What is your "cheap" hobby?

Seems like most hobbies are pretty darn expensive which is not surprising, aka ya gotta pay to play.:(

I use to play golf but now have a bad back.
I use to ride motorcycles but feel like it's too dangerous now for ME (JMO) due to distracted drivers.
I still go fishing, tried fly fishing and still think about trying it again.
Now I tinker around with guns, I really seem to enjoy the load development process, trying to find a good load for a rifle. I prefer rifles over handguns so I don't reload for handguns.
I shoot ARA matches at my local gun range.

So far all of the above are fairly expensive or worse to get started in.

What cheap/inexpensive hobby have you discovered? I've not really found any that interest me yet

I consider myself a "master piddler", I just piddle around the house at times doing things, tinkering around, but I usually end spending some coin because I think of a better mousetrap for that particular area, or I break whatever I was piddling/tinkering with and have to replace it. :rolleyes:

Video games. I have a playstation 1, 2, 3, and 4. Although going by the price of the systems and the games, I'm not sure if this would qualify as cheap. However it is much cheaper than my gun hobby.
I also collect matchbox and hotwheels Jeeps. Those are usually $1 or so each, so pretty cheap. Plus they only have a new one every few months.

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Originally Posted by jpx2rk

I consider myself a "master piddler", I just piddle around the house at times doing things, tinkering around, but I usually end spending some coin because I think of a better mousetrap for that particular area, or I break whatever I was piddling/tinkering with and have to replace it. :rolleyes:

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My puppy is the "Master Piddler" when I work outside. He follows me everywhere I go and when I finish what I'm doing he spends about 15 minutes smelling and taking a couple of "whizzes" on whatever catches his attention. He's a 11 pound Shih-Tsu and follows alongside when I mow the lawn. When done he comes in the house and lays upside down for a couple hours sleeping. Short legs and lots of running to keep up.

As for a "cheap hobby" I smoke meat. Beef, Pork, Fowl, just no fish. Just finished off 2/3 of a complete pork loin with belly meat attached. Turned it into both English Bacon as well as the regular bacon we see in our grocery stores. Most expensive part of my hobby is the smoker and meat slicer. I just consider the meat to be "grocery expense". My kids enjoy the Brisket, Sausage, Turkey Breasts, Pastrami, Bacon, Pork Butt, etc enough that they now have taken to give me gift cards from my local Butcher.

Last brisket I smoke cooked and took to my Daughters lasted one meal. The entire "flat" from a "packer cut" brisket (which is the whole brisket in a large plastic wrap averaging around 15#).

Oh yea, I did the Easter Ham for Easter Dinner at my Daughters. 20# and it sat in the brine in my refrigerator for 30 days before smoking.

Of all the hobbies I've had this is one has proven to be my least expensive and also the "tastiest".

When I can't afford to build and shoot guns anymore, I think I'll take up Girl Watching as a low cost hobby. Ain't no finer town to live in than Austin, TX for girl watching. By an act of Congress, Austin is a "clothing optional" city, so Barton Springs Pool is always a fun, as well as a cool (70 degree spring water) place to hang out. :o

Then there's Mardi Gras (or any Saturday night on Sixth Street), the annual World Naked Bike Ride though town, protests at the Capital, Formula One, South by South West, Hippie Hollow State Park, Willie Nelson's annual 4th of July picnic, always a good time a'happen'n. If it's cool and fun, it's in Austin.

My cheapest hobby for all intents and purposes is this stupid computer.
Only problem is Amazon I am a self described JACK OF ALL TRADES so buying needed stuff is way to easy on the web.

No such thing as a "cheap hobby" unless it's watching the neighbor's grass grow. If it's YOUR grass, you have to water it, that costs $$, or mow it, you have to buy a mower.
Just about everything we touch costs $$. You like to hike? You have to get to a starting point one way or another.
Build model airplanes? $$! Start flying them? More $$!!
Build guns? $. Shoot guns $$!
Whatever you like doing, do it because you like it. You can't take it ($$) with you unless you can change it into Travelers Checks. And you're only going around one time (unless you're Shirley Mac Lane) so enjoy the hell out of it!!
Photography. That gets expensive REAL FAST but very fun.
Building street rods? EXPENSIVE!!
Growing Bearded Iris? Try 2500 plants. New catalog? More $$$.
Making quilts? Took the wife to a Quilt show, figured I could make those. Cost me a couple $100 for fabric before I got home.
Try Stamp collecting. One cheap (Mint) stamp cost $450.00 +. It goes on from there.

Had an Atari pong video game, well I really got for the daughter at xmas almost 30 yrs ago. Wife and I stayed up late after the daughter went to sleep and played it, would get all wound up and then couldn't sleep. Not had one since. I do play games on my laptop tho, just BJ, Sol, and Majohg tiles.

With the price of meats, I'm surprised this is a cheap hobby.

Wife has been wanting to visit Austin, so those "hobbies" might prove useful. LOL

I try and stay away from Amazon, and do a pretty good job, but shooting and reloading websites and just cruising the web is fun, and cheap if I don't click on the add to cart button.

I do get some cheap entertainment from my SIL who lives next door and their yard guy. They don't want him to come mow on a "regular" basis, just when they think it needs it. In turn, the grass clippings really pile up and she complains about it, but won't change the cutting schedule. I do enjoy watching my young and well endowed neighbor on the other side mow her yard. She has a rough yard too.

play the guitar.

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Originally Posted by rjtfroggy

My cheapest hobby for all intents and purposes is this stupid computer.
Only problem is Amazon I am a self described JACK OF ALL TRADES so buying needed stuff is way to easy on the web.

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I find Amazon both convenient and dangerous.

I rarely head out to any of the stores to "shop" anymore. Hours wasted, stuff I want/need is never in stock, and I parking can be aggravating enough to consider homicide.

With Amazon I can find what I want without driving and putting up with the parking, stupid clerks, and long checkout lines. Bad news is too much can catch my eye and I sometimes buy more than I should. With Amazon Prime Pantry I don't need to leave the house to stock the "pantry" with non perishables. Cereals, soup, packaged meal sides, and just about anything else used in the kitchen that doesn't require refrigeration or can spoil in a day or two. Prices equal or better to Wally-World and delivery is free if you fill your box with qualifiying items.

I save a ton of money every month on gasoline alone although any savings just ends up in powder, primers, and bullets.:o

Can't help, mine all cost me big time !!!

If I had to say, I think fishing is the cheapest hobby I have.

I fly radio controlled helicopters and those are pretty pricy. Shooting is fairly pricey since I like to try new guns haha. I also just got into reloading. That is sort of expensive too.

But I like doing it all so I don't mind spending money on it. Go to work all week, might as well have fun when I'm off.

I'd have to say the cheapest of my hobbies would be scale model building. Still not cheap with tools, air brushes, paints, supplies, and quality kits are pricey... but, compared to firearms, reloading, saltwater reef tanks, RC planes, helis, & drones, plus photography & motorcycles.... OUCH! THAT mental figure is starting to hurt.....

Growing a beard is a hobby that saves you money, on razor blades anyway.
Flat water canoeing is a pretty interesting low stress low maintenance hobby that doesn't cost much after the initial purchases.
Cheap pelican canoe $399 at dicks sporting goods, Might even save a few bucks more on a gently used unit though most folks that own em think they're gold. 2 paddles @ $25 each, life jackets. $25 foam blocks for the roof rack a pack of ratchet straps and you're ready to go. No registration if she's non motorized.
Of course it can be a gateway to fishing which isn't too bad if you stick with spinning gear and the canoe.
Then if you like you can add $50 for a spinning reel and $50 or so for a small tackle box, and a few lures, hooks etc.
That'll work for the warmer months outside of hunting season anyway.
Heck, hunting isn't too bad once you realize you don't need every gadget in Bass Pro to be successful.
I like sitting on the ground downwind from a well used game trail or feeding area. Heck a hunting license, some appropriate clothing for the weather, a box of shells, a little gas money and a sack lunch and some water are about all you really need.

Netflix might be my cheapest hobby lol. I just don't get to do it that much after doing the expensive hobbies....I do enjoy just piddling in my gun and reloading room. I can be down there for hours and not really get anything accomplished. Momma says I'm a professional piddler.
Scooter

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Originally Posted by big honkin jeep

Heck, hunting isn't too bad once you realize you don't need every gadget in Bass Pro to be successful.

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Around here "hunting" seems to require a fully accessorized 4X4 Diesel Pickup Truck ($50-$60K) and a fully equipped Travel Trailer $40K and up. THEN they add the custom rifle and personal "gear".

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Originally Posted by Mozella

Removed - inappropriate

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R U serious..............

I have no cheap hobbies.............

I enjoy electronics during our long winters, my favorite is a sump pump alarm that chirps when the water rises to the sensors, and increases in speed as the water rises... lost it on my last move... made some cool alarm circuits, and played with basic radio receivers... Once you buy the basics, the rest is almost free...