How much does your Hobbies Cost You?

Few days ago I came across a TV program that discussed about hobbies and their cost. In my own personal belief people need hobbies to take away stress. It may be painting, watching movies, traveling, cooking, baking, gardening, etc. (Yes, include shopping!)

Asking yourself how much it cost you on a monthly basis is a really tough question especially when you are enjoying the hobby and not minding how much money you put into it.

As far as my hobbies are concerned, I managed to put up a not so definite fund for each. For instance, my husband and I love traveling. Since I am in charge of our monthly expenses, I am setting aside a few thousand pesos each month for this hobby. Whenever we (I) feel the urge to travel, I usually look at our Leisure Fund and plan according to the amount indicated there. Sometimes we would join a bike ride, sometimes we would climb mountains or sometimes just chill out at the park. Traveling to us doesn’t necessarily mean boarding a plane or going to a place 3-4 hours from our house. For us, traveling means “going out.”

Other times I would try to cook a special dish. (Yes I love cooking!) If the dish is expensive then I can schedule it on a special occasion then adjust the budget for other dishes within the week. We have this mentality that we cannot just get what we want all at the same time. Sometimes we have to do some tradeoffs. For example we will buy tuna/salmon and cook it for lunch or dinner; we would have ginisang sitaw at kalabasa for the next day just to balance the cost. Of course my husband would not feel that I am getting stingy because I would serve generous portions of ginisang gulay.

Sometimes we will be spending more on our hobbies. But the thing is we know how to adjust. If we cannot afford it at the moment then we will probably save for it.

Maintaining our sanity is one reason why we have hobbies. But always bear in mind that our hobbies should not be the reason why we will put ourselves in difficult financial situations. Let’s have a sense of consciousness/awareness on things that are important and are more important. Setting priorities and smart goals will help us get into a healthier financial shape.

Till next time.