Hobbies help us tone down the stress and keep us rooted to reality while keeping us happy. It wouldn’t surprise us if a lot of us wouldn’t be keen on giving them up if we really need to. It’s a bit hard to let go of something that we are passionate about, after all. However, that doesn’t mean that we are also willing to just spend all of our money on it. We aren’t that dumb, are we?
So what do we do? We budget our money for it, of course.
Do you want to spend all of your salary for something that doesn’t even bring you a profit that doesn’t include happiness? If you do end up spending all of your money on, say, cameras (if your hobby is photography), gardening equipment (for those who like gardening) or paint (hello, artists), how are you going to pay the bills? Buy groceries? Pay for the kids? Exactly, you wouldn’t be.
So how DOES one budget their money?
All you need to do is cut your money and set them aside for the important things. You ALWAYS have to make the important things a priority before you go ahead and spend it all on the hobbies. Such important stuff are:
- Bills
- Food
- Transport
- Emergency
After you’ve set them aside, you take what’s left and cut that in half too. You use the first half for your hobbies while the second one is for savings. You’re going to need that in the future.
A little tip for your spending habits, make sure you actually buy cheaper ones instead of really high quality things right off the bat. You can purchase the more expensive ones once you’ve saved enough for them. Also, NEVER get a loan just for your hobbies and NEVER buy them as an installment. That’s just going to cripple your financial stability in the long run.
You need to prioritise the more important stuff, especially if you have a family at home to feed and take care of. It can be tempting to just let go, yes, however do not be selfish about it and just spend it all on yourself either. Do it little by little.
Here’s another tip, try to change your hobby into something a little less expensive to save yourself the trouble. You don’t need to go all out on something that will cost you an arm and a leg all the time. You might be surprised in what you find if you just try to do new things.
Aside from that, you can do whatever you want, as long as your hobby doesn’t include hurting someone else, that is. Budgeting for your hobby can be a little hard because we’re always ruled by our temptations almost all the time. I mean, how often than not do we find ourselves face-palming because of last night’s drinking party with the guys?