what do you spend on hobbies, in retirement?

[albireo13]

I am just curious if I am an outlier.
My main hobby has been telescopes and astronomy for many years.
I would make my own telescopes for years. Telescopes and mounts and eyepieces can add up .... maybe $10K total for high end stuff.
I would like to get a high end refractor telescope which is >$5K by itself.
However, I always back off since I am retired and am guilty/apprehensive about
spending that much on a hobby.
I am not rich but comfortable. Our nest egg is about $1.5M.

I was wondering if others splurge on their hobbies or feel frugal (cheap) like me?

What is your expensive hobby?

 

[SnowballCamper]

My expensive hobby is boatbuilding, so I do splurge on it, but spend less than anyone buying a new boat. I could have spent much less initially on a used boat (provided I found a suitable model) but I would have to exchange the joys of building for the frustration of rebuilding. If I didn't spend it on this hobby, I'd have a different hobby, or waste it somewhere else...

See my tagline...

 

[W2R]

My hobby is video gaming. I spend an average of about $500/year on it, although some years I might spend $900 and other years less than $100. Really that's not much for this hobby. It can be expensive if you let it!

 

[street]

It has been easier for me to spend on my hobbies the older I get. I still am fairly frugal with some of my hobbies.

For instance, when I do wood projects, I use wood I have found and mill it to my desire, or I have material that I can use for my projects. So, for some of my hobbies I'm pretty cheap.

Now, when consider my hunting, fishing and ranch pretty expensive hobbies to have. I don't have any problem spending money on hunting or upgrading the ranch.

I don't think 5K is overspending for a hobby you will get so much enjoyment out of. I do understand how hard it can be to justify things like that.

I would say if you can, you should, life goes so fast to let money dictate our lives.

 

[Fermion]

Custom house building. Have spent about $200k in the last three years.

 

[luckydude]

Aside from traveling, mountain biking is my most expensive hobby. In the past 8 years, I've averaged anywhere from $3k to $15k a year---frames, wheelset, tires, forks, shocks, drivetrains, etc., plus repairs and maintenance. I like using the newest/latest top-of-the-line equipment and parts.

 

[Ronstar]

I used to spend a lot on woodworking and photography until I got a boatload of equipment. Probably had five years where I would spend up to $5k a year on each. Now I might spend $500 a year on woodworking and hardly anything on photography.

 

[disneysteve]

I’m lucky. My hobby is also my side business so it actually makes me money. I go to estate sales, yard sales, and thrift shops and buy things that I resell on eBay. I love the treasure hunt and I love the rush of making a good sale.

Now my wife is another story. She sews. She has a Cricut machine and makes stuff on there. And she recently took up crochet. So she’s always buying supplies and gadgets. She does sell stuff occasionally but not nearly enough to cover what she spends.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I knit but don’t spend that much money buying yarn. I have also found yarn at estate sales and thrift stores. My other hobbies are walking and playing games with friends.

 

[Midpack]

If you can afford it, do it while you can regardless of what others say or do. If that’s telescopes and astronomy, boat building, travel or whatever - do it.

Singling out spending on “hobbies” could be misleading anyway - we each may have our own definitions. Maybe the question should be between essentials and discretionary spending. We spend on golf and pickleball, have season tickets to theater and dine out three times a week - all activities that might not be considered “hobbies.” Owning a relatively expensive home or car is discretionary, but not usually considered a “hobby.” If someone owns an expensive car and no telescope vs a budget car and a telescope?

 

[Winemaker]

I spend at least $10k on grapes, juice, yeast, bottles, wine club memberships, wine, wine tastings, barrels and a lot of TIME.

I spend about $750/ year on gardening and landscaping around the house, although the greenhouse set us back about $3k this winter plus a lot of TIME.

The solar system in the greenhouse has knocked me back about $1500, and I learned a lot about solar systems. I will be spending some money on a drip irrigation system here once it gets warmer.

Money and time well spent to us.

 

[Surewhitey]

Furniture and woodworking here. I'm building my "hobby" stash while running a small biz for the days of future retirement... Easier to justify fancier (not extravagant) tools.

I still keep it simple at $2-3k annually.
Could you start a YouTube biz & write off expenses for the content?

 

[arcyallen]

I currently own about $45k in pinball machines. I used to get antsy (and still do at times) spending money like this, but I've come to realize a few things:
-Spending this money does not derail any other financial plans
-I could easily sell the pins and make the money back
-I really, really like all things pinball. Playing, reading, buying, fixing, researching, etc.

IF spending that money isn't causing financial issues elsewhere, I'd say it's money well spent.

We have similar net worths. I can tell you I don't feel "not rich", I feel incredibly well off! I mean, you have killer telescopes and optics and I have a freakin' arcade in my house! Let's enjoy what we have. Life is good.

 

[DrRoy]

I probably have $15K in photography gear. Last acquisition was a Mavic 3 Cine drone for $5K.

 

[donheff]

I spend a lot on biking. DW and I had custom touring bikes built about 7 years ago at significant cost. This year as I turn 75 and deal with Parkinson's we bought high end eBikes for about $4K each (You can get a decent ebike for a lot less but I wanted to keep them under 35 pounds). While I haven't blown the dough on it, I completely understand your interest in a $5K refractor. I built a 6" Dob 22 years ago and dragged it out of the closet for some planetary photography last fall. I have gotten fascinated by what people are doing with DSOs and, if I wasn't in a Bortle 8 city center I would definitely be purchasing a refractor like you mention, with an equatorial mount, a good camera, ASIAIR, the whole works. Just yesterday, I played around at stretching the data in another guy's hard to see image of the Rosette Nebula (attached). Go for the astrophotography rig and cut back somewhere else

 

[aja8888]

I spend a lot on biking. DW and I had custom touring bikes built about 7 years ago at significant cost. This year as I turn 75 and deal with Parkinson's we bought high end eBikes for about $4K each (You can get a decent ebike for a lot less but I wanted to keep them under 35 pounds). While I haven't blown the dough on it, I completely understand your interest in a $5K refractor. I built a 6" Dob 22 years ago and dragged it out of the closet for some planetary photography last fall. I have gotten fascinated by what people are doing with DSOs and, if I wasn't in a Bortle 8 city center I would definitely be purchasing a refractor like you mention, with an equatorial mount, a good camera, ASIAIR, the whole works. Just yesterday, I played around at stretching the data in another guy's hard to see image of the Rosette Nebula (attached). Go for the astrophotography rig and cut back somewhere else

Beautiful shot! Thanks!

Sine my wife passed last December, I'm off the hobbies until my personal fog lifts and I feel good about things again. I am sneaking out on the golf course when I have an invite, though.

Classic car restoration was my hobby until a few years ago when I got over age 75 and my joints were paying the price from rebuilding a front suspension (LOL). Maybe I'll get another old Vette again and treat it like my first born!

 

[freedomatlast]

Spent $100,000 on vehicles over the last quarter. That's this year's allotment spent.

 

[frayne]

Golf is my main hobby and spend probably close to $5K on green fees a year, another grand or so on misc. golf stuff. I do offset the cost a bit by selling off my used stuff. Use to be into motorcycles but old age and a worrying wife put the kibosh to that hobby when I turned 70.

 

[athena53]

Most of my pastimes are cheap- gardening may be the most expensive and I limit my trips to the Garden Center because I always go over budget! I planted a red Japanese Maple this year that cost $200.

The one that is not is travel. That can run $20k+/year but it's in the budget and I've always dreamed of being able to do this much. I splurge on Business Class on long hauls and guided tours to many places- I learn so much from a good guide and if something goes wrong they fix it! Even if I'm on my own in a familiar part of Europe I'll get a guide for a day tour.

 

[Music Lover]

I'm pretty low budget, maybe $1500 a year on golf. Music doesn't cost me anything as I make money from gigs than what it costs me to play....although I do have about $6000 invested in gear. But I haven't bought anything in 10 years other than a 2nd guitar ($125) to leave at our cabin and $150 to replace a effects unit.

 

[MRG]

I got into coffee last year. Spent 5k on hardware and a bunch on beans. Going forward, it's probably just beans. You can spend a lot on beans. At $70- $100 for a pound of specialty coffee, it adds up.

 

[jollystomper]

I lump my spending on "active" hobbies (e.g. sports in participate in) into the "Recreation" category. Since retiring, in about 5 years I have spent $15K.

I also mess around with computing and electronics, for those I have spent $4.5K on computer items and $3K on electronics.

I do not know if "buying cute outfits for DW" would count as a hobby...

 

[COcheesehead]

Hiking and cycling consume a lot of our time, but we spend only a few hundred bucks on new boots, clothes, tires, maintenance etc.
The bigger hobby expenditure is fine wine. We spent about $4000 last year and will likely spend more than that this year. It still only represents 2%-3% of our budget though.
The biggest hobby is travel and that eats up 20% of the budget.

 

[Car-Guy]

A lot.....

 

[sturge]

I'm only 5 months into retirement but all along, I knew there would be no issue with finding things to do. I'm a skier, mountain biker, motorcycle rider, hiker, do it yourselfer, etc. I have good equipment for all these things and have all the tools/gear and most of the ability needed to tune/maintain my 'toys' as well as home projects. The 'do it yourself' part is a big part of what I like to do to keep busy so it's just parts/materials and my time.

For skiing I have to dish out $800/year for an 'icon pass' that is good just about everywhere where I ski. I have edge tuning tools, waxers, etc. For the M/C I did spend about $2K on parts last year for a performance upgrade to my Harley but did all the work myself and now it's just gas/maintenance. The mountain biking is cheap after spending $2500 on a decent bike 5 years ago...just load it in my truck and hit the trail. Occasional parts but we're only talking a couple hundred bucks a year max. Maybe a new bike every 6-8 years.