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Some people dream of playing golf or going fishing 7 days/week once they retire. Personally, I have almost no hobbies, so thinking up something to do will be a different challenge for me, although my wife's hobby costs enough for both of us.
However, my question is, "How much are you planning to budget for hobbies when you retire?" or for those with experience being retired, "Is the amount going to hobbies what you planned? Is it enough? Will you be financially able to support your hobbies 5 to 10 years from now?
if we cant support our hobbies then im going back to work.... photography, road biking and competitive pistol shooting... my wife is into all the above too so our hobby budget is huge
My interests are not too expensive or are a one-time expense - photography, bicycling, hiking, canoeing, blogging, learning history, learning French, genealogy research.
The big hobby for us is travelling. And that is not cheap! It would be nice to have unlimited money for travel, but we don't. So we pick and choose. If we hadn't just put a huge whack of money into remodeling/redecorating our house recently we would do a RTW trip for about a year!
Photography has an initial cost for equipment but if you have a digital camera with a couple of memory cards and rechargeable batteries, it's free every time you do it as long as you don't print your photos and you do put them on a photo sharing website that is free. My photography hobby's biggest expense is gasoline to drive to different places where I like to take photos.
I don't fly now that I've retired and don't have to, but I love to drive so my traveling is all done by car. But, what you like to do when you travel can be expensive or inexpensive regardless of how you get there. My vacation is planned around visiting friends in other states and/or my outdoor photography hobby. I spend my "vacation" (we retirees are always on vacation, aren't we? ) time in wildlife refuges, parks, on the boardwalk, at festivals, cookouts and at the shore. My biggest expense activity-wise, this year, will be fishing on a headboat one day of my vacation. I suppose if I lived near the shore, my vacations would be at lakes and in the mountains. If I have to wear something more spiffy than jeans, it's not a LauraC vacation. I hate to shop so I never spend vacation time in stores. I stay with friends or in nice motels (just to have a place to sleep and shower because I'm outside all day beginning at dawn...I don't even get to use complimentary breakfast tickets because I'm out before breakfast) not in hotels because I don't use/need the amenities of a fancy hotel and I'm pooped after all of that fresh air all day to do anything after dinner.
If your idea of a vacation involves cruises, tours, drinking, hotels, dress up events, fancy restaurants, shows, flying, golfing or things where admission is charged, your vacations will be way more expensive than mine. It's not a matter of which is better, it's just a matter of what you like to do that will dictate the cost of "traveling" as a hobby. The biggest expense of my vacations is gasoline and lodging not doing things while I'm there.
Don't do some hobby just because it's cheaper. You won't be happy. Do what you like, just if it's expensive, you may have to do it less frequently.
You might want to do some research on where you live. You might be very surprised at what goes on while you are at work and the free and cheap events in your area. My state is addicted to festivals. They celebrate everything and anything. During the spring, summer and fall, sometimes you have festival conflicts, there are so many. Find your state's travel and tourism website and look at the events calendar which is regularly updated. You'll learn about festivals, demonstrations/teaching events, shows, parades, presentations, re-enactments/living history events, outdoor concerts, etc., and I'll bet you never knew about two-thirds of them existed.
I just want to show you the 3 pages of April events in my state (scroll down):
i find with digital photography the more my wife and i grow as photographers the more we spend... the different software especially that we use is always changing. lenses, filters and camera bodies that get left behind in low light ability every few years.....then there is the cost of all the places we go to so we can shoot. we maintain a photo website where we sell our work to offset some of the costs
took a helicopter ride over nyc yesterday just to take photos.. it was awesome.
i think i should go back to gambling, im thinking that was a cheaper hobby ha ha ha
Last edited by mathjak107; 04-05-2010 at 08:15 AM..
Unfortunately, I am also learning about the cost of a photography hobby. Of course none of us need to decide to do these hobbies with such commitment. It is possible to do as mentioned by LauraC - just buy a camera and take some pictures. I find myself wanting more. That means expensive cameras, lenses, tripods, flash, filters, software, harddrives, printers, and then starting over replacing the gear that has become outdated. With a few more years of experience I expect to be displaying in galleries, leading workshops and pursuing an even more serious level of interest. I don't view my "hobbies" as hobbies. They become a part of what I do and who I am.
In retirement I will have more time for my hobbies, but I have always had to budget my expenses -- and my time. That will not be a new consideration.
If your idea of a vacation involves cruises, tours, drinking, hotels, dress up events, fancy restaurants, shows, flying, golfing or things where admission is charged, your vacations will be way more expensive than mine. It's not a matter of which is better, it's just a matter of what you like to do that will dictate the cost of "traveling" as a hobby. The biggest expense of my vacations is gasoline and lodging not doing things while I'm there.
Almost all of our vacations involve going to other countries. We don't like cruises, fancy restaurants or anything like that. We like casual. But it costs. Just going to visit my family in the US every xmas costs quite a lot even though we stay with family. Airfare and car rental costs quite a bit.
We visit dh's family in Australia every few years and we do spend a good part of that time at family's homes. We don't even have to rent a car as we borrow one of theirs. But we do travel around and eat out and the airfare is also high.
We do trips to islands in Scotland and are going on one for our anniversary in a couple of weeks. We rented a cottage for a week. But the cost of the car ferry to the island - £180 roundtrip!
Although we are close to Europe and can hop a cheap flight to most countries, it's so expensive there. So we don't go often.
But we absolutely love to travel and we love to experience other countries. So travel is just as important a part of our budget as food and electricity.
I find that I spend a bit more than I anticipated but can make adjustments elsewhere... and I shift from the more expensive endeavors to the less expensive activities as needed.
My home theater construction is going well but video equipment and seating will probably not be in the budget for a long time... my landscaping activities are making slow but steady progress... our trips with the car club stay on track as it is an important social activity... my gym membership stays paid up.
Trips and family visits stay on the schedule but are a bit more modest than originally planned.
Extracurricular activities are important but can be moderated to stay in a budget.
Some people dream of playing golf or going fishing 7 days/week once they retire. Personally, I have almost no hobbies, so thinking up something to do will be a different challenge for me, although my wife's hobby costs enough for both of us.
However, my question is, "How much are you planning to budget for hobbies when you retire?" or for those with experience being retired, "Is the amount going to hobbies what you planned? Is it enough? Will you be financially able to support your hobbies 5 to 10 years from now?
Before you worry about what hobbies to engage in IMO you'd better deal with that elephant in the room that is cause for unspoken concern.
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) time in wildlife refuges, parks, on the boardwalk, at festivals, cookouts and at the shore. My biggest expense activity-wise, this year, will be fishing on a headboat one day of my vacation. I suppose if I lived near the shore, my vacations would be at lakes and in the mountains. If I have to wear something more spiffy than jeans, it's not a LauraC vacation. I hate to shop so I never spend vacation time in stores. I stay with friends or in nice motels (just to have a place to sleep and shower because I'm outside all day beginning at dawn...I don't even get to use complimentary breakfast tickets because I'm out before breakfast) not in hotels because I don't use/need the amenities of a fancy hotel and I'm pooped after all of that fresh air all day to do anything after dinner. 
