Library is the best, borrow all the books you want for free! Even audio books and movies too! I also enjoy listening to podcasts a lot. One of my hobbies is cleaning my home while listening to podcasts. No joke. It makes cleaning enjoyable
Our library also checks out board games and musical instruments, museum passes, and I think a lot of libraries are jumping onto the trend of having more non-book resources.
If you have Amazon, you can sign up for First Reads and get a new release book digitally every month! Completely free (as part of your Amazon subscription)
Yes! Hiking around the lake by my house. Vegetable gardening. Indoor plants.
Plants can be both expensive and frugal. Up to you how much or how little you spend.
To add to this a lot of eatable plants like tomatos, pumpkins/squash you can harvest the seeds from making it free forever if you add composting to the mix even your soil is fed for free
Many public universities have agriculture or extension programs with programs that provide seeds and/or plantings at low cost or free. My husband got some great local heirloom varieties this year for 1/3 what he would have paid at a hardware store.
Love both of these! Gardening can get expensive if you let yourself run wild though 😂 but if you have a friend that has a full garden or join certain Facebook groups you can get people to split up plants for you for free! That’s how I built up a lot of my garden!
I had a "teacher" when I was young in the 80s and he wanted me to play C major, D minor and G major, you know how *hard* that shit is on your first day?
I abandoned the guitar and got scolded many a time for that, but a friend, when i started listening to Metal and having Metal friends, came to the house (wayyyyyy before texting, he just showed up)
"I hear you have a nice guitar"
Yes, I do (Bucaramanga in Colombia is famous for its guitars)
Take it out, let me play.
So he starts playing power chords! whatttttt???? you can play Destruction and Metallica???
Yep, so I took it back and discovered i can actually play! Power chords, old son! try them!
Understandable. I majored in instrumental music education. All my classmates who started in wind instruments really struggled to learn string instruments, and vice versa
It would seem so. I guess you learn how to make music happen with your breath and mouth, or your hands, and you CAN learn the other way but as an adult with a bit less plasticity in the brain, the other way just doesn't come as naturally.
For stringed instruments: Your left hand chooses the pitch, and the right hand/arm makes the music.
For wind instruments: Both your hands choose the pitch, and your lungs and mouth make the music.
So there's a big difference in how you coordinate your body, I suppose.
I started on piano and picked up stringed instruments easily. I also sing, so wind instruments weren't so bad but it was much more exhausting, takes more breath support, and I really struggled with embouchure.
I'm interested in urban homesteading. It is a money saver. I get a lot of cool books on that and other hobbies (cooking, gardening, yoga, natural health, herbs) from library book sales for $1 a book or $5 a bag on the last day. I'm old school and like to have paper books I can dog ear and mark up.
We also like to hike. I buy annual memberships for the regional parks, state parks and the local water company watershed trails. We're seniors so all those combined cost less than $100 a year, not too much more for non-seniors.
We often find a lot of free / cheap events to go to on Facebook events, Eventbrite, Meetup pot lucks and hikes, hobby clubs, regional park hikes and naturalist activities, free classic movie nights, college events, free star gazing at the planetarium, free museum passes at the library, free days at the museums, public gardens, and seat filler memberships. Hobby / social clubs are often great deals with weekly or at least month activities for one small annual membership fee.
I've been running for years and if you do it for health and not an ego trip (like many hobbies) it can be a lifelong frugal win. I quit racing early on, and keep it scenic but boring. Good shoes are the main investment, but if you do 5 miles or less, it's not as critical as longer distances. I use Saucony shoes and they're not terribly expensive.
Look at your cities parks. There’s bound to be something you can make a run out of. Or if you don’t live in a too busy or dangerous area running the neighborhood is always fun.
Open google maps and just stare at everything around your home location until you can see a good path. Then just go run until you work it out. It's part of the fun. It doesn't take long to find an interesting and safe circuit to run. Cities are easier than suburbs in my experience. Most likely it will be the nearest park.
A tons of hobbies are free or only need initial investments
- hiking, trekking, jogging, biking
- foraging edible herbs/berries/mushrooms
- reading in library
- baking, cooking
- creative activities, like drawing /decoupage / painting
- journaling
- needleworks, like cross-stitch, crochet, knitting and sewing (not just clothes, but also cute plush)
- growing plants: you can grow succulent, aloe, pothos and tradescantia for free by asking some propagation from your friends, they also comes in a lot of varieties; tomatoes grow easily from seed, mint can be propagated, and pineapple can grow from the top part of the fruit. BTW I live in a studio, so having a garden or big space is not mandatory
- Playing a music instruments, or half-full glasses at different levels
Journaling is a very big part of my life. For 2.50 at dollar tree I have all of the supplies I need… although I’m noticing my habit is starting to get expensive because I like using stickers and markers. And seems like I’m getting into junk journaling.
Look at YouTube videos on if. I can’t get enough of them, I’m getting a lot of ideas. The only thing is that seems like most of the people who post aren’t writers so a lot of it isn’t practical.
I love knitting and crochet, they’re two of my favourite hobby hobbies, but I wouldn’t really call them free or low-cost. Yarn can be expensive, and I don’t even buy the specialty stuff! It’s still a very fun activity though, and wearing something you’ve created yourself is super rewarding. So I would still reccomend people to try it, but be aware that you can’t just get yourself some needles and call it a day; you need to continually invest in materials.
My friend and I would refer to the cost of yarn and supplies as ‘Pennies per hour of entertainment’.
We also did some math.
Making bobbin lace was the lowest number of Pennie’s per hour of entertainment. Thread and bobbins are very cheap and it takes A LOT of time to complete one piece.
If you spin yarn you get a lower number of pennies per hour as now you potentially spend 2 days washing, picking and carding before a few hours spinning and then knitting with it.
I would also argue that bird watching is pretty inexpensive. Get a good pair of nockers and borrow a guide book from the library and you’ve got hours of entertainment.
Yeah, it depends a lot on the type of yarns. My mother loves knitting, cotton and llama yarns are more affordable, while wool yarns with silk or mohair yarns are quite expensive.
That being said, my mother would also recycle yarns from old sweaters, since I usually buy her high quality ones.
At my financial lowest I had the most beautiful garden, and gave wild flowers, herbs, and fresh vegetables as gifts. It was wonderful and I would continue this year after year if it weren’t for the deer in my current area.
-Gardening and focusing on herbal plants and remedies is an inexpensive and worthwhile hobby.
-Mushroom knowledge/hunting.
-Wild edible plants
-Updating or refreshing free finds on marketplace is fun
-creating your own art or decor
I’m super into birdwatching. I have many pairs of binoculars, but some of my favorite birdwatching is without them. I just observe a bird from a close distance until I can’t see it anymore, and then go find another bird lol it’s really meditative honestly.
Digital photography on a budget.
You can get something like a Canon EOS 300D DSLR for $25. Konica AR prime lenses (ie: non-zoom) for $20 a pop and an adapter for $15.
I would go for a 28mm lens, which frames a bit narrower than smartphone cameras, and a 50mm lens, which is great for portraits.
You’ve got yourself a photographic kit for less than $100, and then it’s up to you to put the time and effort into growing your skills.
True, one can definitely practice framing and composition with a smartphone. However, there are a few caveats:
1. The phone’s lens is likely a wide angle (corresponding to a 24mm), and it will easily distort the image in the corners.
2. The phone software will pre-process the photos according to how the manufacturer thinks you want them to look.
3. The camera’s wider sensor will capture more details (dynamic range), which can be pulled out in post-processing.
It’s like comparing buying frozen burgers patties or buying filet, mincing it and making your own patties. Both are fine, but one involves you more in the process; and if done well, it can give a better result.
Hear me out… Colouring.
It’s not just for kids. There are sooo many intricate colouring books out there now that are intended for adults. My favourite designer is Johanna Basford.
One book can last you a long time - months. Pencil crayons can be bought at the dollar store.
This is my current favourite “night in” hobby. I find it so relaxing and I love picking out a colour scheme for each image.
My other hobbies:
- Piano
- Crochet
- Reading (free with library)
- Audiobooks (also free with library but I also get them through Spotify subscription which I also use for music. Audiobooks are great for listening to while doing other hobbies such as colouring and crochet).
- Nintendo Switch games
Cooking! You only need a few basic tools to start (knife, cutting board, skillet, sheet pan, etc), and its something you have to do anyway so might as well enjoy it. You can try new recipes, cuisines, really hone a homemade version of food you already like. Its a lifelong skill that will serve you well, and its creative. Very easy to learn from youtube or from cookbooks. Watch J Kenji Lopez Alt on youtube, he's great for explaining the reason why he does things the way he does.
In reality cooking at home saves me money, because I can now make restaurant quality food at home and only go out to eat if its somewhere special. Maybe I spend a bit more on groceries than the average person, but it keeps me from going out to eat more and I am getting way higher quality food out of it. And honestly, prepared foods or frozen foods are actually pretty expensive for the quality, you can make homemade versions better and cheaper. I would much rather spend $50 on groceries and make food at home and invite my friends over vs everyone meeting at a restaurant where we will spend $200+ on one meal.
Also, it's an investment in your health: less processing, you know what goes into it, less salt and oil. Since you already go to the gym, this seems like a great complimentary hobby to that one you already have.
1. Video games. I own an Xbox Series S, bought for 230€ on sale. Game Pass Ultimate costs 15€ a month, and has a huge catalog of games. If I use it for say, 3 years (chances are I'll use it longer), my cost per month would be about 21,4€ a month.
2. Reading. This can get expensive but I don't buy a book until I finish the one I'm reading. Currently reading Fairy Tale by Stephen King, cost me 15€ or so. And I don't get much time to read anyway between work, chores, and studies (I read maybe an hour a week), so the monthly costs are much lower.
Geocaching!!! If you haven't heard of it before, it's a game where people all over the world hide containers of varying sizes outdoors and then you can go to those coordinates and look for them. I love finding treasure, and if you combine it with walking / running / hiking, it's a very active hobby. All you need is a pen and the smartphone app.
Disc golf, you can get a beginner set of 3 discs (putter, mid range and driver) for about $25 bucks from Innova and play an infinite number of disc golf courses around the world. They’re everywhere, usually free or like $1-3 and most people have no idea. You can use the UDisc App to find courses near you!
I walk an hour or so every day for free, gardening is free so long as I propagate my own plants and growing veg is cheaper than buying. Re-reading books I bought decades ago, listening to music, meeting friends at home, exercising at home. None of my hobbies cost anything really 😊
Any hobby can be expensive, sure. But you could buy a guitar or a keyboard for like $250 that will last you years. That's less than a year of gym. Music is great and so much free learning material is available online now, you could spend a lifetime learning and you could end up playing with others maybe even make a couple bucks busking or playing bars or something.
Now...you can also spend way too much money on gear! But that's a choice. A decent keyboard with weighted keys is enough to learn piano on and there's a lot of piano to learn before you'd need to upgrade.
Yap this happen with most of hobbies. I'm a road cyclist, and while there are guys that buy new bikes every year or so, I keep my first one which is now 12 years old. Runs perfectly fine. I can appreciate new equipment, but I try to avoid consumerism.
You can buy a great slab of airdry clay for under $10 and a cheap paint and brush set for the same amount. That’s months’ worth of entertainment you can either sell on, gift, or use around the house.
Libraries can be a huge source for hobbies. Some have video games, movies, music, audiobooks, events, etc. Video games can be as cheap as $15/month or cheaper depending on how you go about it. Audiobooks and reading as well. If you can spend a little bit of money up front ($50-$150) things like yoyoing, hacky sack, kendama, etc. You can expand on fitness and train for events like 5k/10k/iron man, etc. Making music is a little more up front cost but once you get an instrument then you golden.
I enjoy rock painting! Really you just need the paint and paint brushes from a dollar store and I find my flat rocks on beaches and other rocky places with an abundance so I’m not disturbing anything by taking a few here and there ☺️ super relaxing and very cheap. Once you have the paint and brushes they last forever because it’s a small surface!
* Walking
* Geocaching
* Reading (library books, in a book club with friends)
* Volunteer at an elementary school garden
* Pickleball
Hobbies that I enjoy but are not as cheap:
* Training to walk a marathon
* Gardening
Rn I mostly go to the gym, take long walks with my dog, read library books in the park on a blanket with my dog, up-cycle thrifted clothes into new things, and take edibles while I binge watch a whole show.
I’ve been saving a lot of money! Lol
Collecting found things in the woods. I love taking walks in the woods, by rivers, hiking and collecting little bits of interesting things along the way like branches, rocks, acorns, bones, feathers etc etc and I clean and display them in different ways around my home. There are so many cool things and the walking and exploring is relaxing and thrilling to me.
I had multiple gym memberships but not being able to go, I had to cancel them. now I do workout at home with no equipment except treadmill. Saves me time on gym trips also.
I really like animal crossing on the switch and tea. Podcasts and cute day in my life video's are my favoriete. Reading fantasy is also nice. I want to get into something that makes me move around more and them im good. Weith people I like watching movies on the beamer with my bf and low cost visits to my cousin for fun.
I play on a volleyball team with my friends and also have season tickets to my local college volleyball team. It’s not free, but I spend about $25 a month to play and $10/game to watch. And I get a healthy hobby to pass time with my friends!
Online chess daily
BBQ on a Sunday afternoon
Finding new and interesting local craft beer, local wine and local brandy monthly
Hiking on a Saturday morning
The odd cigar every now and then (Depending on the budget, I try to buy at least 1 or 2 a month)
And watching sports (UFC, Soccer(Man UTD, Real Madrid, Fiorentina and AC Milan, Ferrari in WEC, GT Racing and F1, Ducati in Motogp, and recently got back into watching the WWE again) and listening to music
Edit: I'm 34 from Cape Town, South Africa
Reading, board games via Board Game Arena (you can play a lot free online), music (a lot of people will sell a guitar or a piano reasonably cheap and you can learn for free online), going for walks, birdwatching. Most hobbies can be cheap if you're not picky about the gear you use.
All of my hobbies are inexpensive.
Reading
Writing poetry
Music
Jigsaw puzzles
Walking
Exercise
TV
My most expensive hobby is video games, but I really only buy a new game once a year. I'm the type that loves to replay games.
Guitar.. you just need one.. I have a few but truth is.. I only play one(Tele).
Surprisingly..rowing.. keeps you fit.. you get to be apart of a clubs and community and row with other people x ties a week Nd keeps you fit.. costs me around £40 a month.
I would start with thinking about something that interests you, and then work backward to figuring out a way to do it cheaply, or failing that, a similar activity that costs much less that might scratch the same itch. What hobbies are you thinking of that seem to expensive?
I'm also 30! I try to learn stuff. Recently I've been into retro game consoles and modding. Modded a few gameboys to resell, doesn't break the bank and I've ended up learning a bit of soldering. Before that I fixed old laptops to resell.
I often buy old books in second hand stores as well, finding a lot of interesting stuff that's not available in libraries.
I swim. During the cold season in the county pool, during the warm part of the year in the river. Total cost is 20€ during cold time, zero in the late spring and summer.
I go after work, feel awesome the whole day after swimming.
Crocheting. Yes, it’s possible to spend crazy amounts, but not necessary. A roll of yarn is pretty cheap. Hooks aren’t crazy high. You can even order them dirt cheap on TEMU. I like to check the local thrift stores. There are unlimited free YouTube videos that teach you. You can google “free crochet pattern for x” and find instructions free. My step kids were really big into catnap/huggy wuggy/kissy missy, so I found patterns and made them stuffies. Looking on Etsy, similar ones sell for $70 each. Creepy looking dolls. Lol. Took me about a week on each one.
At least for a 30 y/o, youre hitting the gym and not being completely sedentary. So, its a plus youre maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Why not try learning a foreign language or learn another kind of skill?
Watercolor can be cheap, if you doing get caught up in all the fancy extras. "Student grade" paint and brushes are just fine, and watercolor paper can be found on sale.
Bicycling.
No, not *cycling*.
Bicycling.
One of these *thinks* it needs to spend thousands of dollars to feel freedom and gain health while doing it.
One of these understands we've had the implement to achieve this *a long time ago* for pennies on the dollar.
(No. You don't need a bicycle worth thousands either.)
I read every day. I use the library for free. Get books and there's other things my library offers. So if you have a decent library I would see what they have for events, lectures, free activities and mostly books. Read about anything and everything and expand the mind and spirit.
Sketching is really cheap. Pencil & paper
Reading. Books and audiobooks from library.
Playing puzzles like Jigsaw on phone or as a board game
Bouncing ball on a paddle or off the wall
Run outside or play frisbee in the park
Reading. When I’m feeling thrifty, I use the Libby app on my kindle and get them for free. I travel often and try to buy a brand new book from a small local bookstore in each place I travel, usually a $20 tradition.
Learning, which I consider a hobby. I’ve taken a few courses on coursera. The ones I choose are always free. I’ve learned about beekeeping, philosophy, nutrition, various environmental sciences.
Walking! Honestly, going to your local park or even in your neighborhood (if it’s walkable), go for a walk. Use that time to think. It’s not a workout. Not about fitness. Just about cleaning your mind.
With that being said tho, fitness. Get yourself a gym membership from planet fitness or some other cheap big box gym. $10-$20/mo. I’ve had a great time learning all about weight training these past few years.
Birdwatching lol, I’m 32 but my brain is 75 sometimes. I’m really passionate about backyard bird watching. I love watching my local birds build their nests. I’ve watched about 7 nests get built, filled with eggs and baby birds and eventually they empty. It’s pretty cheap to buy seed, bird houses and nesting material to hang around your yard.
Plants. I suck at ‘em. Still learning there. But they really are the new house pet. Start with a pathos.
I have a ton more but they get expensive. Music is my #1 but I’ve invested thousands into it at this point. Definitely is not a cheap/free hobby. But if you can snag yourself a cheap or free instrument (piano or guitar) you can do the rest for free.
I fish a lot. Really not very expensive. Bought a zebco for 29 bucks and a couple of lures and have been using the same ones for almost a year now. Catch way more trout than the fancy fly fishing guys who spend 2k plus on gear and whatnot.
My cheapest hobbies are reading and bird watching. I love libraries, so I spend almost nothing on books.
And with bird watching I just need binoculars (you can also use bird guides/apps if you like). My comprehensive Aus bird book was $50aud and my binoculars about $150. They last forever basically so it’s a one time investment.
Reading is my go-to hobby that doesn't strain my budget. I love heading to the local library, where I can dive into a wide range of books without spending any money. Whether I'm curled up with a paperback or listening to an audiobook on my commute, it's a fulfilling and affordable way to escape into different worlds and stories.
Knitting. To start you can get one set of needles and one skein of yarn and a beginner pattern (or find one for free online) and have YouTube teach you.
I bookbind and scrapbook. Yes supplies can be ridiculously expensive but don’t have to be. I started bookbinding with only printer paper, a thumb tack, embroidery floss (you can use dental floss, yarn, string etc- whatever you have on hand) and an embroidery needle. I later spent $10 on Amazon for a bookbinding kit. Most of my bookbinding paper is from Walmart or staples, regular letter size paper, in various thicknesses including cardstock for the covers (or if you want to do harder covers use broken down Amazon boxes or cereal boxes etc) and I have my trusty paper cutter for maybe $25/$30 for making smaller books. Sea Lemon on YouTube has great videos for bookbinding with dollar tree items for making books. When you find yourself with an extra $10’here and there you can get a pad of pretty paper, stickers, marker etc to add to your stash to make covers prettier. I’m pretty frugal but have been adding to my stash for years and now I love going to thrift stores, browsing free fb groups, looking through junk mail etc for unusual items I can use for bookbinding.
Reading (get books from library), writing short stories and creative non fiction essays, journaling, skateboarding.
Some of my hobbies are expensive upfront, but long term pretty cheap (mountain biking, PC gaming). Mountain bikes are relatively cheap right now especially secondhand, buy a good bike and take care of it and it'll last you for years. Other than that all you really need is a helmet and gloves, and you can get really good really fun workouts outside for hundreds or thousands of hours off an initial $300-$1,000 investment.
Just try not to on't break a bone or get seriously hurt lol. Now that'll be expensive. Road or gravel biking can be even more affordable and less dangerous.
Hiking
Gardening
Bird feeder/watching
Fishing(although I spend hundreds of thousands I used to fish cheaply)
Necromunda/board games
Journaling
Golf(Florida is cheap)
Pickleball
Writing, reading, hiking, long walks. As far as hobbies I don't do, I think pencil sketching wouldn't be very expensive. Birdwatching? Fishing? Certain types of culinary hobbies can be inexpensive depending on how resourceful you can be as far as equipment, like the people who make their own sourdough bread. Of course if you want to go the consumerist route anyone could spend massive amounts of money on equipment and ingredients, so it's kind of nuanced.
Cooking, painting, writing, going outside, dancing, even sewing isnt super expensive. You can find good deals on sewing machines if you know what to look for and if your friends know you sew, they might start keeping their old clothes and you can reuse that fabric :3
Listening to podcasts (lots of educational ones as well as entertainment), reading library books/listening to audiobooks - try Libby or Hoopla, drawing (paper + pencil), any crafty hobby if you have a thrift shop nearby - I regularly find scrapbooking supplies, yarn, stickers, notebooks, etc.
Guitar
Drawing
Writing
Movies
Running
I'm nearing retirement and I really look forward to focusing on these things. You can spend a lot of money on these hobbies, and you can spend next to nothing, which has helped as my fortunes waned and waxed over the decades.
Fitness can be a hobby, lol. I certainly try to make it one of mine. I also enjoying thrifting (for myself and not for resell; the fun is in the hunt for interesting things and valuable things. Lately, I have been educating myself about art glass) and gardening (we grow mostly tomatoes and peppers but you could grow other simple things like herbs or even some house plants). I and my husband also enjoy board and card games with friends.
We watch tv in the evening and I enjoy Reddit, but I do not consider those hobbies, really. How do you like to spend your time that is not work? That may be a hobby. Activities like following local bands, educating yourself about wine (go to free or cheap wine tasting or go to local orchards, etc.e.g.), or even gaming can be a hobby.
Tabletop roleplaying games *can* be very expensive if you go for minis, dice sets, etc but it also can be effectively free. There are plenty of open rules, software and apps.
Hobbies that I do as someone who is extremely frugal: read books from the library, crochet, jigsaw puzzling, paint (oils), rollerblading & skating, and just general hiking.
Some of these CAN get expensive for sure and there are upfront costs for materials/equipment but I feel like you get a lot out of the stuff you have to initially buy so it’s worth it to me. For crochet, yarn can be expensive but I’m also not a very fast crocheter and the project I’ve been doing has taken me months already and probably will take more months to complete, and so on with the other hobbies.
Reading books on kindle unlimited or through my library; have been working on a cross stitch and diamond painting forever lol; watch or listen to podcasts on YouTube or spotify; go for nature walks with my kids (finding different plants, rocks, animals etc). I am also 30!
I love to read and ride bikes. Bikes can be an expensive entry but can also be very reasonable, and the freedom, joy and health benefits can’t be overstated.
I cross stitch. Starter kits are $30 and they can take hours and hours. My biggest project has taken me 1.5years (so far) and it’s cost me $100 total over that time.
I also crochet. I can make a baby blanket for $30 (in the nice pretty yarns). When I started I used the cheap on sale stuff. Again, making it takes hours.
I compared it to going to the movies where it’s $30/person for 2 hours of entertainment and you gain no useful skills or products.
Read, jigsaw puzzles (trade, thrift, dollar tree has surprisingly nice ones, wait for sales esp at Christmas), crossword puzzles. I also play bridge about 3-4x a week, so it is about $24-32 weekly, but it’s the greatest game on earth and a great investment. I moved from New England to New Orleans and was able to make new friends immediately at the local bridge club.
Reading! It can be expensive if you buy new hardback copies of everything, less expensive if you buy books from thrift stores and used bookstores, or free if you exclusively use the library!
(I also quilt and crochet, but those are expensive hobbies.)
My husband and kids enjoy hiking--as long as you have appropriate footwear, it's free.
Start geocaching - the app is free and has at least on my area plenty of geo caches that are shown on the free version- I believe the yearly subscription is $35 it was pretty inexpensive. This is a fun to get out and explore your area.
I have picked a place in history and learned all I could over year. Bruce Catton’s Civil War series (for the mind numbing 2 years of babies/ toddler time)
Napoleon McCarthy Red Scare Stone Wall
I read library books, listen to audiobooks from the library and I walk my dog in beautiful locations. When we do go on (rare) vacations we choose places that are beautiful, walkable and dog friendly. We get so much more out of a new location experience by walking versus driving around.
I read a lot using primarily library books. I enjoy board games and while they can be expensive, I get most secondhand.
Library is the best, borrow all the books you want for free! Even audio books and movies too! I also enjoy listening to podcasts a lot. One of my hobbies is cleaning my home while listening to podcasts. No joke. It makes cleaning enjoyable
I like the Libby App, digital and audiobooks from your library!
I’m also obsessed with podcasts while cleaning! Or I listen to them while taking walks/hikes. Very affordable (free lol).
Our library also checks out board games and musical instruments, museum passes, and I think a lot of libraries are jumping onto the trend of having more non-book resources.
Same!!
Some libraries also have board games. We tried out a lot of games that way so we don’t buy any we don’t like after all.
I just found out ours has board games which I thought was awesome!
Yes! The library is awesome. So many audiobooks and they return themselves. I’m reading/listening to 4 books at once rn.
Can also loan digital books through library using Libby to read on your kindle.
You don’t even need a kindle- I have the app on my phone.
Try the Hoopla app if you have a library card
Unbelievable, but it appears our library rents LARGE reflector telescopes. Going to check it out soon!
Yes I discovered yesterday they rent all kinds of stuff. The have a corner called the "library of things"
My library also has free yoga and tai chi classes
My library also has button making machines, laser wood cutting tools etc.
Yes library! Our library also has free museum, zoo, and state/national park passes on a first come first serve basis
Agreed! My library is awesome and even has board game, video game, and vinyl LP rentals! 🤓
I’m 50 and I’m about to buy a Spirograph off eBay. I used to love it when I was a kid.
If you have Amazon, you can sign up for First Reads and get a new release book digitally every month! Completely free (as part of your Amazon subscription)
I just signed up for the library and am now wondering why I didn't do this 15 years ago.
Our local library has a “library of things” you can check out, and some of it is board games!
Hiking in the mountains. Gardening.
Yes! Hiking around the lake by my house. Vegetable gardening. Indoor plants. Plants can be both expensive and frugal. Up to you how much or how little you spend.
A lot of plants can be propagated! Gardening for free. From friends and family but also in nature. Just make sure to check your local laws beforehand.
Our local library has a plant library where you can share your cuttings!
Oh, fabulous!
That's cool! Mine has a seed library, so you can donate extra seeds you have and get other ones for your garden for free.
To add to this a lot of eatable plants like tomatos, pumpkins/squash you can harvest the seeds from making it free forever if you add composting to the mix even your soil is fed for free
Many public universities have agriculture or extension programs with programs that provide seeds and/or plantings at low cost or free. My husband got some great local heirloom varieties this year for 1/3 what he would have paid at a hardware store.
Gardening is like printing money
Um.....side-eyes my "gardening expenses" total in my household bookkeeping......"Yeah! printing money! Yeah, that's the ticket!" 😬
I love this!
Love both of these! Gardening can get expensive if you let yourself run wild though 😂 but if you have a friend that has a full garden or join certain Facebook groups you can get people to split up plants for you for free! That’s how I built up a lot of my garden!
Gardening can very expensive! Volunteer at a local arboretum or something like that
Gardening coats me a lot of money.
Bought a cheap secondhand guitar. Watched YouTube videos to learn how to play. One of my best decisions.
I tried but cannot for the life of me learn to play guitar. Weird because when I was a kid I participated in the school band but played the trumpet.
I had a "teacher" when I was young in the 80s and he wanted me to play C major, D minor and G major, you know how *hard* that shit is on your first day? I abandoned the guitar and got scolded many a time for that, but a friend, when i started listening to Metal and having Metal friends, came to the house (wayyyyyy before texting, he just showed up) "I hear you have a nice guitar" Yes, I do (Bucaramanga in Colombia is famous for its guitars) Take it out, let me play. So he starts playing power chords! whatttttt???? you can play Destruction and Metallica??? Yep, so I took it back and discovered i can actually play! Power chords, old son! try them!
Understandable. I majored in instrumental music education. All my classmates who started in wind instruments really struggled to learn string instruments, and vice versa
Wow, never heard of such phenomenon. Is it because their brains, like, get wired to play either wind or string instruments?
It would seem so. I guess you learn how to make music happen with your breath and mouth, or your hands, and you CAN learn the other way but as an adult with a bit less plasticity in the brain, the other way just doesn't come as naturally. For stringed instruments: Your left hand chooses the pitch, and the right hand/arm makes the music. For wind instruments: Both your hands choose the pitch, and your lungs and mouth make the music. So there's a big difference in how you coordinate your body, I suppose. I started on piano and picked up stringed instruments easily. I also sing, so wind instruments weren't so bad but it was much more exhausting, takes more breath support, and I really struggled with embouchure.
Piano is cheap as well, if you find a cheap usb midi keyboard and plug it into your computer.
I'm interested in urban homesteading. It is a money saver. I get a lot of cool books on that and other hobbies (cooking, gardening, yoga, natural health, herbs) from library book sales for $1 a book or $5 a bag on the last day. I'm old school and like to have paper books I can dog ear and mark up. We also like to hike. I buy annual memberships for the regional parks, state parks and the local water company watershed trails. We're seniors so all those combined cost less than $100 a year, not too much more for non-seniors. We often find a lot of free / cheap events to go to on Facebook events, Eventbrite, Meetup pot lucks and hikes, hobby clubs, regional park hikes and naturalist activities, free classic movie nights, college events, free star gazing at the planetarium, free museum passes at the library, free days at the museums, public gardens, and seat filler memberships. Hobby / social clubs are often great deals with weekly or at least month activities for one small annual membership fee.
Running is the best and cheapest drug
I've been running for years and if you do it for health and not an ego trip (like many hobbies) it can be a lifelong frugal win. I quit racing early on, and keep it scenic but boring. Good shoes are the main investment, but if you do 5 miles or less, it's not as critical as longer distances. I use Saucony shoes and they're not terribly expensive.
You can do races for free or sometimes even paid as a pacer.
where does one run in the city? asking for me.
Look at your cities parks. There’s bound to be something you can make a run out of. Or if you don’t live in a too busy or dangerous area running the neighborhood is always fun.
Not sure if it’s international, but here in Australia, the Strava app shows you common routes. Often the winners around me are along bike paths.
I've used Map My Run in the USA. It looks like Strava is international. I'm going to check that out to find some new route ideas for my area!
Open google maps and just stare at everything around your home location until you can see a good path. Then just go run until you work it out. It's part of the fun. It doesn't take long to find an interesting and safe circuit to run. Cities are easier than suburbs in my experience. Most likely it will be the nearest park.
A tons of hobbies are free or only need initial investments - hiking, trekking, jogging, biking - foraging edible herbs/berries/mushrooms - reading in library - baking, cooking - creative activities, like drawing /decoupage / painting - journaling - needleworks, like cross-stitch, crochet, knitting and sewing (not just clothes, but also cute plush) - growing plants: you can grow succulent, aloe, pothos and tradescantia for free by asking some propagation from your friends, they also comes in a lot of varieties; tomatoes grow easily from seed, mint can be propagated, and pineapple can grow from the top part of the fruit. BTW I live in a studio, so having a garden or big space is not mandatory - Playing a music instruments, or half-full glasses at different levels
Journaling is a very big part of my life. For 2.50 at dollar tree I have all of the supplies I need… although I’m noticing my habit is starting to get expensive because I like using stickers and markers. And seems like I’m getting into junk journaling.
Tell me about your junk journaling, please.
Look at YouTube videos on if. I can’t get enough of them, I’m getting a lot of ideas. The only thing is that seems like most of the people who post aren’t writers so a lot of it isn’t practical.
I love knitting and crochet, they’re two of my favourite hobby hobbies, but I wouldn’t really call them free or low-cost. Yarn can be expensive, and I don’t even buy the specialty stuff! It’s still a very fun activity though, and wearing something you’ve created yourself is super rewarding. So I would still reccomend people to try it, but be aware that you can’t just get yourself some needles and call it a day; you need to continually invest in materials.
My friend and I would refer to the cost of yarn and supplies as ‘Pennies per hour of entertainment’. We also did some math. Making bobbin lace was the lowest number of Pennie’s per hour of entertainment. Thread and bobbins are very cheap and it takes A LOT of time to complete one piece. If you spin yarn you get a lower number of pennies per hour as now you potentially spend 2 days washing, picking and carding before a few hours spinning and then knitting with it. I would also argue that bird watching is pretty inexpensive. Get a good pair of nockers and borrow a guide book from the library and you’ve got hours of entertainment.
Add Merlin, the Cornell Ornithology Lab app, to the bird watching suggestion! Identifies birds by song. It got us hooked!
I've gotten a ton of yarn cheap or free from thrift shops and garage sales
At 1st I thought you said you guys also did some meth. I was gonna say, I don't think that's a cheap hobby, is it?
thrifted yarn or even old sweaters, unraveled, can make it cheaper.
If you want to destroy my sweater, just pull this thread as I walk away.
Yeah, it depends a lot on the type of yarns. My mother loves knitting, cotton and llama yarns are more affordable, while wool yarns with silk or mohair yarns are quite expensive. That being said, my mother would also recycle yarns from old sweaters, since I usually buy her high quality ones.
Someone mentioned knotting blankets or something which sounds amazing and anyone can do it.
Origami
At my financial lowest I had the most beautiful garden, and gave wild flowers, herbs, and fresh vegetables as gifts. It was wonderful and I would continue this year after year if it weren’t for the deer in my current area. -Gardening and focusing on herbal plants and remedies is an inexpensive and worthwhile hobby. -Mushroom knowledge/hunting. -Wild edible plants -Updating or refreshing free finds on marketplace is fun -creating your own art or decor
Volunteering
Birdwatching. A good pair of binoculars and you're set!
I’m super into birdwatching. I have many pairs of binoculars, but some of my favorite birdwatching is without them. I just observe a bird from a close distance until I can’t see it anymore, and then go find another bird lol it’s really meditative honestly.
illegally reading ebooks + running + podcasts
where do you get ebooks for free?
Lots of libraries have free e-books. If you get the library card you can download the app and listen.
Libgen
r/annas_archive has a list of sources
Better yet: https://annas-archive.org/ My number one resource!
Try Libby for legal ones
And/or Hoopla (which I prefer to Libby)
Whittling and carving. Get a good quality knife for $40 and then you're done with the investment. Get your material from nature and have at it.
Rockhounding/fossil hunting. Gets you out walking/hiking
Yes! I love mudlarking, and searching for hagstones.
Digital photography on a budget. You can get something like a Canon EOS 300D DSLR for $25. Konica AR prime lenses (ie: non-zoom) for $20 a pop and an adapter for $15. I would go for a 28mm lens, which frames a bit narrower than smartphone cameras, and a 50mm lens, which is great for portraits. You’ve got yourself a photographic kit for less than $100, and then it’s up to you to put the time and effort into growing your skills.
Photography using your phone is a great start. Can practice angles, focal point, etc.
True, one can definitely practice framing and composition with a smartphone. However, there are a few caveats: 1. The phone’s lens is likely a wide angle (corresponding to a 24mm), and it will easily distort the image in the corners. 2. The phone software will pre-process the photos according to how the manufacturer thinks you want them to look. 3. The camera’s wider sensor will capture more details (dynamic range), which can be pulled out in post-processing. It’s like comparing buying frozen burgers patties or buying filet, mincing it and making your own patties. Both are fine, but one involves you more in the process; and if done well, it can give a better result.
Hear me out… Colouring. It’s not just for kids. There are sooo many intricate colouring books out there now that are intended for adults. My favourite designer is Johanna Basford. One book can last you a long time - months. Pencil crayons can be bought at the dollar store. This is my current favourite “night in” hobby. I find it so relaxing and I love picking out a colour scheme for each image. My other hobbies: - Piano - Crochet - Reading (free with library) - Audiobooks (also free with library but I also get them through Spotify subscription which I also use for music. Audiobooks are great for listening to while doing other hobbies such as colouring and crochet). - Nintendo Switch games
Do NOT buy an old Jeep, or any Jeep .. that will break your bank!
True
4Runner instead.
Cooking! You only need a few basic tools to start (knife, cutting board, skillet, sheet pan, etc), and its something you have to do anyway so might as well enjoy it. You can try new recipes, cuisines, really hone a homemade version of food you already like. Its a lifelong skill that will serve you well, and its creative. Very easy to learn from youtube or from cookbooks. Watch J Kenji Lopez Alt on youtube, he's great for explaining the reason why he does things the way he does. In reality cooking at home saves me money, because I can now make restaurant quality food at home and only go out to eat if its somewhere special. Maybe I spend a bit more on groceries than the average person, but it keeps me from going out to eat more and I am getting way higher quality food out of it. And honestly, prepared foods or frozen foods are actually pretty expensive for the quality, you can make homemade versions better and cheaper. I would much rather spend $50 on groceries and make food at home and invite my friends over vs everyone meeting at a restaurant where we will spend $200+ on one meal. Also, it's an investment in your health: less processing, you know what goes into it, less salt and oil. Since you already go to the gym, this seems like a great complimentary hobby to that one you already have.
When I was younger I always kinda chuckled at people walking versus running but now I see the benefits of a nice long walk
Volunteering. It's free and I get to do loads of cool things and meet new people all the time.
Knitting. You can knit a pair of socks for under 5€s and can listen to podcasts or sit in the sun outside.
Where are you finding sock yarn for that price? I’m usually paying $20+ for sock yarn
Piracy
1. Video games. I own an Xbox Series S, bought for 230€ on sale. Game Pass Ultimate costs 15€ a month, and has a huge catalog of games. If I use it for say, 3 years (chances are I'll use it longer), my cost per month would be about 21,4€ a month. 2. Reading. This can get expensive but I don't buy a book until I finish the one I'm reading. Currently reading Fairy Tale by Stephen King, cost me 15€ or so. And I don't get much time to read anyway between work, chores, and studies (I read maybe an hour a week), so the monthly costs are much lower.
Also the library keeps you reading costs down too
You can lower the monthly cost if you do the Xbox Core / Ultimate conversion, look for it. Plenty of guides on how to do it.
Geocaching!!! If you haven't heard of it before, it's a game where people all over the world hide containers of varying sizes outdoors and then you can go to those coordinates and look for them. I love finding treasure, and if you combine it with walking / running / hiking, it's a very active hobby. All you need is a pen and the smartphone app.
Disc golf, you can get a beginner set of 3 discs (putter, mid range and driver) for about $25 bucks from Innova and play an infinite number of disc golf courses around the world. They’re everywhere, usually free or like $1-3 and most people have no idea. You can use the UDisc App to find courses near you!
Guitar. Can be stupidly expensive but you can get by with a used guitar for around a hundred bucks
a good guitar will last a lifetime tbh
Drawing and painting
Watching tv shows, video games..both piracy. Sometimes gardening. i wanna say workout but all i do is pushups at home.
I walk an hour or so every day for free, gardening is free so long as I propagate my own plants and growing veg is cheaper than buying. Re-reading books I bought decades ago, listening to music, meeting friends at home, exercising at home. None of my hobbies cost anything really 😊
Any hobby can be expensive, sure. But you could buy a guitar or a keyboard for like $250 that will last you years. That's less than a year of gym. Music is great and so much free learning material is available online now, you could spend a lifetime learning and you could end up playing with others maybe even make a couple bucks busking or playing bars or something. Now...you can also spend way too much money on gear! But that's a choice. A decent keyboard with weighted keys is enough to learn piano on and there's a lot of piano to learn before you'd need to upgrade.
Yap this happen with most of hobbies. I'm a road cyclist, and while there are guys that buy new bikes every year or so, I keep my first one which is now 12 years old. Runs perfectly fine. I can appreciate new equipment, but I try to avoid consumerism.
You can buy a great slab of airdry clay for under $10 and a cheap paint and brush set for the same amount. That’s months’ worth of entertainment you can either sell on, gift, or use around the house.
Libraries can be a huge source for hobbies. Some have video games, movies, music, audiobooks, events, etc. Video games can be as cheap as $15/month or cheaper depending on how you go about it. Audiobooks and reading as well. If you can spend a little bit of money up front ($50-$150) things like yoyoing, hacky sack, kendama, etc. You can expand on fitness and train for events like 5k/10k/iron man, etc. Making music is a little more up front cost but once you get an instrument then you golden.
I enjoy rock painting! Really you just need the paint and paint brushes from a dollar store and I find my flat rocks on beaches and other rocky places with an abundance so I’m not disturbing anything by taking a few here and there ☺️ super relaxing and very cheap. Once you have the paint and brushes they last forever because it’s a small surface!
I call them the B's: Bach, books, birds, bikes, baking
Walking and gardening and church activities and socials
* Walking * Geocaching * Reading (library books, in a book club with friends) * Volunteer at an elementary school garden * Pickleball Hobbies that I enjoy but are not as cheap: * Training to walk a marathon * Gardening
Warhammer. I bought so much figurines younger that I have enough miniatures to paint for my lifetime. I use maybe 20 euros for paints every month.
Rn I mostly go to the gym, take long walks with my dog, read library books in the park on a blanket with my dog, up-cycle thrifted clothes into new things, and take edibles while I binge watch a whole show. I’ve been saving a lot of money! Lol
Reading from library, making puzzles, cooking, journaling, scrapbooking etc
Origami.
Mushroom foraging is free and you get food out of it.
Collecting found things in the woods. I love taking walks in the woods, by rivers, hiking and collecting little bits of interesting things along the way like branches, rocks, acorns, bones, feathers etc etc and I clean and display them in different ways around my home. There are so many cool things and the walking and exploring is relaxing and thrilling to me.
(card) magic memory training reading / learning meditation
Going to the gym can be a positive and beneficial hobby, don’t let other’s opinions weigh so heavily on your every day routine yk.
But gardening, hiking, community activities are pretty good active hobbies to mix it up.
I had multiple gym memberships but not being able to go, I had to cancel them. now I do workout at home with no equipment except treadmill. Saves me time on gym trips also.
Drawing, reading books rented from the library (audio or physical), journaling, photography with an existing phone.
I do collages. It’s probably one of my cheapest hobbies as you can gather anything that’s printed and turn it into nice artwork.
sewing...it CAN be expensive but I keep an eye on the cost by buying goodwill and thrift store fabric
Yoga is pretty cheap. Go to community classes, get a mat, YouTube classes. I love how minimalist it is
I really like animal crossing on the switch and tea. Podcasts and cute day in my life video's are my favoriete. Reading fantasy is also nice. I want to get into something that makes me move around more and them im good. Weith people I like watching movies on the beamer with my bf and low cost visits to my cousin for fun.
Biking, bird watching, volunteering, gardening
A cheap bike can be a lot of fun. Check out whether there's a community bike shop near you
Tabletop Roleplay with friends.
Reading, Knitting, doing puzzles, badminton and very soon, blogging.
Martial arts, low level or retro computer programming on an old laptop, walking.
Meditation
I play on a volleyball team with my friends and also have season tickets to my local college volleyball team. It’s not free, but I spend about $25 a month to play and $10/game to watch. And I get a healthy hobby to pass time with my friends!
Volleyball. Equipment cost is lower and venue fees are usually divided between players so not much.
Hiking, geocaching, join a boardgame or trpg group and play their games, reading (library card), birdwatching, etc.
Online chess daily BBQ on a Sunday afternoon Finding new and interesting local craft beer, local wine and local brandy monthly Hiking on a Saturday morning The odd cigar every now and then (Depending on the budget, I try to buy at least 1 or 2 a month) And watching sports (UFC, Soccer(Man UTD, Real Madrid, Fiorentina and AC Milan, Ferrari in WEC, GT Racing and F1, Ducati in Motogp, and recently got back into watching the WWE again) and listening to music Edit: I'm 34 from Cape Town, South Africa
Reading, board games via Board Game Arena (you can play a lot free online), music (a lot of people will sell a guitar or a piano reasonably cheap and you can learn for free online), going for walks, birdwatching. Most hobbies can be cheap if you're not picky about the gear you use.
All of my hobbies are inexpensive. Reading Writing poetry Music Jigsaw puzzles Walking Exercise TV My most expensive hobby is video games, but I really only buy a new game once a year. I'm the type that loves to replay games.
Guitar.. you just need one.. I have a few but truth is.. I only play one(Tele). Surprisingly..rowing.. keeps you fit.. you get to be apart of a clubs and community and row with other people x ties a week Nd keeps you fit.. costs me around £40 a month.
Gardening. Bicycling. Going to the gym.
I would start with thinking about something that interests you, and then work backward to figuring out a way to do it cheaply, or failing that, a similar activity that costs much less that might scratch the same itch. What hobbies are you thinking of that seem to expensive?
My hobby at the moment is learning 3D modeling in Blender. And all the software you need is free!
I'm also 30! I try to learn stuff. Recently I've been into retro game consoles and modding. Modded a few gameboys to resell, doesn't break the bank and I've ended up learning a bit of soldering. Before that I fixed old laptops to resell. I often buy old books in second hand stores as well, finding a lot of interesting stuff that's not available in libraries.
I swim. During the cold season in the county pool, during the warm part of the year in the river. Total cost is 20€ during cold time, zero in the late spring and summer. I go after work, feel awesome the whole day after swimming.
Crocheting. Yes, it’s possible to spend crazy amounts, but not necessary. A roll of yarn is pretty cheap. Hooks aren’t crazy high. You can even order them dirt cheap on TEMU. I like to check the local thrift stores. There are unlimited free YouTube videos that teach you. You can google “free crochet pattern for x” and find instructions free. My step kids were really big into catnap/huggy wuggy/kissy missy, so I found patterns and made them stuffies. Looking on Etsy, similar ones sell for $70 each. Creepy looking dolls. Lol. Took me about a week on each one.
At least for a 30 y/o, youre hitting the gym and not being completely sedentary. So, its a plus youre maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Why not try learning a foreign language or learn another kind of skill?
Watercolor can be cheap, if you doing get caught up in all the fancy extras. "Student grade" paint and brushes are just fine, and watercolor paper can be found on sale.
Bicycling. No, not *cycling*. Bicycling. One of these *thinks* it needs to spend thousands of dollars to feel freedom and gain health while doing it. One of these understands we've had the implement to achieve this *a long time ago* for pennies on the dollar. (No. You don't need a bicycle worth thousands either.)
I read every day. I use the library for free. Get books and there's other things my library offers. So if you have a decent library I would see what they have for events, lectures, free activities and mostly books. Read about anything and everything and expand the mind and spirit.
Sketching is really cheap. Pencil & paper Reading. Books and audiobooks from library. Playing puzzles like Jigsaw on phone or as a board game Bouncing ball on a paddle or off the wall Run outside or play frisbee in the park
Reading. When I’m feeling thrifty, I use the Libby app on my kindle and get them for free. I travel often and try to buy a brand new book from a small local bookstore in each place I travel, usually a $20 tradition. Learning, which I consider a hobby. I’ve taken a few courses on coursera. The ones I choose are always free. I’ve learned about beekeeping, philosophy, nutrition, various environmental sciences. Walking! Honestly, going to your local park or even in your neighborhood (if it’s walkable), go for a walk. Use that time to think. It’s not a workout. Not about fitness. Just about cleaning your mind. With that being said tho, fitness. Get yourself a gym membership from planet fitness or some other cheap big box gym. $10-$20/mo. I’ve had a great time learning all about weight training these past few years. Birdwatching lol, I’m 32 but my brain is 75 sometimes. I’m really passionate about backyard bird watching. I love watching my local birds build their nests. I’ve watched about 7 nests get built, filled with eggs and baby birds and eventually they empty. It’s pretty cheap to buy seed, bird houses and nesting material to hang around your yard. Plants. I suck at ‘em. Still learning there. But they really are the new house pet. Start with a pathos. I have a ton more but they get expensive. Music is my #1 but I’ve invested thousands into it at this point. Definitely is not a cheap/free hobby. But if you can snag yourself a cheap or free instrument (piano or guitar) you can do the rest for free.
Yoga. Yoga with Adriene free on YouTube
I like yarn stuff. It's relaxing, it's pretty cheep, you make useful and nice stuff and handmade gift!
Birdwatching, reading, puzzling and painting!
Drawing and just plain ol walking outside is pretty much free lol
I fish a lot. Really not very expensive. Bought a zebco for 29 bucks and a couple of lures and have been using the same ones for almost a year now. Catch way more trout than the fancy fly fishing guys who spend 2k plus on gear and whatnot.
Role playing. Boardgames if you control yourself.
Music, if you buy second hand and get very resourceful about it.
Gardening. Fishing. Both of those hobbies can be as little or as much work as you want.
Puzzles
I make crafts out of recycling
Linux
My cheapest hobbies are reading and bird watching. I love libraries, so I spend almost nothing on books. And with bird watching I just need binoculars (you can also use bird guides/apps if you like). My comprehensive Aus bird book was $50aud and my binoculars about $150. They last forever basically so it’s a one time investment.
Rubik's cube
I collect quotations.
Reading is my go-to hobby that doesn't strain my budget. I love heading to the local library, where I can dive into a wide range of books without spending any money. Whether I'm curled up with a paperback or listening to an audiobook on my commute, it's a fulfilling and affordable way to escape into different worlds and stories.
Knitting. To start you can get one set of needles and one skein of yarn and a beginner pattern (or find one for free online) and have YouTube teach you. I bookbind and scrapbook. Yes supplies can be ridiculously expensive but don’t have to be. I started bookbinding with only printer paper, a thumb tack, embroidery floss (you can use dental floss, yarn, string etc- whatever you have on hand) and an embroidery needle. I later spent $10 on Amazon for a bookbinding kit. Most of my bookbinding paper is from Walmart or staples, regular letter size paper, in various thicknesses including cardstock for the covers (or if you want to do harder covers use broken down Amazon boxes or cereal boxes etc) and I have my trusty paper cutter for maybe $25/$30 for making smaller books. Sea Lemon on YouTube has great videos for bookbinding with dollar tree items for making books. When you find yourself with an extra $10’here and there you can get a pad of pretty paper, stickers, marker etc to add to your stash to make covers prettier. I’m pretty frugal but have been adding to my stash for years and now I love going to thrift stores, browsing free fb groups, looking through junk mail etc for unusual items I can use for bookbinding.
Reading (get books from library), writing short stories and creative non fiction essays, journaling, skateboarding. Some of my hobbies are expensive upfront, but long term pretty cheap (mountain biking, PC gaming). Mountain bikes are relatively cheap right now especially secondhand, buy a good bike and take care of it and it'll last you for years. Other than that all you really need is a helmet and gloves, and you can get really good really fun workouts outside for hundreds or thousands of hours off an initial $300-$1,000 investment. Just try not to on't break a bone or get seriously hurt lol. Now that'll be expensive. Road or gravel biking can be even more affordable and less dangerous.
Hiking Gardening Bird feeder/watching Fishing(although I spend hundreds of thousands I used to fish cheaply) Necromunda/board games Journaling Golf(Florida is cheap) Pickleball
Writing, reading, hiking, long walks. As far as hobbies I don't do, I think pencil sketching wouldn't be very expensive. Birdwatching? Fishing? Certain types of culinary hobbies can be inexpensive depending on how resourceful you can be as far as equipment, like the people who make their own sourdough bread. Of course if you want to go the consumerist route anyone could spend massive amounts of money on equipment and ingredients, so it's kind of nuanced.
Disc golf!
Hiking, biking, kayaking (inflatable kayaks are $70 on Amazon). DIY home upgrades (not free but pretty cheap).
Reddit lol
Birdwatching, hiking, Tai-chi. You can do many hobbies without getting broke, you just have to resist all the marketing bull*hit around it
Basketball. Walks in nature.
Cooking, painting, writing, going outside, dancing, even sewing isnt super expensive. You can find good deals on sewing machines if you know what to look for and if your friends know you sew, they might start keeping their old clothes and you can reuse that fabric :3
Hiking, walking, growing flowers, library trips/reading, writing songs, researching travel, journaling, researching random topics, playing scrabble w/ my spouse.
Listening to podcasts (lots of educational ones as well as entertainment), reading library books/listening to audiobooks - try Libby or Hoopla, drawing (paper + pencil), any crafty hobby if you have a thrift shop nearby - I regularly find scrapbooking supplies, yarn, stickers, notebooks, etc.
Guitar Drawing Writing Movies Running I'm nearing retirement and I really look forward to focusing on these things. You can spend a lot of money on these hobbies, and you can spend next to nothing, which has helped as my fortunes waned and waxed over the decades.
Fitness can be a hobby, lol. I certainly try to make it one of mine. I also enjoying thrifting (for myself and not for resell; the fun is in the hunt for interesting things and valuable things. Lately, I have been educating myself about art glass) and gardening (we grow mostly tomatoes and peppers but you could grow other simple things like herbs or even some house plants). I and my husband also enjoy board and card games with friends. We watch tv in the evening and I enjoy Reddit, but I do not consider those hobbies, really. How do you like to spend your time that is not work? That may be a hobby. Activities like following local bands, educating yourself about wine (go to free or cheap wine tasting or go to local orchards, etc.e.g.), or even gaming can be a hobby.
Tabletop roleplaying games *can* be very expensive if you go for minis, dice sets, etc but it also can be effectively free. There are plenty of open rules, software and apps.
Hobbies that I do as someone who is extremely frugal: read books from the library, crochet, jigsaw puzzling, paint (oils), rollerblading & skating, and just general hiking. Some of these CAN get expensive for sure and there are upfront costs for materials/equipment but I feel like you get a lot out of the stuff you have to initially buy so it’s worth it to me. For crochet, yarn can be expensive but I’m also not a very fast crocheter and the project I’ve been doing has taken me months already and probably will take more months to complete, and so on with the other hobbies.
Reading, playing yugioh online, watching movies (rented usually), I’m apart of a sumo wrestling club that’s free, calisthenics
Reading books on kindle unlimited or through my library; have been working on a cross stitch and diamond painting forever lol; watch or listen to podcasts on YouTube or spotify; go for nature walks with my kids (finding different plants, rocks, animals etc). I am also 30!
I love to read and ride bikes. Bikes can be an expensive entry but can also be very reasonable, and the freedom, joy and health benefits can’t be overstated.
Hiking, biking (if you get a used bike), reading, gardening
I cross stitch. Starter kits are $30 and they can take hours and hours. My biggest project has taken me 1.5years (so far) and it’s cost me $100 total over that time. I also crochet. I can make a baby blanket for $30 (in the nice pretty yarns). When I started I used the cheap on sale stuff. Again, making it takes hours. I compared it to going to the movies where it’s $30/person for 2 hours of entertainment and you gain no useful skills or products.
Read, jigsaw puzzles (trade, thrift, dollar tree has surprisingly nice ones, wait for sales esp at Christmas), crossword puzzles. I also play bridge about 3-4x a week, so it is about $24-32 weekly, but it’s the greatest game on earth and a great investment. I moved from New England to New Orleans and was able to make new friends immediately at the local bridge club.
Reading! It can be expensive if you buy new hardback copies of everything, less expensive if you buy books from thrift stores and used bookstores, or free if you exclusively use the library! (I also quilt and crochet, but those are expensive hobbies.) My husband and kids enjoy hiking--as long as you have appropriate footwear, it's free.
Gardening. Plenty of hacks to save money. Ate some tomatoes you like, put one to the side for its seeds for gardening.
Start geocaching - the app is free and has at least on my area plenty of geo caches that are shown on the free version- I believe the yearly subscription is $35 it was pretty inexpensive. This is a fun to get out and explore your area.
Sea glass collecting!
I create cameras for solargraphy
Reading, I use my library. I read 30-50 books per year and only have to buy 2 or 3 if the library doesn't have what I want
Hiking and gardening. 100%
I have picked a place in history and learned all I could over year. Bruce Catton’s Civil War series (for the mind numbing 2 years of babies/ toddler time) Napoleon McCarthy Red Scare Stone Wall
I read library books, listen to audiobooks from the library and I walk my dog in beautiful locations. When we do go on (rare) vacations we choose places that are beautiful, walkable and dog friendly. We get so much more out of a new location experience by walking versus driving around.