Free to Cheap Hobbies

Even when our plates are full, those of us who understand balance know we have to make room for our hobbies.

Hobbies can be expensive. I speak from experience. Every time Greg started a new hobby, it cost big bucks. Over the years he'd taken up many hobbies. Off the top of my head, there was photography, karate, guns, swords, a boat, and motorcycles.

After seeing the price tag for some customizing he was doing to his bike, I complained there was no way he could find  anything more expensive than motorcycles.

That's when he took up flying.

Oy! I will never make such a challenge again. I think he did that purposely!

Hopefully, you don't have an expensive hobby.

My hobbies tend to be on the creative side. I've built miniature furniture, dioramas, and dabbled in clay. Mostly I paint--or I used to. I was looking at my brushes the other day and thought it was time to paint my Tanky's portrait.

Painting is not particularly cheap but I'm good about catching sales and buying quality materials so they last a long time.

• Reading, of course. That's why libraries exist, but if you can channel your reading into reviews you can also get free books from places like Library Thing and Net Galley.

Public Service Announcement: If you like a book, be a pal and leave a review. Authors can use all the reviews they can get.

• Journaling: All you need is a journal (paper or on your monitor) to record your daily thoughts.

• Drawing or painting: Quality paint can get a little pricey but a piece of charcoal or a few pencils won't break the bank. Even if you think you have no skill, you might be surprised what your doodles reveal about you.

• Photography: I'm including photography only because every cell phone has a camera now, but it can still run big bucks for those who do their own prints and enter shows.

• Meditation: I've never been able to meditate except when I was in yoga class. My mind is always racing. But meditation is free and you can do it anywhere.

• People-watch: Writers do this all the time, but it's fun to do it for no reason at all. Sometimes I try to guess what people are thinking as they go by.

• Puzzles: Good for all ages. Word puzzles, picture puzzles, number puzzles. Number puzzles? How did that get in there?

• Walk: I like to walk, especially in the woods or by gardens. It's so relaxing.

• Card games: All you need is a deck of cards.

• Board games: I bought a Monopoly game over Christmas. We still haven't played it yet!

• Chess, a board game requiring some skill: Greg was a chess master once. And this is why we don't play.

• Watch tv: Hey, movies and television count as a hobby. As long as moss doesn't grow on you, you're not overdoing it.

• Museums, Zoos, and Arboretums: I love all three but we so rarely go. We must make amends to that this year.

• Gardening: That's not a hobby for me. It's a way of life.

• Scrapbooking: I've always marveled at scrapbooks. Although all the tools and doodads can get expensive, with a little recycling I'm sure it can be done for pennies.

• Needle craft: I have no skill with needle and thread besides base training. My mother taught me how to embroider when I was a child, and a neighbor taught me how to crochet left-handed. She was right-handed but she noticed I was having trouble following along. Compassionate woman that she was, she practiced crocheting with her left hand and then taught me. That's when I picked it up.

I was forced to be right handed all my life, and although I do it by rote now, anything I learn has to be tried left-handed first or it doesn't stick. Weird, huh?



What's your hobby? Is it expensive?

Are you right-handed or left-handed? I've become ambidextrous by default though I might've grown up less stressed if my teachers had allowed me to be left handed.