I got a couple Rubik’s cubes for my kids a few years ago for nostalgia and they didn’t want anything to do with them once they realized it wasn’t easy to fix.
I tried to encourage them to keep plugging at it but they said “how am I supposed to do this if you can’t?” I realized they had a point so I downloaded an illustrated book that takes you step by step through the beginner method, and after a couple of hours I solved it!
I felt like I had climbed Everest and the first thing my kids did was scramble it again as soon as I showed them. That was the beginning of me getting into cubing as a hobby, and I have to say it’s one of the LEAST expensive hobbies I’ve ever been a part of!
Like with any hobby there are entry-level cubes and then enthusiast cubes that are more feature-rich and expensive. But the Delta between the two is surprisingly small. The cube that I use the most is one that has won world records and it was about $20 I think?
I have bought several variations of the 3X3 and other form factors. I have also bought a few as gifts as well as a Bluetooth connected cube with an accompanying robot and I don’t think I’ve spent more than $300-$350 total for the lifetime of the hobby.
That said you could easily be competitive with a world class cube, a timer, a mat, and some “Cube Lube” for maintenance all for about $60-$80 no prob. It’s about the only hobby I have my wife fully endorses, lol.
I do some cross stitching and it hasn’t been bad. Even using kits instead of doing custom ones. I’ve got like $120 CAD worth of large kits and, at the rate I’m going, they’ll probably last me a decade or maybe my daughter will inherit some of them.
I’m well into year 2 of working on the current one.
my current hobby has so far cost me about $5k over 10 years
If you don’t spend money on things you enjoy, you are wasting your money.
Me with 30+ Libreboot desktops/laptops.
Me who enjoys reselling as a hobby.
What do you resell?
A 7€ MTG Starter Set.
And now I’m stuck.
I remember when the game started in the '90s, booster packs were like a buck. I can’t afford to stay in standard and most popular formats I enjoy won’t let me use cards I like.
Never get into Modular Synthesizers.
Saw a YouTube video yesterday of a sim racer hobbiest that spent upwards of $700+ on literally just a wheel, shifter, petals, etc. Like not even the seat or computer or monitor or anything. Literally JUST the wheel parts.
Which is crazy but I have no way to complain as I’ve spent like 1,000 on my computer setup at least even excluding the actual PC.
Then there’s Steam…
* note I bought 2 steamdecks in that time and my account is like 4 years old
Compare yours with mine! https://help.steampowered.com/en/accountdata/AccountSpend
Uh oh, I’ve spent about $2,000 on my racing setup (moza r9 wheel base, SR-P pedals, RS V2 wheel, FSR Formula wheel, and ES wheel) and for me its been worth it, but it is ludicrously indulgent. Raced against (drove in the same race 3s slower a lap) a bunch of F2, F3 and F4 drivers and even Romain Grosjean. I was running on a cheap second hand G27 for 6 years before upgrading though, I would recommend going through that first to make sure you really want to race frequently enough to justify the cost.
700 bucks for a wheel is kinda mid tier, I say this with a 300 buck logi wheel.
Starts getting pricing when the drive motor alone is 1000 -2000 see fanatec
If you’re good enough you can compete against real NASCAR drivers. Much cheaper than even the most basic amateur racing such as auto cross.
Oh dear, I think I have a problem. I wonder if that counts keys bought for games from other sites like humble bundle redemptions? Even if it does, I guess I should focus on my backlog.
Over a decade+ that’s not horrendous. I’ve probably spent around $2000 on computers for gaming in that same period. I know people who’ve dropped far more than that in a single day for their hobbies so gaming really is a pretty cheap hobby
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A nice ukulele is around 100$. Voilà.
I might get into ukelele. Any good suggestions? What’s the cheapest one I can get that’s good?
A shit one is even cheaper
Agree. But having played on many different ones, I’de say instruments under 50$ are too shitty too be enjoyable, especially if you’re learning.
Can be true but like all things it depends. In the 6 years I’ve been into 3d printing I’ve observed that lots of people compulsively mod their machines. I just print stuff. Filament is cheap and I use free online software to do designs. The repair parts I’ve made have actually paid for the machine by being able to keep broken stuff instead of replacing them. But I’m cheap. I think people who are determined to spend money will find a hobby to spend it on.
Never understood the obsessive tinkerers, all that work to have something worse than a Bambu P1S. To each their own ig, I just see my printer as a means to an end I don’t want to mess with it. I want to mess with the stuff I build with it
As someone who learned subtractive machining (milling, turning etc) I find additive machining very interesting. My friend bought a cheap printer recently and I’m excited to try it out.
Horses, recreational vehicles, motorhomes, boats, sports cars… I’ll just settle with my watercolors. I will however splurge on Daniel Smith paints.
Paint for whatever reason needs this sliding scale of ‘archival’ which I don’t understand why student grade has to exist. it should all be archival and to be affordable. I suppose it comes down to pigment and binder but you could probably mix your own to maybe make it affordable.gum Arabic can be as cheap as less than 20$ a bottle
Gaming used to not be like that, but now a good GPU alone costs 800 to 2500 bucks. Sure you get away with cheaper components but at what cost, you got to be patient gamer to enjoy this endeavor.
The Main Reason I became an Indie Gamer.
It’s not that I can’t afford it, it’s just that it isn’t worth it for me.
Bought a 4070 super for 600. They have come down a lot
You just should play different games.
For example ping pong runs on integrated gpus.
My 15 years old i5 750 upgraded with a 1060 can play almost anything. You could literally play great free games for the next 10 years on it without spending a dime. Maybe some gamers are doing too much? There’s no need to upgrade your pc every years to get 2 more fps…
Having a hobby in a price gouging capitalist hellscape.
