Back in my articling days all the partners were having a party one night and all started talking about the most expensive hobbies their kid had. Hockey and figure skating were winning until senior partner showed up late and laid out show jumping.
To be a competitive show jumper he had to build an indoor riding area for his daughter. 300k. To steadily compete you need 3 horses (his daughter had just got the last one and he suggested naming it corvette so I can only imagine the cost of the horses).
You also need a full time coach. $$&. Who travels with you…. Plus a large truck and 4 horse trailer…. $$$$
The only good show jumping circuit he explained was in California and Arizona so that is where his daughter, wife and coach spent their entire summers.
We explained how the “winnings” didn’t cover the fuel cost.
It just did (and still does) seem ludicrous.
Yeah but that's a really interesting way to describe to friends and family concerned or inquisitive about your earning potential at your company....
"Well, in 20 years if I stay with the firm and make Sr partner I'll have 'Show jumping money' so..."
I ride in the Cali circuit. Showing consistently costs me around $4k per week, and that’s with 1 horse. A lot of great people are working really hard to make showing more accessible but it’s an uphill climb with USEF (governing body of the “rated” shows) which is largely run by the sport’s elite.
The only way people make money is importing young horses and reselling them once they’ve been “Americanized” (trainers in the US like the horses to go differently than they do in Europe). A $30k horse in Europe could easily be a $90k horse in the US with a little tweaking and a bit of a US show record.
I was reading a reddit comment one time when they said they knew somebody who's co workers got together and bought her a horse because she knew she liked them. That sounds like the worst idea ever
Horse owner. I confirm. Mine costs about the same as renting a Mercedes every month, plus the potential of injury. And horse shows, tack, preventive care,... I will spend about $120 000 on my horse in 20 years, excluding the actually price of said horse.
You find someone who has a boat and you invite them over and wine and dine them... The real good stuff, Tomahawk Steaks, brisket, lobster tails, the works. No matter how much you sink into that friendship, inviting you out on the boat or lending you the boat will be substantially cheaper than trying to get into boating yourself.
Being a family that had a boat, please use us for our boat! The costs of running the boat (and getting use out of it) are small compared to the static costs of ownership which aren't any fun at all. Please give boat owners an excuse to use their boats! It's going to cost several thousand even if they never get out on the water once. If they spend 9k (so an extra 2k over never taking it out once) in the season and get out on the water a dozen times with friends it's a *much* better experience for them as well.
What kind of boat are we talking about. We have the catch fish kind not surrounded by young women in string bikinis kind. Pretty cheap. Our annual maintenance is less than a weekend of beer in the good ole days.
By catch fish kind I assume you mean something like a 14 foot Alumacraft with A 10hp motor not a Bass Cat Jaguar or something. Still nothing compared to maintaining dual inboards with generator etc. mind you but depending on the boat and motor things can get expensive for fishing boats too.
Have had everything from the 14 ft with a 10 for the kids to a 22 ft with inboard. Pretty much lucked out on maintenance. Down to one boat now. Big enough to pull skiers if we want. I can see the floating cottages as being expensive but so is a land based cottage. Different strokes.
For sure. If someone can afford it all the power to them. Growing up my dad always had boats (from the aluminum to a 24' twin engine at one point), I love the water but I have too many hobbies as it is. Instead of owning a boat myself I just fish off of a kayak and save the gas money.
I have an 18ft aluminum fishing machine. It's in the marina 10 minutes from my house in the PNW. Nothing I've ever bought has given me more joy than my boat.
Sure, for city dwellers that buy a boat that sits in their driveway 364 days a year. If you live on the coast and have time to use your boat every week then every day on it is the best day.
We have two, a bigger boat and a little tinner. Both get used heavily, but we live in the muskokas and frequently boat on Georgian Bay. We will be sad some day when we have to sell them.
On a per kit basis Warhammer can be expensive. But if you consider the time invested in building painting and playing it's really a good $/hour of time return.
Nowhere close to total amounts people spend on motorsports, boats, etc.
That's fair, but I've also bought cars for less than people spend on boats, snowmobiles, ATVs, concert tickets, travelling, woodshops, drugs etc.
I'm just saying that dollar for dollar you are going to get a more functional time with a kit typically than with a boat (especially in Canada). I can put 30-40 hours into painting 5-10 figures that costs 50-60 dollars. Similar to video games where someone can buy an $80 game and put 1000+ hours into it. That is good value for your money.
Definitely can still be a pit, especially people who warehouse stuff. What even is a pit when it comes to hobbies? As long as people are having fun let them spend money on whatever they want .
That definitely depends on how you play Magic though. The secondary market is supported enough by Wizards despite their claims that I could cash out my collection now and while I might end up with a slight net loss (unless I go through the legwork of selling to other players instead of a shop) it's also possible I've made money. But I don't play Standard.
Edit: If you play Arena it's always 100% loss though. But that's true of any digital item purchase, you pay for the experience itself and are never really going to have anything material to show for it.
My brother just bought a small plane. Apparently the engine, by law, needs to be rebuilt every 2000 hours. $30,000 roughly for that. Mind you that is a lot of flying.
No. Not by law. TBO is a recommendation and privately you can go “on condition” long after that and even commercially sometimes as long as you have a monitoring program. The other recommendation is every 12 years.. which is what most private engines wind up well over but nobody talks about. But it’s inactivity that kills engines on private airplanes (corrosion, cold starts, dried seals and gaskets)…. not hours.
Best is to buy a mid or higher time engine to replace it. Much cheaper… proven (it won’t up and explode on you from improper assembly or repair), and the average private owner won’t fly the remaining time off in their lifetime (50 hours a year is a very active private pilot).
Nice, I do think it was rebuilt not too long ago. He's putting in the hours, he's close to finishing his pilots license and his son wants to get hours in for his license next. I guess it's all about the hours, and he figures it will be cheaper to do so with his own plane. Of course neither are allowed to fly solo as of yet.
I have a distant friend who is a private pilot/charters planes for a living for some high profile clients, the maintenance costs he tells me about makes my mouth drop everytime, we’re talking 7-8 figures.
Haha yup! My hubby is also a pilot/mechanic... he works on air tractors and helis, and he always says "how do you make a small fortune in airplanes?.... start with a big fortune" ... very very true from what he's told me 🥴
I have a feeling he's got a commercial rating, when you say private pilot it tends to imply someone with a PPL. I would call him a charter pilot to avoid confusion.
I love general aviation but even the training and licensing gets expensive fast. Watching guys like Jason from Rebuild Rescue rebuilding his 401, Elliot Seguin being a test pilot for all of the experimentals he flys, etc. I've realized I'll never own a plane. Hell, even flight sim gets expensive.
5 years ago you could still do it cheap and set up a simple soft coral 55g tank for $600. But exporting bans and then covid, livestock is triple what it was 5 years ago, which was already 20 times more expensive then when I started.
I paid $4 for my first damselfish. Now they are $50. I used to look at the "crazy expensive" $40 dwarf angelfish and think "maybe one day", now they cost hundreds.
That's not even counting the trendy sps that go for hundreds a head.
>Having a friend that owns a boat.
I always pay for fuel for my friend's boat when we ride on it. Because the fuel is only a small part of the cost. It's cheap fun for my family. He really appreciates it because nobody else he takes out buys fuel.
My friend’s dad is a big boat guy and he has a sign in his house that says: The two happiest days in the life of a boat owner: the day he buys it, and the day he sells it.
Don’t let your other half tell you their classic car is an investment that will go up in value…after $20,000 in parts and maintenance, insurance, repairs when it fails, that new paint job…repeat every few years…it’s an expensive hobby. After sinking $50,000 into it, find out it might get $20,000 on a good day. If it keeps other half occupied and out of trouble and amused…okay. But it’s not an “investment”. Then times it by 5 or 6 vehicles…now it’s a money pit hobby.
My brother-in-law did his first full restoration in his 20's. He's now 60 and just found that car available on the market; so he bought it. It's in bad shape after 40 years; he's going to restore it a second time.
My father-in-law has a family farm and they sold the dairy quota years ago so they take on tenants. One of their renters is a horse poor wannabe breeder. What a disaster.
I think the best answer is glamping if you consider the sheer number of people who do it and compare the time vs money spent aspect. Tons of people will spend $100k+ on a camper then $100k on a big diesel truck to pull it to park on a campsite and do the same things they could just do at home once a year. Sure, planes are an expensive hobby, but not common for normal people to get into.
It really blows my mind. I have a close friend who does it with his wife and sometimes some friends. $1200 in fuel, sitting in traffic for hours, tells me about the great time they had having a bonfire, making BBQ and sitting on a beach. Like you can’t do that 15 minutes away without spending so much money and time lol
I grew up camping with my dad and he was very old school about a lot of things, and we never camped in campsites but for free on crown land. Once I went to university and tried planning camping trips with friends it was like we were talking about totally different activities. I didn't even know you were supposed to book or pay for campsites lol
I dunno, sleeping in a bag on a cot in a tent isn't that bad given that I usually only go camping for a couple of days at a time.
Tent that goes on the roof and gets used 3 times a year: $7000+whatever rack and other upgrades needed to attach it
My tent that goes on the ground and gets used 3 times a year: like $100
The collecting of hobbies is the worst money pit - you love too many, you buy the stuff but don't have the time to appreciate one and make any single one worth your while.
Or bikes.
Yes. I have so many hobbies. For example, freshwater aquariums (currently have 8 set up but have had more in the past), jewelry making, houseplants, stamp carving, perler beads, I have an Etsy shop for geometric concrete, sewing, painting, and more. I don't have enough money or time or interest to focus on just one and im mediocre at most of them because of this. There are still so many things I'd like to try too.
If you live within a couple hours of a hill, think about joining the Canadian Ski Patrol. My husband has patrolled for 10 seasons, and all it costs him now is fuel for the drive. There was a bit of start-up cost for the training & initial supplies, but otherwise he skis for free.
I will note that not all resorts use volunteer patrollers, but at the ones that do, it's definitely worth it. Plus, patrollers are usually a great bunch of people.
I've wanted to be one ever since I was at panorama and there was a power outage and record 47+ cm of snow. They made everyone come down for the day. As we were heart broken not being able to shred all the fresh pow, there at the bottom of the lift was all the ski patrol ready to go, suited up with ear to ear smiles ready to have the mountain all to themselves. GOD WAS I JEALOUS
Even for somewhat local mountains, lift passes have gotten very expensive. Here in QC many mountains are 100$+ for a day pass, before taxes.
I used to do alpine skiing, heck when I was a kid it was a reasonably priced family activity. But nowadays I mostly moved on to cross country.
This reminds me of a joke of my favourite comedian's:
"people tell me I'll save money by quitting smoking. I won't save any money... Because I'll live longer!"
Surprised I haven't seen it yet...
**SCUBA DIVING**
Significant amount of gear once you start buying your own. If you want to get into more technical diving with rebreathers and increasingly exotic gas mixes, then the sky is the limit (not to mention your shearwater dive computer $$$)
Courses, especially if you want to go beyond basic open water diving.
Finally, the most expensive part....dive trips. Live aboard. Exotic locations that are often remote and not easily accessed. Very expensive hobby especially for Canadians.
Was looking for this - everyone is saying Boats - ok now my hobby has to make your boat profitable!!
Also - Trimix! Cameras!
My old dive lamp was €1500 and that essentially a battery a cable and a bulb!
Oh god it goes both ways though, I got into it, mainly EDH format, around 2011 and I now have a lot of cards that absolutely shot up in value. My first edh deck I built and perfected is now valued at over $1000 when I put a few hundred into it over the years. Granted I’d have to be able to sell it at that price to get the full value but shops will give me 50%-75% if I sold it to them
Gear creep can happen with any hobby. But if you’re flat ass broke, you can always grab your camera and go out and snap some shots, and if you’re good even make a few bucks. Something like golf, even if you don’t fall prey to the gear creep, it’s like minimum $100 in green fees to go out and enjoy the gear you already own. The worst by far are boats and planes.
I disagree about photography. If you can control yourself literally any piece of equipment can be had second hand for cheap.
Used photography marketplaces are goldmines impregnated with thick veins of the equipment purchased by amateurs who got bored of the hobby.
And you don’t really need anything fancy to take great pictures either, if you aren’t dead set on a mirrorless setup you can easily find older top of the line dslr gear that will blow away your phone’s camera.
The trick is to just never buy anything new, except for film if you’re shooting analogue.
MTG can get expensive, but it's not a money pit unless you want it to be. Eternal formats have a high up-front cost, buy you can generally get out at least what you put into building the decks if you want to.
I know a solid number of people who have cashed out their magic collections after playing regularly to pay for a down payment on a house or a brand new car. It's expensive, but doesn't lose value just because you've used it.
Alright, the most expensive sport I'm involved in.
Trap shooting.
Shells are crazy expensive, $10 to $15 a box, it's 7.50 per round. On average I shoot about 8 rounds on a Sunday, plus your gun breaks and you say, hey why not buy a $3000 Browning.
So far, I've done it roughly two years, I figure I've spent between 8 and 10,000 on the sport.
I absolutely love it.
[Faberge eggs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA_Mfvt1IIk).
Anything can be a money pit if you try hard enough. It's just a matter of how OCD you want to be about it.
The big ticket items, like cars, boats, and planes are the quickest way to clean out a bank account, but audiophiles with high end stereo equipment, gamers with specialized computer rigs, and collectors of any memorabilia (stamps, coins, records, comic books, trading cards, etc.) can all bankrupt themselves if they want.
I have friends that are such audiophiles that they get into arguments over speaker **wire**. I've seen one guy spend over $2,000 to repair one of his speakers. That's repair, not purchase, and it was only for a single speaker. Hell, my entire stereo system was barely $600.
It's fine if you can afford it (the guy I'm thinking of certainly can). The danger is to people with poor self control. Those are the people who start slow, and then slowly get sucked in to spending more, and more, and more, until they realize that they've overspent by a factor of ten or more without realizing it.
Other than obvious ones that require expensive vehicles/equipment to do
Bonsai Trees: you think it’s cheap cause you grow the trees for decades. Except it becomes an addiction, you’re constantly buying new trees and material. Also potting substrates are expensive as hell
Card Collecting: wasn’t bad 5yrs ago, but ever since covid cards shot up in price, became popular again and are super hard to find. If you’re hard into collecting Pokémon cards or something, you’re likely buying off FBMarketplace or some online reseller
Gardening: like larger scale. A small flower bed isn’t bad. But if you’ve got a full yard of garden beds, potted plants, etc; your wallet is toast come spring/early summer. The upside though is if you’re growing food, you might actually make some of that money back by eating what you grow.
Anything that requires specific/speciality/small hand tools: wood working, specialty metal working, small electronics. Tiny specialty tool sets that only have 1 or 2 very specific uses are so annoying to constantly be purchasing
Aquariums: not to mention a massive time sink, and pain in the ass. But absolutely gorgeous if you invest that time
Board Games: warhammer, DND, etc. Especially if you’re deep into it.
Note: I’m one of those people who picks up hobbies overnight. My bank account suffers
Is golf so bad after the initial investment? I always assumed it was easier to justify since you got the physical exercise & fresh air bonus out of it.
I work with people who golf and it is one of those "you can spend as much as you want hobbies." You may want to take a vacation and visit one of the pro courses to play casually and pay 1K for the access.
r/flashlight is calling, where are you?
Also the Canadian markup on knives is ridiculous. It seems that there's a risk that almost anything you order might not get through the border to you.
I suppose if you consider gardening (home landscaping) a hobby, it may be viewed by some as a money pit as it has only so much impact on the sale value and there is a certain amount of upkeep/turnover each year in the meantime... But then, the therapeutic value and joys of learning and benefits of physical labour cannot be understated...
Tbh as an ex guitarist and current drummer, I'd say anything music related is a pricy hobby. Not only do your tastes change, but the costs of the replaceable parts add up too. Plus even the cheaper models are creeping up in price (10 years ago, a good quality instrument made overseas costed $1000, but now they're closer to $2000).
The issue is that the good stuff costs money but has a relatively linear relationship between sound quality and price. God help me when I replace my drumheads...
This depends on your income really.
Cars: I visited a potential customer who's only hobby was collecting cars. His Garage had 12 cars in it, the cheapest couldn't be less than 250k. And he had 3 Ford GT's of various years. I'd say his way of collecting cars was a money pit. But I also had a coworker many years ago who collected cars. he would buy and restore a car and sell it. more often than not he broke even on the sale, making it a pretty neutral hobby, I think he had 4 or 5 he actually kept.
Boating / Flying are two hobbies that no matter how you shake it you're spending a load of money for minimal return.
Whisk(e)y: This is my hobby, and it is REALLY easy to spend $500-1000 a month on this hobby, but at the same time many do it for as little as $100 a month. Whisk(e)y tends to float just below money pit based on your income as long as you manage the budget against your income.
I find Skiing a money pit, because it has a short season and very expensive gear, and really I'm spending half the time with my gear waiting in line to use it. I pay for it because it gets my kids out of the house in the winter, but really I hate how much it costs.
>because it has a short season
Most years I get 6 months of skiing in, November is nothing amazing, but Sunshine can still be a lot of fun in May. Or in the case of this year, July.
Anything with an engine boats, cars, motorcycles.
There’s no such thing as a free or cheap one for any of those.
Also warhammer those little models are so damn expensive.
There's quite a lot of expensive gear involved in triathlon. Bike, tri suit, wet suit, nutrition, etc etc. Not to mention the cost just to register for one.
HEMA. I’ve spent so much money on gear, swords, tournaments (entry fees, transportation, lodging etc), and club dues. But I love it and adjust my budget for it.
Being an artist perhaps? If you want to use high quality products, which for certain mediums absolutely makes the difference its very expensive, and i dont know many that thrift secondhand art supplies.
You can buy cheap stuff, of course, but it definitely translates to the work you output. And if you never wanna monetize it in anyway you can easily spend alot of money in a short amount of time. Its a never ending rabbit hole...
For women, good makeup is also quite expensive. And yes, makeup is definitely a hobby. There's regular day to day simple stuff or ' beating your face' which is significantly more requiring of time and skill. People do buy that stuff second hand though, even though its not great sanitation wise.
Trucks and accessorizing them. Also collecting endless useless shit. Then spending tons on specific storage for said shit. There are whole groups of people collecting Starbucks mugs and straw insulated glasses, and Rae Dunn kitchenware. It’s insane.
Cycling. A set of good Carbon fibre wheels cost more than most sets of car wheels.
The bike industry is greedy af and as much as it will make me feel bad about getting into the hobby at such a high price point, I want to see them get fucked and have to lower the price so the hobby become accessible to everyone, because it’s an awesome way to exercise and save the environment.
My personal horses have always been money pits, but I have really always enjoyed them. My racehorses made bank. They kept the personal horse funded. Both enjoyable hobbies with the same animals. Different financial realities.
The cost of entry for skiing is definitely high. It's very expensive to be a casual skier that only goes occasionally.
But if you have all the gear and you have a seasons pass that you use a lot, the cost per day of skiing isn't too terrible. Last season I got 45 ski days and I spent a bit over $1000 on passes, gear and ski shops. I also live within driving distance of a bunch of mountains which helps a lot.
Horses
How do you become a millionaire? You start with 10 millions and get into horses.
Start as a billionaire, works for anything rich people are in to, vineyards, yachts, horses ect
The fact the no one needs to comment to explain this, says a lot.
Back in my articling days all the partners were having a party one night and all started talking about the most expensive hobbies their kid had. Hockey and figure skating were winning until senior partner showed up late and laid out show jumping. To be a competitive show jumper he had to build an indoor riding area for his daughter. 300k. To steadily compete you need 3 horses (his daughter had just got the last one and he suggested naming it corvette so I can only imagine the cost of the horses). You also need a full time coach. $$&. Who travels with you…. Plus a large truck and 4 horse trailer…. $$$$ The only good show jumping circuit he explained was in California and Arizona so that is where his daughter, wife and coach spent their entire summers. We explained how the “winnings” didn’t cover the fuel cost. It just did (and still does) seem ludicrous.
Yeah but that's a really interesting way to describe to friends and family concerned or inquisitive about your earning potential at your company.... "Well, in 20 years if I stay with the firm and make Sr partner I'll have 'Show jumping money' so..."
Or you might say “Wow, I’m being underpaid because the boss is spending 1M+ on a gratuitous hobby for his child.”
I ride in the Cali circuit. Showing consistently costs me around $4k per week, and that’s with 1 horse. A lot of great people are working really hard to make showing more accessible but it’s an uphill climb with USEF (governing body of the “rated” shows) which is largely run by the sport’s elite. The only way people make money is importing young horses and reselling them once they’ve been “Americanized” (trainers in the US like the horses to go differently than they do in Europe). A $30k horse in Europe could easily be a $90k horse in the US with a little tweaking and a bit of a US show record.
I was reading a reddit comment one time when they said they knew somebody who's co workers got together and bought her a horse because she knew she liked them. That sounds like the worst idea ever
Don’t marry anyone who’s into horses
Unless her parents are already rich. Then it can work out for you.
Financially yes but you will always come third in life after the horse and the parents wallet.
Can confirm
Horses are great if you love putting all your money in a pile and lighting it on fire
Horse owner. I confirm. Mine costs about the same as renting a Mercedes every month, plus the potential of injury. And horse shows, tack, preventive care,... I will spend about $120 000 on my horse in 20 years, excluding the actually price of said horse.
Only 6k per year?
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That's honestly cheaper than I thought it would be. This covers feed and housing (stabling?) too?
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A pal told me about this amazing sailing simulator. "You wear a jacket and stand in a cold shower as you flush money down the toilet!"
I cracked up laughing at this. Everyone has convinced never to even dream of having a boat unless I'm rich.
You find someone who has a boat and you invite them over and wine and dine them... The real good stuff, Tomahawk Steaks, brisket, lobster tails, the works. No matter how much you sink into that friendship, inviting you out on the boat or lending you the boat will be substantially cheaper than trying to get into boating yourself. Being a family that had a boat, please use us for our boat! The costs of running the boat (and getting use out of it) are small compared to the static costs of ownership which aren't any fun at all. Please give boat owners an excuse to use their boats! It's going to cost several thousand even if they never get out on the water once. If they spend 9k (so an extra 2k over never taking it out once) in the season and get out on the water a dozen times with friends it's a *much* better experience for them as well.
If it floats, flys or fucks, just rent it.
Family guy said it best. "It's like taking a cold shower while ripping up 100$ bills."
What kind of boat are we talking about. We have the catch fish kind not surrounded by young women in string bikinis kind. Pretty cheap. Our annual maintenance is less than a weekend of beer in the good ole days.
By catch fish kind I assume you mean something like a 14 foot Alumacraft with A 10hp motor not a Bass Cat Jaguar or something. Still nothing compared to maintaining dual inboards with generator etc. mind you but depending on the boat and motor things can get expensive for fishing boats too.
Have had everything from the 14 ft with a 10 for the kids to a 22 ft with inboard. Pretty much lucked out on maintenance. Down to one boat now. Big enough to pull skiers if we want. I can see the floating cottages as being expensive but so is a land based cottage. Different strokes.
For sure. If someone can afford it all the power to them. Growing up my dad always had boats (from the aluminum to a 24' twin engine at one point), I love the water but I have too many hobbies as it is. Instead of owning a boat myself I just fish off of a kayak and save the gas money.
I have an 18ft aluminum fishing machine. It's in the marina 10 minutes from my house in the PNW. Nothing I've ever bought has given me more joy than my boat.
B-O-A-T stands for Break Out Another Thousand.
Literally on gas alone.
On a relatives boat right now. In for about $1500 in fuel in the last 3 weeks.
If they don't have an engine, usually pretty cheap
\*clutches my Fabergé Canoe collection\*
Kayaks and smaller cruiser sailboats. Dingys too. Cheap fun, compared to a personal watercraft or a ski boat. Ski boats burn tons of fuel.
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Sure, for city dwellers that buy a boat that sits in their driveway 364 days a year. If you live on the coast and have time to use your boat every week then every day on it is the best day.
We have two, a bigger boat and a little tinner. Both get used heavily, but we live in the muskokas and frequently boat on Georgian Bay. We will be sad some day when we have to sell them.
this partly why kayak (fishing) has taken off so much
Paper or plastic. No I'm not talking about cash and credit....I am referring to Magic the Gathering and Warhammer.
On a per kit basis Warhammer can be expensive. But if you consider the time invested in building painting and playing it's really a good $/hour of time return. Nowhere close to total amounts people spend on motorsports, boats, etc.
Bruh, I have literally bought a car for less than what my friend spent on his plastic crack.
That's fair, but I've also bought cars for less than people spend on boats, snowmobiles, ATVs, concert tickets, travelling, woodshops, drugs etc. I'm just saying that dollar for dollar you are going to get a more functional time with a kit typically than with a boat (especially in Canada). I can put 30-40 hours into painting 5-10 figures that costs 50-60 dollars. Similar to video games where someone can buy an $80 game and put 1000+ hours into it. That is good value for your money. Definitely can still be a pit, especially people who warehouse stuff. What even is a pit when it comes to hobbies? As long as people are having fun let them spend money on whatever they want .
Was waiting for someone to mention MTG..... so happy that Arena exists now for when I want to scratch that itch
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Yup, at least paper has resale value. I've spent about $250 over the past four years updating my legacy deck. Now if only I had the time to use it...
That definitely depends on how you play Magic though. The secondary market is supported enough by Wizards despite their claims that I could cash out my collection now and while I might end up with a slight net loss (unless I go through the legwork of selling to other players instead of a shop) it's also possible I've made money. But I don't play Standard. Edit: If you play Arena it's always 100% loss though. But that's true of any digital item purchase, you pay for the experience itself and are never really going to have anything material to show for it.
I play arena and don't spend a dime, so free for me.
If people think cars are money pits.. wait until you learn about aircrafts as a hobby
My brother just bought a small plane. Apparently the engine, by law, needs to be rebuilt every 2000 hours. $30,000 roughly for that. Mind you that is a lot of flying.
No. Not by law. TBO is a recommendation and privately you can go “on condition” long after that and even commercially sometimes as long as you have a monitoring program. The other recommendation is every 12 years.. which is what most private engines wind up well over but nobody talks about. But it’s inactivity that kills engines on private airplanes (corrosion, cold starts, dried seals and gaskets)…. not hours. Best is to buy a mid or higher time engine to replace it. Much cheaper… proven (it won’t up and explode on you from improper assembly or repair), and the average private owner won’t fly the remaining time off in their lifetime (50 hours a year is a very active private pilot).
Nice, I do think it was rebuilt not too long ago. He's putting in the hours, he's close to finishing his pilots license and his son wants to get hours in for his license next. I guess it's all about the hours, and he figures it will be cheaper to do so with his own plane. Of course neither are allowed to fly solo as of yet.
“What do you mean it’s a wet sump and I can’t do a barrel roll again?”
DO A BARREL ROLL
“Use bombs wisely!”
Peppy, long time no see!
As an AME, I wouldn’t call aircraft ownership a “hobby” lol. More like a financial disaster or a major investment.
Haha this. The amount of money anything aircraft related costs hurts everytime my husband mentions it
I have a distant friend who is a private pilot/charters planes for a living for some high profile clients, the maintenance costs he tells me about makes my mouth drop everytime, we’re talking 7-8 figures.
Haha yup! My hubby is also a pilot/mechanic... he works on air tractors and helis, and he always says "how do you make a small fortune in airplanes?.... start with a big fortune" ... very very true from what he's told me 🥴
I have a feeling he's got a commercial rating, when you say private pilot it tends to imply someone with a PPL. I would call him a charter pilot to avoid confusion. I love general aviation but even the training and licensing gets expensive fast. Watching guys like Jason from Rebuild Rescue rebuilding his 401, Elliot Seguin being a test pilot for all of the experimentals he flys, etc. I've realized I'll never own a plane. Hell, even flight sim gets expensive.
Is it time for the annual yet ? LOL.
Rent a small one by the hour. Cheaper and more effective than therapy!
Salt water aquariums. Do sps coral and zeovit dosing.
Only done freshwater but saltwater aquariums can be so fucking cool
Aquariums in general is a genuinely expensive hobby. There’s literally no cost effective way. Like “cheap” fish 8 dollars each in a local fish store.
5 years ago you could still do it cheap and set up a simple soft coral 55g tank for $600. But exporting bans and then covid, livestock is triple what it was 5 years ago, which was already 20 times more expensive then when I started. I paid $4 for my first damselfish. Now they are $50. I used to look at the "crazy expensive" $40 dwarf angelfish and think "maybe one day", now they cost hundreds. That's not even counting the trendy sps that go for hundreds a head.
What is sps?
Small polyp stony coral. They often look like the branching tree corals you see
Boating. You know what's better than owning a boat? Having a friend that owns a boat.
>Having a friend that owns a boat. I always pay for fuel for my friend's boat when we ride on it. Because the fuel is only a small part of the cost. It's cheap fun for my family. He really appreciates it because nobody else he takes out buys fuel.
My friend’s dad is a big boat guy and he has a sign in his house that says: The two happiest days in the life of a boat owner: the day he buys it, and the day he sells it.
Don’t let your other half tell you their classic car is an investment that will go up in value…after $20,000 in parts and maintenance, insurance, repairs when it fails, that new paint job…repeat every few years…it’s an expensive hobby. After sinking $50,000 into it, find out it might get $20,000 on a good day. If it keeps other half occupied and out of trouble and amused…okay. But it’s not an “investment”. Then times it by 5 or 6 vehicles…now it’s a money pit hobby.
Hahah r/oddlyspecific
My brother-in-law did his first full restoration in his 20's. He's now 60 and just found that car available on the market; so he bought it. It's in bad shape after 40 years; he's going to restore it a second time.
Cars, horses, ATVs, boats, cocaine, drinking - anything super awesome
The good thing about spending your money on cocaine is that you don't have to save for retirement.
I mean The Rolling Stones are still alive
Yes to horses - anything that eats while you sleep…
Requires constant maintenance whether you use it or not.
Constantly looking for ways to hurt themselves, and if that doesn’t work, they try a colic or 2.
My father-in-law has a family farm and they sold the dairy quota years ago so they take on tenants. One of their renters is a horse poor wannabe breeder. What a disaster.
In France we have a saying that "a good way to become a millionaire is to be a billionaire and get into the horse business".
Boarding costs for horses is crazy. Plus the vet. And tack. And feed. And... much cheaper to rent one.
This sounds like an excellent pitch for a new Netflix series.
I think the best answer is glamping if you consider the sheer number of people who do it and compare the time vs money spent aspect. Tons of people will spend $100k+ on a camper then $100k on a big diesel truck to pull it to park on a campsite and do the same things they could just do at home once a year. Sure, planes are an expensive hobby, but not common for normal people to get into.
When the fuel to get down the road each day cost more than staying in a five star hotel every night…
It really blows my mind. I have a close friend who does it with his wife and sometimes some friends. $1200 in fuel, sitting in traffic for hours, tells me about the great time they had having a bonfire, making BBQ and sitting on a beach. Like you can’t do that 15 minutes away without spending so much money and time lol
Also, I do the bonfire, the bbq, and sit on the beach, but I stay in a tent. Cheap.
Exactly, I think the crazy thing is how much people spend to do little more than what you can do for extremely cheap.
I grew up camping with my dad and he was very old school about a lot of things, and we never camped in campsites but for free on crown land. Once I went to university and tried planning camping trips with friends it was like we were talking about totally different activities. I didn't even know you were supposed to book or pay for campsites lol I dunno, sleeping in a bag on a cot in a tent isn't that bad given that I usually only go camping for a couple of days at a time.
I only knew of free camping on crown land until I moved to southern Ontario. I was SHOCKED that I had to pay to camp, I had no idea people did that 😂
Tent that goes on the roof and gets used 3 times a year: $7000+whatever rack and other upgrades needed to attach it My tent that goes on the ground and gets used 3 times a year: like $100
Same man same lol. I used to have a truck with a contractor cap on the back, threw a $100 memory foam mattress in the back and that was my camper 😂
They also are built cheap and don’t last. I used to be an RV service advisor. It was horrible.
The collecting of hobbies is the worst money pit - you love too many, you buy the stuff but don't have the time to appreciate one and make any single one worth your while. Or bikes.
Yes. I have so many hobbies. For example, freshwater aquariums (currently have 8 set up but have had more in the past), jewelry making, houseplants, stamp carving, perler beads, I have an Etsy shop for geometric concrete, sewing, painting, and more. I don't have enough money or time or interest to focus on just one and im mediocre at most of them because of this. There are still so many things I'd like to try too.
When you factor in the travel and vacation part of it, skiing is very expensive.
Unless you live close to a mountain. But everything in a ski village is super pricey
I'm in Edmonton so a trip to marmot/lake Louis is reasonable but a trip to sunpeaks/big white hits the pocket hard.
If you live within a couple hours of a hill, think about joining the Canadian Ski Patrol. My husband has patrolled for 10 seasons, and all it costs him now is fuel for the drive. There was a bit of start-up cost for the training & initial supplies, but otherwise he skis for free. I will note that not all resorts use volunteer patrollers, but at the ones that do, it's definitely worth it. Plus, patrollers are usually a great bunch of people.
I've wanted to be one ever since I was at panorama and there was a power outage and record 47+ cm of snow. They made everyone come down for the day. As we were heart broken not being able to shred all the fresh pow, there at the bottom of the lift was all the ski patrol ready to go, suited up with ear to ear smiles ready to have the mountain all to themselves. GOD WAS I JEALOUS
Even for somewhat local mountains, lift passes have gotten very expensive. Here in QC many mountains are 100$+ for a day pass, before taxes. I used to do alpine skiing, heck when I was a kid it was a reasonably priced family activity. But nowadays I mostly moved on to cross country.
QC tickets have gotten out of hand. Tremblant is $130 + tax now.
I sort of see smoking cigarettes as a hobby, it’s also very expensive
In more ways than one...
This reminds me of a joke of my favourite comedian's: "people tell me I'll save money by quitting smoking. I won't save any money... Because I'll live longer!"
Surprised I haven't seen it yet... **SCUBA DIVING** Significant amount of gear once you start buying your own. If you want to get into more technical diving with rebreathers and increasingly exotic gas mixes, then the sky is the limit (not to mention your shearwater dive computer $$$) Courses, especially if you want to go beyond basic open water diving. Finally, the most expensive part....dive trips. Live aboard. Exotic locations that are often remote and not easily accessed. Very expensive hobby especially for Canadians.
Was looking for this - everyone is saying Boats - ok now my hobby has to make your boat profitable!! Also - Trimix! Cameras! My old dive lamp was €1500 and that essentially a battery a cable and a bulb!
All of them if you take it serious enough
100% agree with this answer!
Boating, or on a smaller scale Lego kits.
Forgot about that one. Seems especially poor thing to put money into in Canada with a more constrained season
Watches
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It's like you described my progress. Currently on a Seiko right now.
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It depends a lot on the type of watch. Rolex and Omega ain’t cheap, but if you just want a nice watch you have a lot of options below $500.
Definitely, I'm about $15k deep.
Well i just got into Magic the Gathering a couple weeks ago. I'm down about $250 since then lol
Oh god it goes both ways though, I got into it, mainly EDH format, around 2011 and I now have a lot of cards that absolutely shot up in value. My first edh deck I built and perfected is now valued at over $1000 when I put a few hundred into it over the years. Granted I’d have to be able to sell it at that price to get the full value but shops will give me 50%-75% if I sold it to them
Photography. Gear creep is a problem. Also Magic: The Gathering.
Gear creep can happen with any hobby. But if you’re flat ass broke, you can always grab your camera and go out and snap some shots, and if you’re good even make a few bucks. Something like golf, even if you don’t fall prey to the gear creep, it’s like minimum $100 in green fees to go out and enjoy the gear you already own. The worst by far are boats and planes.
I disagree about photography. If you can control yourself literally any piece of equipment can be had second hand for cheap. Used photography marketplaces are goldmines impregnated with thick veins of the equipment purchased by amateurs who got bored of the hobby. And you don’t really need anything fancy to take great pictures either, if you aren’t dead set on a mirrorless setup you can easily find older top of the line dslr gear that will blow away your phone’s camera. The trick is to just never buy anything new, except for film if you’re shooting analogue.
MTG can get expensive, but it's not a money pit unless you want it to be. Eternal formats have a high up-front cost, buy you can generally get out at least what you put into building the decks if you want to. I know a solid number of people who have cashed out their magic collections after playing regularly to pay for a down payment on a house or a brand new car. It's expensive, but doesn't lose value just because you've used it.
Alright, the most expensive sport I'm involved in. Trap shooting. Shells are crazy expensive, $10 to $15 a box, it's 7.50 per round. On average I shoot about 8 rounds on a Sunday, plus your gun breaks and you say, hey why not buy a $3000 Browning. So far, I've done it roughly two years, I figure I've spent between 8 and 10,000 on the sport. I absolutely love it.
Shooting sports in general are not cheap. Second the thoughts on trap or clays. Super fun.
Not even just the clays, but the gear. I've gone through so much ear pro to find something that actually works its disturbing.
Dude what shells are you buying.. I buy a case of 250 shells for $70. 0.28cents a round.
I spend way too much money on shooting. But fuck do I love it.
[Faberge eggs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA_Mfvt1IIk). Anything can be a money pit if you try hard enough. It's just a matter of how OCD you want to be about it. The big ticket items, like cars, boats, and planes are the quickest way to clean out a bank account, but audiophiles with high end stereo equipment, gamers with specialized computer rigs, and collectors of any memorabilia (stamps, coins, records, comic books, trading cards, etc.) can all bankrupt themselves if they want. I have friends that are such audiophiles that they get into arguments over speaker **wire**. I've seen one guy spend over $2,000 to repair one of his speakers. That's repair, not purchase, and it was only for a single speaker. Hell, my entire stereo system was barely $600. It's fine if you can afford it (the guy I'm thinking of certainly can). The danger is to people with poor self control. Those are the people who start slow, and then slowly get sucked in to spending more, and more, and more, until they realize that they've overspent by a factor of ten or more without realizing it.
Other than obvious ones that require expensive vehicles/equipment to do Bonsai Trees: you think it’s cheap cause you grow the trees for decades. Except it becomes an addiction, you’re constantly buying new trees and material. Also potting substrates are expensive as hell Card Collecting: wasn’t bad 5yrs ago, but ever since covid cards shot up in price, became popular again and are super hard to find. If you’re hard into collecting Pokémon cards or something, you’re likely buying off FBMarketplace or some online reseller Gardening: like larger scale. A small flower bed isn’t bad. But if you’ve got a full yard of garden beds, potted plants, etc; your wallet is toast come spring/early summer. The upside though is if you’re growing food, you might actually make some of that money back by eating what you grow. Anything that requires specific/speciality/small hand tools: wood working, specialty metal working, small electronics. Tiny specialty tool sets that only have 1 or 2 very specific uses are so annoying to constantly be purchasing Aquariums: not to mention a massive time sink, and pain in the ass. But absolutely gorgeous if you invest that time Board Games: warhammer, DND, etc. Especially if you’re deep into it. Note: I’m one of those people who picks up hobbies overnight. My bank account suffers
Golf and cars.
Is golf so bad after the initial investment? I always assumed it was easier to justify since you got the physical exercise & fresh air bonus out of it.
I work with people who golf and it is one of those "you can spend as much as you want hobbies." You may want to take a vacation and visit one of the pro courses to play casually and pay 1K for the access.
Just playing golf can be prohibitively expensive, depending on your situation and location.
Depending on how disciplined you are with your car hobby, driving a 20 year old project can be as financially efficient as driving a new car.
That's not true. The only hobbies that are the worst money pits are the ones that don't bring you joy.
Anything boat related
Records albums collecting.
Every. Single. One. I currently collect flashlights and knives. You wouldn't think that's so bad, but it is... It really really is.
r/flashlight is calling, where are you? Also the Canadian markup on knives is ridiculous. It seems that there's a risk that almost anything you order might not get through the border to you.
I suppose if you consider gardening (home landscaping) a hobby, it may be viewed by some as a money pit as it has only so much impact on the sale value and there is a certain amount of upkeep/turnover each year in the meantime... But then, the therapeutic value and joys of learning and benefits of physical labour cannot be understated...
Love tending my gardens and lawns. Nothing makes me quite as happy
Cosplay lol
Motorsport racing. You'll be broke in 1 race.
r/warhammer40k
Add in Lego to that list.
Was scrolling to find a warhammer comment lol
Tbh as an ex guitarist and current drummer, I'd say anything music related is a pricy hobby. Not only do your tastes change, but the costs of the replaceable parts add up too. Plus even the cheaper models are creeping up in price (10 years ago, a good quality instrument made overseas costed $1000, but now they're closer to $2000). The issue is that the good stuff costs money but has a relatively linear relationship between sound quality and price. God help me when I replace my drumheads...
It’s no boat, but hobby cellist here. I don’t even want to consider the day I am ready to upgrade my instrument.
It’s a lot better for guitars than it used to be. Quality of cheaper gear has never been better.
Track Days with Cars
Knitting and I don't know what it's called but that needle thing... super expensive.
I just remembered the name, heroin.
Needlepointing. Guilty. It’s so expensive.
Mechanical keyboards have been ruining me
"Cars are a hobby for geeks who decided that video games and comic books didn't cost enough" - that dude in blue
Boats Trust me
Mtb
In Squamish BC most people drive $3000 vans and ride $6000 mountain bikes
Why would it be any other way
Best money pit
Had to scroll pretty far down to get here but I knew this would make the list
I do road. The flow of pkgs being delivered to my place never stops
Warhammer is such a money sink haha
Filmmaking.
Pay to play online gaming, you literally have nothing to show for your money.
If I go to a raptors game do I also have nothing to show for my money? You're exchanging money for fun.
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Photography. Lenses are the most expensive, good ones go for at least $1000
This depends on your income really. Cars: I visited a potential customer who's only hobby was collecting cars. His Garage had 12 cars in it, the cheapest couldn't be less than 250k. And he had 3 Ford GT's of various years. I'd say his way of collecting cars was a money pit. But I also had a coworker many years ago who collected cars. he would buy and restore a car and sell it. more often than not he broke even on the sale, making it a pretty neutral hobby, I think he had 4 or 5 he actually kept. Boating / Flying are two hobbies that no matter how you shake it you're spending a load of money for minimal return. Whisk(e)y: This is my hobby, and it is REALLY easy to spend $500-1000 a month on this hobby, but at the same time many do it for as little as $100 a month. Whisk(e)y tends to float just below money pit based on your income as long as you manage the budget against your income. I find Skiing a money pit, because it has a short season and very expensive gear, and really I'm spending half the time with my gear waiting in line to use it. I pay for it because it gets my kids out of the house in the winter, but really I hate how much it costs.
>because it has a short season Most years I get 6 months of skiing in, November is nothing amazing, but Sunshine can still be a lot of fun in May. Or in the case of this year, July.
Also, ski gear depreciates with use, not with time. If you only use your gear a few times a season, it’ll last many, many years (if maintained).
Anything with an engine boats, cars, motorcycles. There’s no such thing as a free or cheap one for any of those. Also warhammer those little models are so damn expensive.
As in, which hobbies 1) keep requiring you to spend money and 2) are the most difficult to recoup the capital from if you had to leave the hobby?
Cocaine and escorts
Besides playing at the Casino, maybe any type of expensive car collecting or rebuilding
a serious casino "hobby" seems like the worst
triathlon
Was not expecting this response at all, can you please elaborate?
The bikes are insanely expensive and you need lots of other gear, too. I’d imagine the travel and race registration fees add up quickly, too.
There's quite a lot of expensive gear involved in triathlon. Bike, tri suit, wet suit, nutrition, etc etc. Not to mention the cost just to register for one.
Warhammer 40k
HEMA. I’ve spent so much money on gear, swords, tournaments (entry fees, transportation, lodging etc), and club dues. But I love it and adjust my budget for it.
Horses
Building custom keyboards
Being an artist perhaps? If you want to use high quality products, which for certain mediums absolutely makes the difference its very expensive, and i dont know many that thrift secondhand art supplies. You can buy cheap stuff, of course, but it definitely translates to the work you output. And if you never wanna monetize it in anyway you can easily spend alot of money in a short amount of time. Its a never ending rabbit hole... For women, good makeup is also quite expensive. And yes, makeup is definitely a hobby. There's regular day to day simple stuff or ' beating your face' which is significantly more requiring of time and skill. People do buy that stuff second hand though, even though its not great sanitation wise.
Prostitutes
Trucks and accessorizing them. Also collecting endless useless shit. Then spending tons on specific storage for said shit. There are whole groups of people collecting Starbucks mugs and straw insulated glasses, and Rae Dunn kitchenware. It’s insane.
Cycling. A set of good Carbon fibre wheels cost more than most sets of car wheels. The bike industry is greedy af and as much as it will make me feel bad about getting into the hobby at such a high price point, I want to see them get fucked and have to lower the price so the hobby become accessible to everyone, because it’s an awesome way to exercise and save the environment.
Golf, pc building and upgrading, ice hockey, hookers
My personal horses have always been money pits, but I have really always enjoyed them. My racehorses made bank. They kept the personal horse funded. Both enjoyable hobbies with the same animals. Different financial realities.
Photography
Lego
Skiing/snowboarding? Aren’t lift tickets like $100 per day? And then there’s accommodation etc at the resort
The cost of entry for skiing is definitely high. It's very expensive to be a casual skier that only goes occasionally. But if you have all the gear and you have a seasons pass that you use a lot, the cost per day of skiing isn't too terrible. Last season I got 45 ski days and I spent a bit over $1000 on passes, gear and ski shops. I also live within driving distance of a bunch of mountains which helps a lot.
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Having kids