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surely your hobby can't be that expensive

⁨503⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨UnGlasierteGurke@feddit.org⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

https://feddit.org/pictrs/image/772abd89-f9e5-4b9b-a43d-b27ca8b69373.webp

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  • ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Software development is cheap, if you already own a PC, which is the most expensive part if you go with open source tools.

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  • BuckenBerry@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

    Have you considered flying a black flag?

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  • zaphod@sopuli.xyz ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Spending money on hobbies is fine, change my mind.

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    • umbrella@lemmy.ml ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      no. we must spend money on bills then sit motionless until next shift.

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      • zaphod@sopuli.xyz ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        The only people deserving fun are the billionaires.

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      • webp@mander.xyz ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Get into videogames, then you can do both

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    • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      … so long as it does not materially impact your ability to provide basic necessities for your own wellbeing, food, water, shelter, some level of climate control, etc.

      … and you are not directly, indirectly, or functionally spending other people’s money on your hobbies.

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    • Pat_Riot@lemmy.today ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      No. I agree with you

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    • DoomProphet@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      As long as “spending money” isn’t the hobby and you actually use it otherwise it’s a waste of resources.

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  • Eufalconimorph@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    If you want to save money, don’t get into bird photography as a hobby. Gear Acquisition Syndrome is fatal to your wallet. Image

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    • faythofdragons@slrpnk.net ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Oh no, the birb left a leg on the beach. Gotta buy a new lens to do better next time.

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      • Eufalconimorph@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Please no. I like my kidneys. The next lens up in quality is over $15,000.

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  • IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    there has to be a list of hobbies one can try that cost practically nothing:

    Solving Rubik cubes (a high quality speedcube is about 20$)

    Crocheting/stitching (needles and yarn after cheap)

    Writing (free)

    … (please expand if you have any ideas)

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    • Rinn@awful.systems ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Crocheting/knitting is cheap to try out but once you really get into it (and start worrying about yarn quality and so on), the money pit opens.

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      • Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        As someone who owns a spinning wheel, you can dye and spin yarn at home to make the money pit even wider and deeper!

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      • Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        My wife has enlisted friends to help me sell her yarn stash if she dies before me. There’s probably 10 large worth of high value lines sitting in bins around me. Her work includes a $200/month yarn shop stipend, and has for many years now.

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      • LillyPip@lemmy.ca ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Yep. Often when I wear a new jumper or whatever around people who know I knit, I get asked ‘oh, that’s pretty, did you make it?’

        Lol no, that would have cost me like 5 times more. I couldn’t afford to make it myself.

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      • IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        ok but that’s in you for getting expensive yarn.

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    • CobblerScholar@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Not no-cost but cooking, gotta feed yourself anyway might as well have fun with it

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      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Cooking is cost negative relative to eating out. You just need a decent kitchen and plenty of free time

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    • TheGuyTM3@lemmy.ml ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Drawing (stop pretending you need expensive material do draw nice things, pencils and erasers are the only requirement, and a good sketch book can be found for less than 15 bucks)

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      • IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        who even says that drawing is expensive? it’s so obviously cheap thing to do. we did it so much as children. if it was expensive no kids would be allowed to draw

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    • Emi@ani.social ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Drawing, pencil and paper for start and drawing tablets are not that expensive for starter ones and there’s free open source drawing software.

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    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      D&D costs $90 for the hard cover core book set and $0 for the pirated pdfs.

      Biking can have a high upfront cost, but I’ve been using the same bike for 20 years with tune-ups and replacements running in the low three figures over that time.

      I’m a big fan of podcasts, particularly ones that cover old movies. Criterion collection films are everywhere and they’re classics for a reason.

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      • iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        There are cheaper and better TTRPGs.

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    • exasperation@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Cooking is basically better than free.

      Yes, ingredients and equipment cost money, but the end result averages out to be cheaper than if you didn’t know how to cook. And even if you take on more expensive ingredients or tools, you’re probably offsetting even more expensive restaurant meals that you would’ve eaten.

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    • Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Writing (free)

      Maybe if you only write in dirt with your finger. Orherwise you need writing implements and something to write on.

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      • IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        If you’re reading this in a computer, then you already have what you need. otherwise, it’s like you said, the cheapest thing on the list

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    • Asetru@feddit.org ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Hiking? I mean, the world is just out there.

      Other outside activities that need minimal equipment come to mind. You ever played discgolf? Or went running? Or geocaching?

      But yeah, lots of activities aren’t expensive. Draw something. Paint something. Sing! Or do some sports! Yoga only requires a mat if you do it naked.

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      • IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        although the entry bar is theoretically non existent. practically? not really.

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    • Skipcast@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Software development is free if you already have a computer

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    • HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      music, cooking, public librarying (that’s too complicated for one post)

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    • Coolcoder360@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      “needles/yarn after cheap”

      That’s a lie. My wife is into knitting and crochet, I’ve seen $300 purchases for yarn only, for just one dress. Not to mention $50-100 needles or swifts or yarn caking tools

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    • 9point6@lemmy.world ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      There are plenty of hobbies where you can happily enjoy it and only ever spend little if anything.

      On the other hand, I’ve found it’s pretty uncommon to find a hobby where you can’t optionally fall down an expensive rabbit-hole of some kind, usually around any kind of equipment or tools you might need as part of some hobby.

      Thankfully for most hobbies that kind of thing is not required to enjoy it. You don’t need a fancy guitar to enjoy playing; you can read books from the library, you don’t need to collect your own; in most big enough cities (in Europe at least) you don’t even need to own a bike to go for a cycle (though regularly using bike rental schemes might be a sign to just get a bike)

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      • IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        all hobbies have a cost floor for entry and a cost ceiling. one is the actual cost, and the other one is a made up number based on the richest person who does that hobby.

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    • Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      IMO piracy and self hosting has great cost benefits.

      Sure it costs money to buy a mini computer and a hard drive, but after, you can spend a long time building that library and it won’t cost you a dime.

      And the computer and hard drive is more like an asset, you don’t really lose money when you buy it.

      And it kind of pays you back, eventually you get a little tired of building your library but then you can use said library and integrate it into your lifestyle while you get a new obsession.

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      • IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        also, there’s a high when you hoard data like a dragon

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    • Hikermick@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Birdwatching. You can buy a book and binoculars if you like. The app Merlin is somewhat free to ID Birdwatching calls. Birdseed can get expensive or just plant sunflowers.

      Wildflower identification. Best in early spring, Phone apps make this a little too easy. Seed collecting and propagation is my next goal. I also pull up invasive plants, mostly garlic mustard.

      Gardening. Seeds are cheap but if want to start indoors you’ll need a light and possibly a heat mat. Start outdoors in a makeshift “greenhouse” using a clear plastic jug. Starter plants are cheap

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    • CouldntCareBear@sh.itjust.works ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Any art or craft or sport is pretty much free when you weigh up the hours vs the outlay required.

      Except skiing and motorsports. That eats money.

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      • exasperation@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Skiing can be cheap if you just happen to be local to where you want to go. Used equipment can be cheap and last a long while and season tickets can be a good bargain on a per day basis at that point. I used to do that when I lived basically on a ski mountain.

        But then you catch the bug and then you have to plan out $2000+ trips just to be able to do that once after you move away.

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      • IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        or boating, or equestrianism, or space travel.

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    • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Entirely seriously, learn how to make a game in Godot.

      Its literally completely free, only costs you time, and assumes you have at least some kind of existing computer.

      Alternatively: Find a video game you like.

      Make mods for it.


      Here’s another one that’s basically free:

      Becoming/Staying fit, gaining strength and agility.

      Make ‘weights’ out of milk jugs with water in them.

      Maybe get a resistance band or two, they’re not that pricey.

      You can absolutely do a ton of stretches and light to modetate muscle group workouts with basically just random shit lying around a typical home or apartment.

      You can find basic guides for these excercises often just freely available from reputable medical organizations.

      You can literally just go on a 20 minute walk, 3 times a week, and be in better physical shape than something like half of the US adult population.


      Back to computer shit:

      Blender is free.

      Learn 3D modelling, rigging, UV wrapping, how texturing works, how to make animations, etc.

      Same with Krita.

      Become artist. Draw stuff good.

      You can find probably literally millions of free tutorials for how to do basic and intermediate level concepts.


      Whsitling/Singing/Voice Acting.

      These are developable skills much more so than they are just… things you either can or cannot do, for some reason.

      You can teach yourself how to do these, again to a basic or intermediate level, for pretty much free.


      Same thing with at least some kinds of dancing.

      If you’re feeling more EXTREME: Parkour and/or Urbex.


      Lockpicking.

      Go find the Lockpicking Lawyer on youtube.

      Pretty sure he can recommend you a not too pricey basic starter kit for learning the basics.


      … I could go on, but my hands are tired from what I’m going to call ‘autism posting’, one of my totally free, personal hobbies that I often indulge in.

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    • yucandu@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Papercraft is pretty cool. If you have some thick card stock paper, a printer, a knife, and some glue, you can find 3D designs online for almost anything. I made an IL2 Sturmovik.

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    • Hossenfeffer@feddit.uk ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Well, strangling animals, golf and masturbating.

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      • floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Golf??

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      • IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        all of those are non like the others

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      • Hikermick@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Choking the chicken? It’s two hobbies in one

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    • Postmortal_Pop@lemmy.world ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Ceramics is stupidly cheap to get into. All the tools can be replaced with your hands and a needle, finding workable clay in nature is stupidly easy if you know what to look for and even the garbage clay can be made usable. Most ceramic shops let you rent a shelf on the kiln for like $5. Your first ceramic statue is literally 2 hours of research and $5 away no matter where you are in the world.

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      • Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        finding workable clay in nature is stupidly easy if you know what to look for

        Workable clay may be hundreds of kilometers away, depending on where you live.

        I mean, I’m in the Netherlands, i literally can’t avoid the stuff, but not everyone lives in a giant river delta.

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  • popekingjoe@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    My friends and me with magic the gathering

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  • Warl0k3@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I’ve been into calligraphy for years now - it’s a wonderful hobby with anywhere between absolutely none (pseudocalligraphy with a pencil/bic) and a very low cost to entry (blackletter with a parallel pen) that I seriously encourage anyone to try out! Just be warned that it’s a gateway drug to the fountain pen hobby, which uh.
    …
    …
    quickly becomes a not-cheap hobby. Good god.

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  • annoyed_onion@lemmy.world ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    As an amateur radio operator, I can confirm this as factual. Over.

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  • DoomProphet@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    My hobby of flipping antic gold coins into ponds cost me pretty penny but it’s so rewarding! Once I’m good at it I’ll turn it into a side hustle and it’ll have paid for itself in no time!

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  • ramenshaman@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Yeah… I recently built my first drone.

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    • mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      I wanted to kill a rat in my garden, so I borrowed my parents’ air rifle. but the scope was too tiny to be any use at night, so I bought an air rifle with a bigger scope. but that rifle sucked and an internal part broke, so I bought a proper one. but I still have the crappy one and want to tinker with it, so I printed some replacement parts. but I want to make proper replacement parts that will withstand impact abuse, so I need to turn them on a lathe. but my lathe is just a wood lathe, so I designed and printed a four jaw chuck. but it’s not any good for parts requiring more than one setup, so I bought a cheap real 3 jaw chuck. but it didn’t come with the adapter plate to mount to my spindle, so I tried to buy one. but there doesn’t seem to be any suitable adapter plate for sale that will fit both my chuck and my spindle (there’s one that is close, but would require machining to make it fit - machining that I can’t do without a lathe), so I decided I’ll just drill mount holes through my existing faceplate. but that faceplate isn’t true with the shaft, so if I want to mount my chuck on it and have it be useful then I need to turn it true. but I don’t have carbide tools for metal lathing, so I needed to buy some. and I need to locate the holes that I need to drill to mount the chuck, so I drew up and am printing an template. and that’s where I’m at right now, waiting for that to finish printing, so I can center punch the bolt holes.

      so that I can mount a chuck, to turn a replacement part for an air rifle that isn’t even ‘the good one’, to shoot a rat that is digging in my garden and making holes in my yard that’ll twist my ankle eventually

      hobbies huh.

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      • n0respect@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        And the next thing you know you’re shaving a yak for some reason

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  • starman2112@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I have below beginner level astrophotography gear, and I’ve still spent over $500 on it. A proper tracking mount costs somewhere in the ballpark of $1,000, and that’s just the mount. Granted I’m happy with the OTAs I have, so I’m probably not buying a new scope for a while

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    • thedirtyknapkin@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      yeah, $500 is tough to get into astro with.

      plenty for general photography, but astro can get gear heavy fast. astro landscapes are becoming more accessible as more fast lenses get cheaper, but the kind of astro that needs a tracker is just pricy.

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      • starman2112@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Yeah, I really thought I could just put some elbow grease into a Canon EOS 300D and a Celestron Astromaster 130EQ and make it work… at least I know that I’m into this hobby, and I know what upgrades I need to make

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  • crumbgrabber@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I thought it said what having a hobby does to a MILF.

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  • Lucky_777@lemmy.world ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    MTG really fits the shoveling cash into a furnace thing

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    • Hossenfeffer@feddit.uk ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      I was lucky. When my friends were first trying to persuade me to get into it I went to a LGS to get a started pack.

      A guy came in with a sports bag full of ‘his green swaps’ to see what price he could get for them.

      That was the point where I realised I’d dip my toe in the water but this wasn’t going to be a serious hobby for me.

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    • SexualPolytope@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      What did Margorie Taylor Greene do again?

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      • Lucky_777@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Breathing #1. She should probably stop that.

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    • ZeDoTelhado@lemmy.world ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Unfortunately yes. I used to play many years ago, loved (and still love) the game format. But after the release of modern masters at the price they did, I knew things would never get better. Wizards and Hasbro are in on the card evaluation market. They could, at ANY time, squash it. They decided to foster it

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  • HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    i mean, my hobbies have major upfront expenses but are cheap afters. bideo games: console expensive, library games free. musical instruments expensive, reeds/springs cheap, music cheap/free. smoker expensive, food only a little more expensive. just gotta choose well.

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  • aceshigh@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Choose a cheap hobby. I do art journaling - everything except the glue is free.

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  • gnu@lemmy.zip ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Between photography, motorcycles, and tools (woodworking/metalworking/automotive) this does seem accurate for me - I have ended up spending a fair chunk of money between these over the years.

    Every now and then I think paragliding would be an interesting thing to try but I have to tell myself another expensive hobby is hard to justify when I’d like to actually own a place to live some day.

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  • BanMe@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Not in America! My hobby is my second job

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  • DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Hobbies be like: !piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com

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  • Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Thankfully my hobby is video games so I really only have to buy something to play them on and then I can search for the One Piece if you catch my drift.

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  • lena@gregtech.eu ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Need… that… new… VPS!!!

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  • Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Doing historical reenactment can be done in two ways:

    • spend an absolute fuckload of time on everything.

    • spend an absolute fuckload of money on everything.

    The former is more historically accurate, but I completely understand not wanting to pick up flax farming as a side hobby.

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  • zebidiah@lemmy.ca ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    …watch collecting, photography, motorcycling, hifi equipment & vintage synths, 😭😭😭

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  • Assassassin@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    It only feels that way because corporations and their billionaire leaders keep eroding our ability to afford anything beyond basic requirements and decreasing the amount that they pay for labor. Working 40 hours a week should give you enough money to survive and have a couple of hobbies, at a minimum.

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  • Sine_Fine_Belli@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Too real, lol

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