My H's hobby is being extremely frugal. Not even kidding. So I get to spend all of the money! Woohoo!
Do we share the same H? Paying bills and keep track of his savings account is like the highlight of his week. He does the math in his head and proceeds to tell me how much money he will have 3 years and 6 days from now interest included.
He got "upset" with me last week because I put money in his account and then promptly threw out the receipt with how much was in there...haha.
H is into photography. For the most part, it's not super expensive. He just bought a new camera for about $1200. And he'll ask for lenses or GCs for his birthday. And he bought new software. The most "Expensive" part is the time, because he's a perfectionist so he spends a lot of time sorting and editing.
I could have written this exactly! LOL.
I'd say he probably has about $5000 worth of photo equipment now. He also gets little photo gigs here and there, which he puts back into equipment. I completely agree that the most annoying part is the amount of TIME he spends editing.
Assigning separate fun money was the best thing we ever did for our budget. He can spend all of his on photo equipment, and I can spend all of mine on McDonalds, Starbucks, and Tulas without any judgment on either side.
Post by Queen Mamadala on Jun 29, 2015 9:38:37 GMT -5
Gaming, mostly console (I mostly play PC) and phone apps Writing fantasy Watching movies/TV shows and going to the theater (we go pretty much every weekend; sci-fi, fantasy, action, independent, thriller, etc.) Singing and playing the guitar Comics/graphic novels Reading Chocolate? Star Wars Cosplay conventions. We'd have gone this year, but he couldn't get off work that weekend. Eating out at favorite eateries
A lot of his hobbies don't really cost us anything, at least not in terms of monthly expenses. Others are joint activities, and I budget accordingly. I'm the one who gets him the things he likes. For movies, we probably budget $250 a month if we take the older kids with us. He rarely spends money on just himself, apart from clothes or things he needs for work.
DH seems to have all the hobbies. He has a workbench, so tools, but thankfully his job has to do with tools. He enjoys doing projects around the house, and hopefully once the pool is in that will become his main hobby! He is also into sports, specifically football, and why we HAVE to have the NFL ticket on direct tv. So yeah, probably a wee bit expensive.
ETA: and cooking on the green egg. He spends plenty of time "researching" recipes for the green egg.
H's big hobby is a competitive barbecue team. They recently got their own bank account, and they do a bit of fundraising (by selling meat), but it's still a few hundred bucks every competition, and they do 3-4 a year.
He also has season football tix. In another city. So every game is an all day road trip.
I don't love how much he spends, but it brings him joy, and we (mostly) have the money. I'm just a bit tired of there always being money for his shit and never money for a nice vacation (which would be what I'd much rather have). So things need some adjustment around here.
Volleyball just costs the registration fees for various leagues.
Mountain biking is cheap as he only gets his bike tuned up once a year. He did a big overhaul of it last year that probably cost about $300
Skiing is not cheap. I got him new skis 2 Christmases ago, and new boots for his birthday this past winter. But, lift tickets are $$$. Both of our sons are will be in lessons next winter so I'm sure DH will want to ski with them on those days, so I'm thinking of getting him a limited season pass (ie, just for evenings/afternoons). It's a small ski hill so it'll probably be about $400-500. But, then there's the visits to real mountains....
He runs, follows a few sports casually at this point and has recently become interested in the 19 year old car he just bought, but really, my husband's "hobby" is getting deals. He likes to walk around a Kmart, scour Craigslist, and lately he's been checking out yard sales. He learns the market for an item (kid bike, used car, dress shirts, computer, hot water heater, house) and then "strikes" when he's getting a deal on something we were planning to get anyway. I think it's somewhat ridiculous to be so calculating especially considering his income, but it makes him happy and has us in a great place, so no real complaints. I am mostly a saver too, but do the bulk of the household spending, and I am always encouraging him to spend money since he hardly ever splurges on himself.
DH is really into biking and camping. He has 4 bikes now (mountain, road, commuter and a fat bike) plus all sorts of accessories. So it's a little $$ but he usually counts the purchases as birthday or Christmas presents or works extra shifts for more spending money. For while he was into photography so he spent a lot on camera equipment and editing software. He wants a sports car but I keep vetoing that because it is too much $$$.
DH has all the hobbies... Camping, hunting, fishing, boating, canoeing, motorcycling, snowmobiling... He participates in snowmobiling forums and talks about all of the things until my head is ready to explode.
I like outdoor activities as well, and participate in some, but he obsesses.
Right now he is nesting though, and that's a whole other level of crazy.
DH doesn't really have any hobbies outside of sports. His happy time of the year is football season. We have limits though--he can't spend all weekend watching football. He must choose either college football on Saturday or pro on Sunday. He can't have both. He also tries to get to a few baseball games each year.
He is starting to get into music and concerts again which is kind of fun. We've been to more concerts this year together than we have in the previous ten.
Do vacations count? We both love traveling. Food and traveling are the main things we have in common. Since those both benefit me as well though I have never counted it. We budget for it every year.
Running & Triathlons. Race fees are about $40 for runs, $75. I go through a pair of running shoes every 3 months or so, they're about $75. I've bought most of the tri gear at this point other than a better wetsuit and bike, which can wait for a long time. Before that it was nerdy things -- mostly video games in general and Rock Band in particular.
On the other side, msniq used to buy a LOT of nail polish, and she has the garden.
Woodworking, hockey, mountain biking, gadgets (phones, tablets, smart watches, etc), quadcopters, and other hobby electronics projects.
We used to do fun money but we just... stopped tracking when we went through our pregnancy loss (I just was not myself and couldn't handle anything other than survival for awhile). It's out of hand but I haven't made the time to right the ship. At least most of them are somewhat productive - the woodworking stuff is great for the house, hockey and biking are good exercise, the electronics stuff is helpful for him on his resume. The gadgets are my big pet peeve.
Now I'm all riled up about it and want to get the budget back in place.
ETA: We maintain his, hers, and ours accounts. His/hers are for fun money. That worked well when we were actually tracking.
Football is 1. Specifically the Bengals. He has season tickets and has only missed a handful of home games since he turned 12 and started going with his dad. That is about $750 for the tickets and then gas to drive to Cincy on game weekends + food and booze. We stay at SIL's so no lodging costs.
He also pays for NFL Sunday Ticket on DirecTV, because it would be a crime to miss any action!
computer equipment/building computers is another one. His office at home is full of parts and stuff he's dicking around with.
Video games is #3. He has three gaming systems plus games he plays on his PC.
I don't know what he spends on computer/game stuff. All that comes out of his fun money.
I only know what the season ticket costs because I usually cut the check for his to FIL when I'm paying other bills. ILs paid for his ticket until we got married, so he's only been responsible for his ticket cost since then.
His are fishing and hunting. His big toy is our boat, but we all use it several times a week. We have three paddleboards, but those aren't big toys. Hunting adds up more than anything.. Gas to get there, stands, cameras, arrows, tags....I definitely don't have any hobbies that rival his in cost, but I'm okay with it.
Video games. He doesn't spend much, maybe $200/year between new games and an Xbox live subscription so he and his brother can play together.
When he was still working in finance he used to fly as a hobby which was crazy expensive. Now that he flies for work he only rents a plane maybe once/year to take the boys up and show off. That costs about $150 each time.
Post by everafter07 on Jun 29, 2015 12:03:23 GMT -5
H is a musician, he has a ton of equipment, but thankfully it's lasted and he hasn't had to buy anything new for a while. He does have to get stuff fixed here and there at $50-$150 a pop.
He also plays ice hockey, and spent a TON on equipment when he started, but that has also lasted.
Hobbies include his fish tank, legos, nerdy computer games, gardening and computers in general.
We have a general entertainment budget in our monthly budget which we jointly agree how to spend. We also have a small pet budget so he can maintain his tank.
The gardening is food and comes out of our grocery/home supplies budget.
DH has actually grown up a lot in understanding that he can't splurge as much as he used to. We are in vhcol and have lots of fixed expenses, so when he splurges, he understands that it's at the expense of something else now. When he gets a bonus, that's a time when he can splurge. Last year, he got a $400 tablet for example.
My husband likes sports, so he drops about $200 and a boatload of time in the fall on Fantasy Football. But since it's the only thing he really does (and the only times he really talks with his college friends on the regular), I don't mind it much. Could be much worse. Plus, occasionally he wins
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
DH runs and hikes. Not financially expensive hobbies, but they require time. He hasn't gone for any daylong hikes since DS was born 10 months ago (but has run in two marathons since, so he can't complain).
Beer and surfing. The brewing component of the beer doesn't cost all that much these days - he has all the equipment, and will usually brew with friends so they split the costs of the grain, hops, etc. The purchasing of craft beer and going to bars adds up to a decent amount but those are really the only things he buys for himself. He hasn't bought a new surfboard or wetsuit in years, so that really doesn't cost much money these days (aside from board rental if he travels someplace where he can surf).
Golf, watching sports in general. And history related stuff-documentaries etc. He golfs roughly once a week to every other week, sometimes less depending on his work schedule/weather/golf buddies' work schedules. so cost depends on where he golfs, what time of day, and if there's any eating or drinking on the course.
DH likes fixing stuff and has quite a tool collection but that's slowed in recent years. He did cut through a saw cord yesterday though, lol, but he thinks he can sauder it back together. <----- He is super cheap, bonus!
If he has an issue, it's with sunk costs. Like we have a beater truck and he thinks he can fix it, but the time, tools, and energy required will totally not be worth it. And then he does stuff like try to engineer a drain water reservoir for the garden but it takes him buying three different pumps and specialty drill bits etc, etc, before it works. If it ever works.
He plays softball but that's pretty cheap, maybe $40 a season in fees, $20 for a shirt. He has had all the other gear for forever. Bar tab each week is maybe $25.
We have season football tickets to his alma mater. That, along with the donations, is what, maybe $1000 a year. Plus six weekends of tailgating.
He runs too but that's free. Outside of a couple pairs of shoes a year.
I think I'm the more expensive hobby one in this relationship . He doesn't use our gym really at all so I feel like most of that "family" expense is really mine. Then I take dance classes and those are $50-$75 a month.. Plus shoes. I love gardening and decorating. And makeup. Lol.