop letting FOMO rule your spending habits!

Only buy when you’re sure you want something. You can make sure of this by noting down the item in question, leaving it for a month, and then coming back to see if the want is still there.

Be on the lookout for free outlets

A lot of hobbies have free options. Free apps, free Youtube tutorials, free downloadables – you don’t have to spend anything on using these and you can still indulge in the things that make you happy. Your budget remains unaffected and it’s just your free time you have to watch!

If you’re a puzzle enthusiast who loves putting jigsaws together, buying puzzle magazines, reading Agatha Christie novels, investing in puzzle boxes that you have to work out, and playing video games that focus on the puzzle element. The cost of all these things is really going to rack up – puzzle boxes alone have an average price of £40 a pop!

However, if you look hard enough, you’re going to find plenty of free puzzling options. A good round of spider solitaire that can be played in your browser, going on websites like Sporcle where people put together puzzles that others can play for free, and free subscription trials for puzzle magazines.

Sell off old hobby stuff

We all have some old and forgotten hobby items in the cupboard or the attic somewhere. These items have a very good chance of being worth something to someone else, even though they’ve been sitting in your storage for a while. Get them out, clean them up, and sell them on!

Book a space at a car boot sale happening near you or put some stuff on Ebay and wait for people to find it. Buyers will come along sure enough and you can rake in a few extra pounds here and there. Put this extra cash toward your hobby budget for the months ahead and you’ll reduce the load on the rest of your budget.

Think about monetising

Hobbies, as a rule, shouldn’t be something you indulge in just so you can make money off of them one day. They’re supposed to be fun outlets first and foremost! Turn them into a job and you might lose all passion for them, especially if you feel the pressure to keep delivering to the audience or client base you build.

However, if you’ve been doing the same hobby for years now and it’s starting to become a bit of a pull on your bank account, it’s worth thinking about monetising it. You’ve done the hard yards and you know you’re in it for the long haul, so you know you’re not going to drop the hobby and move onto something else in a month’s time. Monetising a brand new hobby you’re not even sure you’re committed to is always a bad idea!

But with a long term hobby, you’ll be in a much safer position to turn it into a financial venture. You still have the passion, and now you’ve got the experience to depend on. With both of these things, you could end up making some extra pounds off of avenues like social media or private tutoring.

You shouldn’t ever have to give up a hobby

Even though they can be expensive, hobbies are good for you. They’re stress outlets, they help to bolster your self esteem, and you can indulge in them whenever you have a free moment. They’re the kind of activities that bring a sense of peace and calm into our lives. For that simple fact alone, everyone should have at least one good hobby to rely on!

But if you’re struggling to keep up with a hobby due to the cost, some people feel they have no option but to put a stop to something that brings them joy. And while taking a break from it during high expense months can be a good idea, we highly recommend trying out the above tips before you decide to give it up.