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First edition books - I am not actively collecting right now (see #2 below for the reason), but did a lot of research and spent money carefully until I knew my stuff, then took a few risks. Years ago, I paid a lot - over $1000 - for a first edition of To Kill a Mockingbird that is worth, oh, a whole lot more now
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Vintage Guitars - got into these after starting my band and really getting into guitar again (I have always played, but was in “treading water” mode for a bit - but with pro players in the band and new songs to learn, my chops have improved considerably). I ended up gravitating towards vintage guitars because good examples sound amazing and they feed my collecting jones. I only have a couple - but jeez are the prices insane. In both cases, I was very fortunate to get them for a great deal - in the case of my 1957 Gibson Les Paul Special, no cash changed hands - I able to trade him some First Edition Books - you have to love that! And the guitar is worth the price of a decent car, and I didn’t pay even remotely near that much for the books I traded - yay me. And it rocks - the thing I love about vintage guitars is that first and foremost they are tools - they either deliver the goods or they don’t when you play them.
No! Knitting expenses don’t count because they are practical. You *need * a sweater to keep warm, therefore it’s not an extravegance, it’s a necessity. Then you will *need * a shawl. Or handknit wool socks. Or a really cute baby sweater for a shower for a coworker (which is a gift, and since you’d be buying a gift anyway it does not count). So the only hobby cost is the $6.00 needles, which you’ll have forever. Ta da! Cheep hobby! (and I’d love to see your finished sweater)
You got that right. All I do is paint minis and it gets pricey. But I do get some of it back if I sell a few here and there.
The Society for Creative Anachronism If you want to spend some money, living history is great. The costumes, the furnishings, and, oh god, the authentically medieval pavilion (I have a new one this year)…
Firearms - I won’t be happy until I have a Mauser from every country that ever issued them, in military configuration, with all accessories. I’m about 1/3 of the way there.
Scotch - I’ve posted pictures of the collection before. Next summer looks like it might entail a distillery tour of Scotland!
I’m slowly selling off most of the remains of previous hobbies, and making a tidy little sum on the items at that.
I just started my latest project of my very expensive hobby. I bought a fixer-upper house built in 1810. I’ve dubbed it the 20yr project, but even that is an ambitious pace. It will take an inordinate amount of my free time and surplus cash for many years.
So far it has cost me $48.00 in painting supplies, but I just started yesterday. Also I ran out of paint. There is a reason we call Home Depot “Home Deposit.”
This is my wifes expense of choice. We are now looking at cutting printers :smack:
Fortunately, her scrapbooking co-ordinates with one of my hobbies - the oft-mentioned photo bug. But I restrict myself to a good point-and-shoot with long zoom (Panasonic Lumix FZ-30).
My other hobbies also co-operate - music (guitar, keys) and computers. All merged into one (money and time)-sucking hole.
::sigh::
Si
This hobby is currently verboten in our home.
I have forbidden my husband upon pain of major evisceration from taking up this hobby. Not only is it ridiculously expensive, it sucks up free space like a black hole.
On the other hand, the two of us are both into Magic, The Spendening (weekly limited events, and he plays Vintage and Legacy) and I read. Paperbacks are about 8 bucks per, and I read probably 400 pages a day. Even with copious rereading and as constant library-browsing, it adds up.
I have a number of hobbies which are currently draining my inheritance money!
Comic Books – I currently spend about $40 a week! Since I have collected since the early 1970s, I have a small room (10’ by10’) completely devoted to my collection!
My Neurotic Art Collection – This obsession is related to the comics! I have posted before about my “superheroine-in-peril” fetish (I like seeing attractive, scantily-clad heroines getting knocked out and captured!). Since 2005, I have commissioned various artists to draw superheroine KO/capture scenarios for me. I have a good portion of my collection posted at my “Comic Art Fans” gallery :
http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=21632
Medieval Weapons/Replicas – I have quite a number of swords, axes, maces, and spears that I have bought from Museum Replicas Limited, Cold Steel, and some other companies!
Photography – I have only been taking pictures since October 2006, and I do not yet have an expensive camera, but I can picture myself graduating to a nice digital camera soon! Actually, I would like to have enough money to hire a film crew to follow me around and document my life!
Horses. Not only do my hubby and I own our own stable (and the wee farm that goes with it) we show as well. Let me tell you it can get into the $$ quickly. Still, it gets us out of the house and there’s nothing like the rush you get from riding or just watching your equine friends play.
Models. Mostly car models, but some figures, too. I have something like 1200 kits waiting for attention. Last time I did the calculation I figured I’d have to live 488 years to finish them all.
And don’t get me started on paint. Every darn time I turn around it seems I need to buy paint.
Here’s one of mine:
For me, it’s the electric guitar. If you want top-notch equipment, the price to get in is pretty high - my main guitar went for close to $3000 new, and I’ve had several amplifiers that were close to that - but once you’re in, the maintenance costs (strings, picks, tubes) are pretty reasonable.
hehe. I was gonna mention canoeing and kayaking as my expensive hobby. I have my own canoe and kayak. I bought my gf a kayak so we can go together. My son joined us using a rental. He enjoyed it so much that I bought him one. I have a trailer that hauls six boats easily.
Then there are the accessories. My kayak paddle set me back $125, and it is midrange at best. I have hundreds invested in gloves, dry sacks, etc.
But, it is worth every cent.
Yeah, my comic collection sucks up a lot of cash, too - right now, though, Magic outpaces it, as well as my RPG collection, my video games, and my DVD collection.
Wouldn’t this argument apply equally well to expensive clothing? I have a need for clothes, but surely that’s not enough, in and of itself, to justify a “collection” of $5000 bespoke suits, or $500 Italian shoes. Similarly, I have a need to quench my thirst, but I don’t have to do it with 80 year old bottles of Chateau Lafite.
Good work!
There’s another problem with shooting. I’ve one rifle that gobbles up ammo at $2 per shot, and while my shoulder can’t handle much more than 40 rounds at a time, that adds up. Reloading lowers the price a lot, after you get the press and the dies and the reamer and the calipers and the powder measure and the scales and the bullets and the powder and the necking tool and …
Oh but lord it’s fun to make small holes in a sheet of paper a quarter mile away.
Another knitter checking in. I have a weak spot for hand-dyed sock yarn. At $12 a skein and two skeins for a pair of socks, well, it adds up. I seem to have reached a saturation point, though–I have such a ridiculous amount of yarn stored away, that I don’t even look at the sock yarn websites any more. I have every sock yarn my heart desires.
Momentarily.
I also have the yarn for about a dozen sweaters stashed… not KnitPicks, either. Rowan, Debbie Bliss, Noro… sigh.
I have two, and I really need to cut down on one if I ever want to afford a house… sigh.
Historical Martial Arts is one. From the books, the DVD’s, and the equipment (wasters, blunt swords, sharp replicas, head, hands and torso protection, bucklers, etc) it can be quite expensive. Forget about training in authentic armor, out of my league.
The other is computers. I won’t be happy until one day I can sit back on my couch and say" Computer, Tea. Earl Grey, Hot. Also schedule sex for tonight at 8:30 pm. Inform the missus." I’ve always got a top of the line gaming rig, and now I’ve built a media center PC too.
My passion is woodworking, and the expenses can get out of hand sometimes. I have a fairly well-equipped shop, but I’ve recently started having to replace my inexpensive “starter” tools and machines with lifetime warranty stuff. Examples: The set of Czech chisels I got a decade ago for $40 needs to be replaced; I’m looking at Garret Wade’s new Lie-Nielsen socket-handle chisel set for $250. Sometime in the next few years, as I transition out of soft woods and plys and into hardwoods, I need to replace my joiner-planer and table saw, and buy all new router bits and power saw blades.
Then there’s the stock. In order to get anything more than pine or red oak, I have to drive 100 miles to a specialty lumber store. And the lumber ain’t cheap! Stock to build a typical maple, walnut or white oak jewelry box is around $100; a dresser or dining table can cost upwards of $500 just for the lumber. Then there are specialty pieces (table legs, since I don’t have a lathe), hardware, finishes, sandpaper, YI usually do one large project for our house and one small project for someone else each year. In-between times I do mid-size projects for friends, on the condition that they buy and deliver the lumber (that way I know they’ll pay for it, and they’re not handing me money.)
Finally, there are upkeep and improvements on the shop itself. I started with a mish-mash of shelving, cabinets and home-made workbenches fashioned out of scraps, whcih I am slowly replacing with industrial strength shelving and custom-built cabinets and workbenches.