As someone with a lifelong passion for equestrian sports, I often think how much easier (and so much cheaper!) my life would be if I’d chosen a cheaper thing to feel so passionate about. Because, honestly, horses cost everything you have - a liver, and a kidney, too. And, although I’m too late to be saved, you might not be. A good way to start looking for inexpensive hobbies would be to learn from other people’s experiences and see what suggestions they have. Of course, we know just the place to do it - this glorious Reddit thread where people share their ideas for cheap hobbies!
So, what kind of fun hobbies does this list have in store? Well, for starters, tons and tons of cheap hobbies to do alone! From something like whittling to perfect your craftsmanship if you’re into handmade stuff, to taking up a pencil to draw, and from walking (yeah, walking! It’s an excellent hobby idea if you love to explore) to running or lifting homemade weights while following a trainer on YouTube. And you know what the best part here is? No matter which one of these cheap hobbies to get into you choose, they are all really useful for personal growth and learning new skills as opposed to just spending your time mindlessly. Oh, and if you’re a person who loves to spend their time in a crowd, how about volunteering? It can be both fun and extremely gratifying.
Right-o, ready to find your next fun, cheap hobby? If so, just scroll down below until you reach the submissions we borrowed from this awesome AskReddit thread. Give your vote to the hobbies that you think deserve to be on top of this list, and share this article with your friends who might also be looking for a new activity to get into!
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"Gardening. You get a lot of satisfaction from very little money. You also learn a lot. You can start for free with some cuttings or seeds."
I throw my marijuana seeds over the fence. That way I can enjoy homegrown weed until my neighbor gets arrested for cultivation.
"Hiking"
Yes <3 Sadly, the Netherlands is not the most exciting country to go hiking in.
"Cat spotting! Go out in your neighborhood and count the cats. Go multiple times a different times and you'll never see the same ones. You can even draw a map of where you're guessing they live/have their territories. And like, half of them will want you to pet them!"
"Drawing. $2 plus tax at the dollar store and you've got yourself a notebook and a pack of pencils. Go wild."
But, before you know it, you're buying fancy drawing notebooks and 8B-to-6H pencil sets
"Bird watching"
"When we were teenagers my friends and I used to organize these scavenger hunts over the summer and one around Halloween, but instead of finding things, they involved doing things. The list was something that was always growing and I think we had like 175 things on the final one and it was always fun to sit around and brainstorm things to do.
Some of the tasks were simple like taking a picture with 5 strangers or forming a human pyramid. Some were really silly like holding a conversation with a street sign for 5 minutes or pretending to be the official door opener for a store. We also had some eating challenges that cost money, but not a lot like eating 6 raw eggs or eating an onion like an apple.
The scavenger hunts made our summers really fun and we also made lots of great memories. The first hunt was just 4 of us, but by the last one we had like 35 people in teams competing for a trophy we got a thrift store."
We did this in youth group. Ones I remember were the most amount of people in a shopping trolley and in a phone box. My sister's Rover crew do car hide and seek, which is kind of a variation. Teams go out in cars, first team finds somewhere to stop and then send other teams a photo from their location and they race to find them They also did actual geocaching.
"Knitting honestly isn't too expensive if you make the same stuff and stay on the same size needles. I have three different pairs of needles to make hats, cowls, and scarves. Yarn can be super cheap, the outcome is incredibly rewarding, and it calms my anxiety with repetitive movements and soft materials."
"Origami! There are tons of free patterns online and you can even get whole books with a little ingenuity.
I particularly recommend modular origami, where you make a big thing out of lots of small identical pieces. Usually, the small unit is very easy to fold, putting them together is quite simple, and you can make something really amazing.
It also kind of primes your brain for making three-dimensional shapes in any medium, especially glass."
I love origami, but a lot of the time I get stuck on the diagrams in books (which is a little embarrassing when trying to help kids with it) and I'm not good at following videos either! Simple stuff is okay, but beyond that I struggle I did attempt the 1000 cranes, but I only made 100!
"Mushroom hunting"
Foraging is awesome but mushroom foraging frightens me, even with a field identification book or app, I still don't trust my brain to identify correctly.
"I hunt the local beaches that are long abandoned for sea shells, sea glass, and driftwood. I make all kinds of stuff, usually a trip to the Goodwill inspires me - like old wind chimes, lamps, and mirrors. I make nautical crafts. It’s not very lucrative but it’s soothing for me."
Just make sure you know the local laws re taking things home especially if coming from another country. I want to hire a cement mixer sometime to make some 'sea glass' because it is not that common on the beaches near me but is so pretty, but that does require money!
"Dancing.
Don't even need music. All you need is a parked car to show your reflection. And some confidence. Can't forget that part."
"Language learning. Not sure about every language but as a native English speaker learning Spanish there are lots of free resources. It's time consuming but very fulfilling and doesn't ever have to cost a dime."
"Whittling. You can start with a $3 knife from a gas station and some sticks. Learn the basics (take off the bark, make a point, make a sphere), then work your way up."
I had a kid at work the other week who found a stick/bit of wood in the playground he wanted to turn into a spoon. I think he was surprised I encouraged him and I don't know if he ever did, but I think it would be great if he sustained the interest.
"Stargazing if you live somewhere dark enough! You don't need a scope to still see and identify stars/planets. If you want a hobby that requires money, but saves you money in the long run, try getting better at cooking. I started baking my own bread all the time and stopped buying bread because it's cheaper to get flour and yeast in bulk."
I like to go to the nearby paddy fields at night for a clear view. But so does the neighborhood snakes.
"Learning how to Cook well. Sure it costs some money (especially when you screw up a dish and it's inedible), but we all need to eat so learning how to cook, and be creative with limited ingredients will save money in the long run."
My grocery budget is limited, always seems to run out before the end of the week, so I experiment with ingredients that are left in the pantry. Necessity being the Grandma of resourcefulness.
"Most certainly an unpopular opinion, but cycling. You can get an old road bike at a Thrift store and ride it until you have the cash to upgrade. I rode a $20, 30-pound mountain bike on the road until I saved up to buy a decent ride. You don't have to have the best equipment and the latest tech to have fun."
"Writing. It can be done for virtually no money. Between public libraries with computers and google docs, you have everything you need. Or you can pick up a free pen at your local bank and random paper fliers around town if you want to go old-school.
If you're willing to shell out a bit more, a pack of pens and a decent lined notebook is less than ten bucks, and even the most lightweight Linux distro on the shittiest computer either has web access or a way to get an open-source word processor."
"Your local library probably has a ton of cool adult programs. The one I work at is frosting beer mugs next week and we play Magic the Gathering twice a month and the library provides cards for anyone who has none."
Yayyy, libraries have so much free stuff, it's not all book borrowing!
"Cross stitch is usually pretty cheap; plus it takes a while to complete pieces, so you get more time out of your money."
"Volunteering at your favorite charity. I love Leader Dog for the Blind. You get to be around puppies all the time while helping them train to be someone's eyes. Amazing cause and a great time."
"Bushcraft. Technically don't need anything but the wilderness. Maybe some gloves and a pair of pliers/knives. Cut some bramble or vines and you can start weaving cool shit like baskets. Very addicting hobby IMO. Like you'll probably start off making the same basket over and over just because it's so fun and you don't know how to make anything else."
"Puzzles!! They’re like $10. Add some good tunes and it’s perfect."
Did this a lot with my bf before we had kids. It's a great way to strengthen your relationship. 1. Who will solve this part of the puzzle? (Learn to problem solve together). 2. You get lots of time to actually talk about whatever is on your mind. 3. You have something to look forward to together. 4. You can easily treat your partner with their fav snack or beverage as a prep for the puzzle-activity itself.
"Running. I started three years ago doing couch to 5k using a free podcast and wearing an old pair of trainers and trackie bottoms that were covered in paint from decorating. Now I've got more into it I've invested in better trainers, but I buy ex-display models via eBay, and get my running gear from Primark or Aldi (I'm in the UK). I don't use a gym, just run around the streets or by the river, and run at the park run every week, which is free. Now I'm a bit better off financially than when I started, I pay for race entries to local race events (am lucky to have a few close by) and am about to do my first half marathon next week. Really rewarding hobby and you get fit too."
"You can also transcribe historical documents for the University of Iowa here: http://diyhistory.lib.uiowa.edu/collections/. Some are boring, but if you browse the categories you can find some really interesting ones."
"Sourdough bread baking. It does cost money for flour but once your starter is mature, you get to cook and eat all the flour so that’s minimal. It sucks a bit the first few weeks as you are trying to get the starter going and having to discard a lot. Even so, I still got a good loaf out of my first bag of flour so it wasn’t a total waste. I have bought a cast iron Dutch Oven at a thrift store but it’s not necessary."
"Since you probably already have a smartphone, geocaching."
"Guitar, you can easily get yourself a quality secondhand acoustic for like £30. Best decision I ever made."
But for God's sake, please learn something besides the first 12 notes of 'Smoke on the Water'.
"Juggling, I used to make my balls out of rice and balloons."
"Card throwing! I picked it up a few years ago, now I can slice small fruit & even cut into watermelons and stuff!"
"Programming is my choice - you can do it on equipment you already have (a computer), or at a library where there's often free access to a computer or the internet."
It's also nifty to train your brain on how to solve problems, breaking down issues into manageable chunks, and process implementation. Even if you don't want to program for a living, knowing how to solve problems and implement a solution is always in need
"Harmonica. Specifically, blues harp. Unlike say, a guitar, where you have to spend thousands to get a really good one, the $30 Honer Special 20 you buy will be the exact same instrument that the professionals use. You can fit it in your shirt pocket. You can practice in your car on your commute. You can carry it backpacking. They come in specific keys, and you will eventually want to buy 4 or 5 in different keys for playing along with other musicians. But each key plays the same as the others - learn one and you’ve learned them all."
"Coin collecting. I mean technically you still have the money."
Im on a quest to collect a million pennies so if anyone wants to donate any let me know lol
"Dungeons and dragons! Most of the rules are out there, and roll20 is free to join. If you're able to find a group in person (recommended), all you need is a set of dice, some pen and paper, and at least 1 person to have the players handbook or at least access to the internet."
"I collect spores, molds and fungus."
"Improv acting/theater."
"It's a little harder to do now, but map collecting. At least back in the day when I started my collection, the bulk of them were free maps from state/provincial highway departments, plus if you have AAA/CAA for our Canadian friends, they too give you free maps with your membership.
I started my collection back when paper maps were more available, but however most state/provincial highway departments don't print their own maps anymore, and AAA's selections are also a lot more sparse. But it can be done still, but it is a little more involved."
"Playing Basketball - A cheap ball costs 5 bucks, you can shoot and dribble by yourself and both skills are impossible to master. Most towns and all cities have courts and pickup games. I know dudes that play into their late 50s - honestly one of my biggest regrets was to not play for most of my 30s."
"Solving Rubik's cubes. I do this a lot and I have a nice speed cube that cost only around $5-6."
Can't do it. I even looked up how to do it on the internet still couldn't do it.
"Making computer music. There are free (or pretty cheap ~50 dollars) songwriting programs (or if you are just recording audacity will do well enough). In addition, there are many free synths and samplers to get started with, and some might even be good enough for use when you have paid options. All it takes is effort and lots of time."
"Beatboxing, all you need is your mouth and a brain."
