Manage Your Hobbies & Your $$$$$$

[MatSteelersFan]

 

[BenJammin’]

Very nice write up! Personally, I have several hobbies that I sort of shift funds around from. Rather than dedicating “new” funds and earmarking how much I will spend on each hobby, I still use an envelope system I’ve been using for saving money since I was a teenager. I have several envelopes, each with the name of a hobby written on them. My first priority is selling off something from another hobby that I am not using. As a collector, and many here would probably agree, I enjoy the thrill of the chase more than actually owning the item. Going through the research process, price shopping, and buying the item is more fun to me than actually owing it after the shine has worn off. So my preference is to sell an older item first to free up funds for a newer purchase. Whether it is cars, Oakley’s, guitars, guns, specialty tools, or whatever.

 

[Wesleypipesyo]

My wife tells me my budget for my hobbies.

 

[cacatman]

I’m sure most of us here have other hobbies besides collecting Oakley’s, and if you are someone that has multiple hobbies you know it can be difficult to try and manage how much to spend on each hobby, respectively.

I don’t mean to step on @cacatman ’s toes here for making a guide on how to do something, but I thought I’d share some of the things I do to manage my hobbies while trying to stay on a budget. This guide is by no means the “be all end all” when it comes to managing your hobbies and money, but these are the things that I found work best for me!

• HOW MANY HOBBIES DO YOU HAVE & WHAT “CASH CATEGORY” DO THEY FALL IN TO?

Unless you have an unlimited amount of disposable income you’re going to have to pick and choose what to spend your hobby money on. If you have multiple hobbies though, it can make that decision a whole lot more challenging.

I personally have 3 main hobbies that I devote my attention to: Oakley’s, Star Wars collecting, and sports memorabilia collecting. These three definitely take a huge toll on my bank account and that’s why I had to figure out a way to create an efficient budget to manage my spending. So I created Cash Categories to try and decide how much money I would need for each of my hobbies. This example is what I use for my 3 hobbies:

• CAT 1: Small Time Collector ~ $1- $1000 (Per Year)
• CAT 2: Big Time Collector ~ $1000 - $5000 (Per Year)
• CAT 3: I’m Richie Rich ~ $5000+ (Per Year)

*These figures will vary based on what hobbies you partake in, the number of hobbies you have, and, of course, how much you’re willing to spend.*

I then set a total cap amount for how much I’m going to spend for the year on my hobbies combined. Obviously, the cap can change from year to year based on certain things. So if you’re really nerdy like me you can create a pie chart to track how much you’re spending for a year:

View attachment 537777​

Use a program like Microsoft excel to make a spreadsheet and a graph to help you figure out how much funds you have to spend on each of your hobbies. So in mine here I have the cap set at $4000 dollars for the year. Sports memorabilia has $500 for the year, which makes it a CAT 1 in the cash categories, and Oakley and Star Wars are both CAT 2’s. Keep a running total for your deductions and update your funds available column when you do spend money for that hobby.

Always be prepared for upcoming releases! If you know you are going to buy something that’s going to be released in the future, make sure you devote enough money to cover it! This can be tricky especially if the release happens months, or in cases a year in the future. Be aware some places charge you on the spot for preorders, before the item even ships. This has happened to me a few times.

• FIND A PLACE TO KEEP YOUR HOBBY FUNDS

Now that you have an idea how to manage your hobby money, you need to find a place to keep this money so it doesn’t get mixed in with your other savings. I tend to do two different things to manage this:

1. If your bank account has sub accounts available, ie: daily spending, short term savings, and long term savings, designate one of these accounts as your hobby funds account and throw money in there when you can.
2. If your bank account doesn’t have something like this, keep your hobby money at home and whenever you spend money towards a hobby, deposit the money right back into your bank account.

• SOME ODDS AND ENDS…

• If you aren’t passionate about your hobbies, don’t waste your money.
• If you’re responsible enough that you’ll know you won’t go over your funds limit, allow for some “account bleeding”. If you haven’t spent all the money designated for one of your hobbies, take that money and put it towards a different hobby.
• Impulse buying can destroy your hobby budget!
• Don’t sacrifice necessities for the sake of your addictions!
• Always expect the unexpected, don’t devote so much money to your hobbies that you leave yourself shorthanded on money in the event of an emergency.

If you actually read through all of this, then I thank you! If you think my ideas are completely idiotic don’t be afraid to say it, I’m always looking to improve upon my tactics.

Most importantly have fun and be passionate about your collecting!!!​

Lol. I’m chuffed by the reference! Fantastic article. Keep churning them out!!! I don’t have the patents on lists and guides!

 

[dragonvoi]

Thanks for the sharing, It just gave me a reason to reorganize and compartmentalize myself. One thing I can add and I think others can find it helpful:

I personally have different chrome/gmail/google profiles. one for work, one for my business, and one for personal use. if I have to look up a client, I switch to work, pay a bill, switch to personal, etc. keeps everything nice and separated, passwords and everything. I think I am going to separate the personal account into two, hobbies, and personal. that way I can track and not blur the line between paying the mortgage or paying for a pair of sunglasses!

 

[pjd1234]

Well i am done with oakleys so cross that out, another hobby of mines is perfume collection, I really have to stop this as well

 

[MatSteelersFan]

My wife tells me my budget for my hobbies.

Lucky for me I’m single

 

[MatSteelersFan]

Lol. I’m chuffed by the reference! Fantastic article. Keep churning them out!!! I don’t have the patents on lists and guides!

Lol thanks bro, means a lot coming from the list master!

Thanks for the sharing, It just gave me a reason to reorganize and compartmentalize myself. One thing I can add and I think others can find it helpful:

I personally have different chrome/gmail/google profiles. one for work, one for my business, and one for personal use. if I have to look up a client, I switch to work, pay a bill, switch to personal, etc. keeps everything nice and separated, passwords and everything. I think I am going to separate the personal account into two, hobbies, and personal. that way I can track and not blur the line between paying the mortgage or paying for a pair of sunglasses!

Thanks for sharing too! That’s something I might have to try, would definitely eliminate having to worry about getting money mixed up in one bank account.

 

[bahamayellow]

I think most here on the forum have more Oakley stuff than me. I have to many hobbies as well. I collect Star Wars, records, muscle car stuff, and picked up a new one recently boomboxes. If I concentrated on one I would have a killer collection of one thing but that wouldn’t be fun. My friends think I’m craZy. Lol Steelerfan what Star Wars stuff do u collect.

 

[cacatman]

I think most here on the forum have more Oakley stuff than me. I have to many hobbies as well. I collect Star Wars, records, muscle car stuff, and picked up a new one recently boomboxes. If I concentrated on one I would have a killer collection of one thing but that wouldn’t be fun. My friends think I’m craZy. Lol Steelerfan what Star Wars stuff do u collect.

Star Wars stuff I collect is only Lego.

Check @Litos' thread here.... What Else Do You Collect Besides Oakley? Any Hobbies Or Talents?