Life on a budget doesn’t have to mean giving up hobbies or special interests. Here are some of our favorite hobbies that will save you money!
- Gardening — Growing your own organic produce is good for the environment, and saves lots of money. Kids love to help in the garden, so it is a good way to get the entire family involved as well.
- Sewing — Make your own curtains, tablecloths, place mats, or clothes.
- Knitting/Crochet — Knit or crochet blankets, scarves, hats, gloves, socks, dish towels, or baby booties.
- Cooking — Forget about eating out, and treat your family to a home-cooked meal.
- Car Repair — Learning how to maintain your own car can save your family lots of money, and be a source of pride.
What are some of your favorite money-saving hobbies? I would love to hear about them! Leave a comment and share your ideas with us!
Your garden looks huge! I'm hoping to have more fresh veggies than I actually know what to do with come August.
Those are great tips! I wish I could get ahold of a teacher to show me how to fix my own car. That is my worst money suck in my house… when something goes wrong with the car, we have to take it in… we just have no car savvy.
Val
Great ideas! I love the way that they all come out with something useful. We do all of these and they’re so much more satisfying than, say, watching TV (which we’re also guilty of!)
Love the title! I make a lot more presents now that we are budget conscious. It is funny – people really do appreciate home made over store bought! Hmm…took me this long to realize this!
Thanks for helping us stay frugal and still have fun!
Well, my favorite hobby is quilting, but despite its thrifty beginnings, modern quilting definitely isn’t for tightwads. I spent a small fortune on it before I became a SAHM. Our hobbies now are mostly book reading (library), playgrounds, and memberships to local museums, zoos, etc. Will try our hand at gardening soon since we started moving into our first house with a yard TODAY. 🙂
Great post! My husband’s hobby is car repair and that has saved us thousands over the years. It’s saved our good friends a pretty penny too, since he’s usually willing to fix their cars for the cost of parts or a free dinner.
@ Ivy — Wow, I had no idea you could tell how big the garden is from that photo, but it is the largest garden we’ve ever had (600 square feet). We’re big veggie eaters,so I’m hoping we have lots too. 🙂
@ Val — I’m so thankful that Mark does almost all of our car maintenance. It has saved us a lot of money. He learned lots just from reading manuals from the library!
@ Amanda — Thanks for stopping by! I was going to add reading on the list, since libraries make reading a free hobby. There are lots of good hobbies for tightwads, and I think they are more satisfying than watching TV too. 🙂
@ Mama King — I know exactly what you mean! For Christmas, I usually host a craft party and we make all kinds of handmade gifts. It's a great time spent with friends, and the gifts are always more appreciated than anything store bought!
@ Infant Bibliophile– How exciting to be moving to a house with a yard! You should definitely try some gardening this year. Let me know how you make out with it! We are big readers too. 🙂
@ Stephanie — I love how your hubby trades car repair for a free dinner. How creative! I am so grateful for Mark's car expertise too. It can save a lot of money!
Great list! Do you have any gardening tips for keeping animals (deer, squirrels, etc) out of gardens?
@ MaryAnne — I’ve heard that planting marigolds works well to keep the deer, squirrels, and rabbits away. This is the first year I’ve tried it and so far it seems to be working well. I’ve also heard placing ground chili peppers around the garden beds can be a good deterrent.
Marigolds? Sounds like a great idea! Thanks for the tip – I’d heard the chili pepper bit before but I like flowers better.
Great suggestions for some really useful and money-saving hobbies! I don't know how to fix a car (I don't even have a car) but sunnyboy has been fascinated watching our neighbour fix his car this week 🙂
We bought a set of hair clippers and I learned how to cut hair. My husband was very patient with me and now I have it down to about 20 min and it doesn't look too bad! Also, most TV programs can be found on the Internet now (http://video.aol.com/shows/)…so why pay for TV??
Cute ideas!