what do you spend on hobbies, in retirement?

[luckydude]

I've spent $40k on my new motorcycle obsession over the last 3 years, and spend what ever needed to keep them rolling. I read motorcycle forums with people talking how they really want a particular bike, but pass on buying because it's not a great deal. I could careless getting a deal or not, as long as it's what I want. Saving an insignificant amount of $$ to pass up a fun toy is not worth it to me. I feel extremely privileged to be in such a financial position to do so.

+1

I have a mountain bike riding buddy in his mid-60s. For the longest time, he wanted to get a nice e-bike but didn't want to pay full sticker and kept waiting for a "deal" so he could save a few hundred bucks. I told him he was being foolish to wait---he was wasting his remaining physically active years for the sake of saving a few hundred bucks he didn't need. Eventually he came around and got a nice $8k e-bike and couldn't be happier, but it took a lot of convincing for him to see the light.

 

[Momcpa]

In Junior High I took music lessons and played the organ. High school and college and married life and raising a family and my occupation all took me in a different direction. I decided lately in my retirement, that I would like to check into playing the organ again. I decided to go cheap when looking for an instrument to see if I really would enjoy it, or if I was remembering it as more fun than it actually was. Found a used organ locally for free, just needed to pay for delivery. Yup, I like it !! But of course, being used and FREE, it had some problems (one key didn't play, it often had static, the pedals were occasionally temperamental). So I'm in the market for a new, modern organ. Probably set me back $8 - $12/k. I think I'm going to go for it !!!!!

 

[audreyh1]

In Junior High I took music lessons and played the organ. High school and college and married life and raising a family and my occupation all took me in a different direction. I decided lately in my retirement, that I would like to check into playing the organ again. I decided to go cheap when looking for an instrument to see if I really would enjoy it, or if I was remembering it as more fun than it actually was. Found a used organ locally for free, just needed to pay for delivery. Yup, I like it !! But of course, being used and FREE, it had some problems (one key didn't play, it often had static, the pedals were occasionally temperamental). So I'm in the market for a new, modern organ. Probably set me back $8 - $12/k. I think I'm going to go for it !!!!!

Awesome!

I also returned to piano after not playing at all for 37 years! It came back so quickly that I couldn’t believe it. Now I’m much farther than I ever was as a teenager/young adult. I went cheap too - digital piano with decent keyboard action. Now I hope to start shopping for a “real” piano soon. Will have to kick out a small couch to have space for it.

 

[DrRoy]

I didn't think of travel as a hobby. We spend $35-50K a year on that.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

On-Line Gambling ........... No seriously

Probably drones recently, and 3D Printers in the past. My printers are standing up and still work well.

I add to my drone accessories periodically. New Goggles may be in the cards.

 

[dknighd]

I drink and smoke. My hobbies vary

 

[Winemaker]

^^ I told DW that No, I didn't smoke when we dating. She then asked if I smoked after sex; I told her I didn't know, I never looked....

Ba da dum ching!

 

[zippy2020]

Hmmm.....well, I watch pro football and pro basketball, so when we cut the cord, I had to add Hulu and NFL+ to the cost of the Roku subscription. Call it $100/mo since it's only fair I split the Roku sub with my spouse, LOL.

Our travel is 99.9% local car trips, where we spend 3-6 days during the week to stay in local areas we seldom had the chance to visit when we were working and only had weekends free. We dine out - that's my PRIMARY hobby - so a moderate priced hotel and 2 meals/day run $450-650/daily. We travel about every 6-9 weeks.

Dining out locally runs about $650-1000/mo, depending on where we go and how often.

Spouse is a wargamer, but gets thrill out of bargain hunting, so he probably doesn't spend more than $300/mo. OTOH, he's done that every month for 52 yrs, so the grand total is rather breakthtaking when you consider that twice he's given away more than 60% of his collections.

We both read a lot on Kindle, but I probably buy 5x what he does since I'm a speed-reader. And no, using library rentals does not work well out here; waiting lists are long, selection is pitiful, and we can well afford to buy what we wish. I do buy at discount using BookBub to be aware of sale prices, but that's also because I read and then delete 90+% of the books as not worth keeping in my permanent e-book collection.

 

[Henry Lili]

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?

Agree regarding the definition of hobbies. To that end, my "hobby" budget went from $2k-$3k a year before FIRE (my 10 yr FIRE anniversary is in September) and the first 5 years in to closer to $5k-$6k the last few years.

 

[athena53]

*Ongoing hobby is reading, but books are free from the library.

Oh, yeah- forgot about that. It's SO nice to have the time to read! I bought a Nook 3 years ago and rarely have to borrow a paper copy of a book- there's a huge selection on-line.

Yesterday I had to return electronic versions of 20 read-along books my granddaughters downloaded when I was visiting.

 

[oldphd]

Pinball machines are one of the few hobbies that are actually a great investment.

We bought a Addams Family for $2100 and a really pristine TZ for $1400, played on them (and had house parties where people LOVED them) for a decade, then sold each for over $6000. Now a few years later I see that TZ probably would fetch $12,000.

+1000

I've got 10 pins, the one I've had the longest is an Attack From Mars that I purchased in 2000 for about $1,500. It's worth more now. In home use is so low compared to in a bar or public arcade, that it's in great shape for its age, and highly desirable.

I tell visitors that it's worked out great, kind of like someone who bought a 1964 mustang convertible, garaged it, and then only drives it on Sunday in good weather. Didn't expect the investment side to be as good as it is, but I'll take it.

 

[oldphd]

I love pinball too. When people come over they always play them. The down side is they're like a 70's GM car. They are always breaking down and constantly need to be repaired. On a good note they're lots of parts available and lots of information on the web. YouTube is especially useful.

Do you have EMs? Mine are all DMDs, and I have found that once I get one cleaned up and working 100% (most were purchased after a life on route and needed some attention at first), they go years without needing anything more than an occasional cleaning and bulb replacement.

 

[HunterAdvisor]

Hubby spends between 3-5k on guitars and other musical equip. I depend less than 1k on watercolor
Painting and Lessons.

 

[roh3]

Look at it this way: you are not really spending that money, you are just parking it there. It has value should you ever chose to sell it, & if you could find good used equipment, you might be able to retain value without depreciation. If not, it still has resale value unlike expensive vacations or activities.
Or look at its second hand value minus your investment & count that as the actual amount that you are spending.

At least that’s what I keep telling myself.

 

[steveark]

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?

I spent $20K on a fishing boat, $15K on a side by side ATV, I have a country club membership, play team tennis on a team 2 hours from home, we are building a cabin on 25 wilderness acres and that will total cost about $400K. We road trip six thousand miles a year to hike. I'd say our hobbies are pretty expensive. But well worth it!

 

[skyking1]

It's been an inspirational read from the beginning. Once the dust of new home construction settles I want to get the plane going if possible or gone if not.
I want a basic telescope so I can watch the ships come and go from Seattle. They can't get by me undetected.
Also look at the planets and stars like I used to as a youth.

My friend has a monohull sailboat about 45 minutes away and I will do more of that. I want a catamaran and will possibly build a Woods design, and probably keep it on a trailer.

We have too much city light pollution here for the best astronomy. We reunited with family that has a homestead way up in the Olympic National Park on the west ( dark ) side, but that is also frequently overcast. I will still want to check that out.
When I rebuilt the company excavator I ended up with a surplus rotec bearing that would make for a fantastic observatory platform. I just need the right place to put it.

 

[Tom52]

My main hobbies are playing guitar, golf, travel, and keeping up a classic car. I don't plan on purchasing any more guitars so yearly cost is minimal, likely under $200. Golf is also relatively inexpensive, maybe $500 per year as green fees are included in monthly assessment whether you play or not. Of course I had to buy a $15,000 golf cart a few years ago. Travel is probably in the range of $8,000-$10,000 per year. Upkeep on my classic car varies a lot, but probably averages $2000-$3,000 per year.

 

[Skitso999]

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.

This will probably be one of my hobbies when I retire! I also want to see my old automotive magazines. If they go for five dollars each it'll be a second source of income!

 

[KarenF]

My husband video games and spends about $1200/year which is not much. We also bike a lot and he goes on bikepacking trips, and that gear is expensive. Ebikes are also in our future. My other side gig of walking dogs is fun and brings in a fair amount of money. I turn down work all the time.

 

[NanoSour]

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.

That's some special coffee...and I thought my local roasters signature blend was expensive at $15/lb. We purchased at Bezzera Hobby expresso machine and a fancy coffee grinder last year and treat ourselves to a daily Americano or Espresso.



https://www.wholelattelove.com/products/bezzera-hobby-espresso-machine



Other hobbies include motorcycle riding for about 12K miles per season. Costs run about $5-7K/year all in with gas, mx, gear, hotels, etc.


I'm at the point that if I want it, I buy it and tell the Mrs to operate on the same mantra. I'll let her know if, when we need to make adjustments.

 

[doneat54]

My hobby, vintage Volkswagens as well as another German Marque, luckily self funds. I started a small web business in this hobby about 20 years ago now. I do some part restorations, I make wiring harness kits out of cloth covered wire for 1953 and earlier VWs. I am the only person in the world who does it right, and ship most of my product out of this country. I also do restorations of other early parts that sell for $300-$1500. Spotty business, does real well for some periods then nothing for months. But overall, play money is always there ... and I don't have to do anything if I don't want to. Business probably nets around $20k a year, and I'll usually spend most or all of that on other vintage cars stuff, trips to meets in Europe and occasionally no vintage auto stuff, weekends away and jewelry/gifts for DW.

 

[shafer9]

You gonna do it every year? Be careful.

Once? Do it. Life is very short.

I had cancer 17 years ago that I was not expected to survive. So I play in a bar band for fun. I have 11 guitars. That’s enough. When I croak, my sons can sell or keep them.
Wife and I burned through our whole travel bucket list so we’re slowing down at 78. Three trips in ‘23.

Enjoy yourself.

 

[Sand101]

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.

$4k is a very medium range bike. New gravel bike I just bought came to $4k and it was anything but high end (GRX600 mechanical). And that was cheap compared to similar offerings from big companies. Bikes are bloody expensive these days.

That said my new steed rocks - love it.

 

[Lsbcal]

Over half our budget is discretionary spending. Half or more of that is what could be considered ‘hobby’ including travel.

That's the right word, discretionary. Once one gets a bead on how much that could be then let it rip. As I get older the planning gets easier. The money seems to hold steady and my future life is decreasing in years.

I don't really use the word "hobby" and prefer something like activity, fun, travel, etc. My activities are pretty modest $ wise. Reading is mostly from library books. I buy some art supplies. Gardening is a seasonal thing and I now get a guy to help me with some of the heavier landscaping chores.

Some items we buy are border line discretionary. Like an induction cooktop to replace the gas unit. DW loves it.

The biggest discretionary one is travel and we try to get going at least about 4 weeks per year. Our tastes are for middle level accommodations. The only place we disagree on is economy vs premium economy vs first class airline seats.

 

[tenant13]

I didn't think of travel as a hobby. We spend $35-50K a year on that.

Same here. I travel for 6 or more months every year so it’s my lifestyle now rather than a hobby. Or life, tbh. One hobby that resulted from that is collecting points and miles while juggling multiple credit cards - all my life I needed to collect something. It actually saves me money and is fun. A great “redemption” , like a first class flight on Emirates or JAL purchased with miles that didn’t cost me anything to earn feels like I’m an accomplished hunter or something.

I had one “classic” hobby for years: collecting (!) Japanese DJs mixes on CDs that are exclusively available in Japan. Issued in very small quantities. Not only Japanese music, just stuff mixed by Japanese DJs. It could be jazz or hip hop, R&B or some obscure Japanese soundtracks. I have recently gave it up because travel taught me not to care about “things” and I spent more time cataloging than listening to them.

All I need now is a carry on, a visit to a great museum or two, a hike, a bike ride - and a good dinner to end the day with to be happy. Oh, I also tend to make new friends and acquaintances easily and keep up with the old ones all over the world so maybe that’s my new hobby: collecting friends?