Cheap and Fun Hobbies To Pick Up

Some hobbies can be as cheap or as expensive as you make them. However, some hobbies come with initial costs and ongoing maintenance expenses. When those costs start to pile up, the fun of a pastime quickly becomes a financial burden. If you are looking for cheap hobbies to get into that won't break the bank, you are in the right place. Here is a list of hobbies that are either free or inexpensive to start and cheap to maintain.

Reading

Reading is an incredible hobby that provides so many benefits. Good literature can let you escape and explore other eras and new worlds or teach you vital life skills. Reading leads to the all-around development of your mind and personality. And all this is for little money or for free. You can get books for free by joining a library, downloading books from Project Gutenberg, or using Libby - an app that gives you access to digital books and audiobooks from your local library. Or you can buy books at thrift stores and garage sales for a dollar or even less.

Hiking

Hiking is an inexpensive hobby and is a way to experience the outdoors. Hiking presents incredible benefits for the mind, body, and spirit. You can make this activity as easy or as challenging as you want, and you don't need to invest much to start. You just need commute money, hiking shoes, water, sunscreen, and snacks. You don't have to travel far either. Likely, after a quick search on inernet, you will find hiking trails around your area that you had no idea existed. You can combined hiking with other activities like bird watching, foraging, and fossil hunting.

Learn Your Local Ecosystem

Learn your local ecosystem or a part of it. Bird watching or birding is a popular pastime that lets you be as involved in it as you want - you keep it to your local park observations or embark on a guided birding expedition. No expensive equipment is necessary - all you need is a field guide or app and decent binoculars.

Plant identification is another way to learn about where you live. A skill to correctly identify plant is also a prerequisite for foraging. Plant identification requires even less investment than birding. You can install a plant identifier app on your phone or get a field guide from a library.

Both of these activities will get you outside. You can go birding alone to get away from the daily routine, bring along your kids, or join a group and meet new people.

Foraging

The excitement of finding tasty things and turning them into something enjoyable, like a rose hip syrup, chamomile tea, or mushroom tacos, isn't the only benefit of foraging. Foraging is an opportunity to get outside and connect with nature. You can share this activity with old friends, or it can be a way to make new friends.

Don't rule out this hobby if you live in an urban area. Even people living in dense U.S. cities are surrounded by woodlands, parks, and fields with edible vegetation. You can get into this hobby right away by learning what can be foraged in your area, what is harmful and what is safe, and finding the places where foraging is legally allowed.

Cooking

There are many benefits to cooking, and if you take it up as a hobby that you enjoy, you will be greatly rewarded. Firstly, cooking skills will help you save lots of money, especially if you dine out or order takeout food regularly. If you like fine dining, you can learn to make the food you want for a fraction of the cost of eating out. You can make healthier food choices and better meet your nutrition guidelines. You can start with simple recipes that do not require anymore kitchenware than you already have.

Rock and Fossil Hunting

Amateur geology or rock collecting is another cheap outdoor hobby that will help bring some fresh air into your life. Hunting for, studying, and collecting rocks, geodes, crystals, gemstones, and fossil specimens is a fun activity for children and grown-ups.

Fixing and Restoring Stuff

If you are a tinkerer and like working with your hands, a hobby of fixing or restoring things can be a great way to relax in a productive way. Restore rusty old hand tools, revamp old furniture, fix old mechanical typewriters, repair bikes, or work with anything you may be interested in - the choices are endless. You can find things extremely cheap at flea markets, garage sales, or salvage stuff from junkyards. You then can resell the restored finds to cover all expenses and make some pocket money. With time, your hobby can turn into a profitable side hustle.

Garage Sale Flipping

Find garage sale treasures and collectibles and flip them on eBay. You can do this for the excitement of discovering unique finds or turn your garage sale shopping hobby into a profitable sideline business.

Volunteering

Helping out and learning something new is rewarding by itself. But some times there are more benefits to volunteering. You can meet new people and make new friends. Or get a special volunteer appreciation gift, a t-shirt, for example. Some employers even offer paid time off for volunteering.

Running

Running doesn't sound like an enjoyable hobby at all. But the "runner's high" is real. There's a point where the run becomes enjoyable, and even addicting. Running can give a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment and put you in a good mood for the rest of the day after you have finished a run. Running is accessible for most people and easy to do anywhere. It doesn't require memberships, equipment, or fees. You just need a good pair of running shoes.

Yoga

Yoga is another physical activity that is not expensive. Seriously, a mat is all you need, not even clothes - do it in your pajamas. Some exercises can be completed without a mat. To get started with yoga, look for YouTube channels with free beginner-friendly yoga classes.

Writing

Writing is a great mental exercise that helps improve your command of the language. It also helps to clear your mind, put your life events into perspective, and stockpile your ideas. You can start writing for the fun of it and monetize your writing skills in the future.

You can make money by starting a blog, publishing a book, or selling your writing skills online. One day you may even decide to turn your writing hobby into a full-time copywriting or content writing job.

Playing a Musical Instrument

A hobby that involves musical instruments can become expensive very quickly. Typically musical instruments are costly, and require ongoing maintenance expenses. But playing music is a wonderful hobby that should not be disregarded based on costs alone. There are frugal ways to get into playing music as a hobby.

You can reduce the costs by buying used musical instruments. But before you commit to the purchase, it is a good idea to borrow or rent the instrument you like for a couple of months and see if it's something you really want to do.

Origami-ing

Origami is a lot of fun! You can start transforming flat sheets of paper into three-dimensional sculptures right now. You don't even have to buy paper, treat the junk mail as a free source of paper.

Drawing

If you are looking for inexpensive creative hobbies - sketching and drawing may be for you. You need very little to start and can create anywhere as long as you have pencils and paper with you.

Learning a Language

People learn languages for business, technical, cultural, and social reasons. But there is nothing to stop you from doing it for fun. There are many ways to learn a language, and most of them are free.

Learn a Programming Language

Programming is a practical and super fun skill to have. You can learn to automate things and create things from nothing. If you already have a computer, learning to code will cost you nothing - you can find free online courses for any language.

Chess

Chess has fascinated people for over a thousand years. Maybe this game can captivate you, too? Learning the rules of chess is easy, but mastering the game will take time. You can play chess online for free with family, friends, and strangers. You will find everything you need to get into the hobby at Chess.com.