Asked on Reddit: Can I Justify an Expensive Hobby?
Funding an expensive hobby can actually be a sound budgeting decision, as long as you plan for it.
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On Reddit, a user recently asked if spending money on an expensive hobby can be justified.
Sure, expensive hobbies may bring joy. But does it make sense to splurge on something like golf, sailing or world travel? What if that splurge takes money away from other more “responsible” goals, such as saving or paying off debt?
Responses were mixed: Some encouraged the poster to spend now on what makes them happy. After all, you never know what the future might bring. Those folks shared stories of spending on luxury cars, video gaming accessories and musical instruments.
Others recommended a more balanced approach, suggesting a responsible split between spending on future savings and today’s hobbies.
It turns out financial experts think it’s OK to indulge — in a balanced way, of course.
Take care of your essentials
Before splurging on non-essentials, do a review of your basic needs, suggests Andi Wrenn, an accredited financial counselor and founder of Coaching Capability in the Raleigh, North Carolina area.
Are you covering the important stuff and still feeling good about your financial situation?
It’s a good idea to make sure your bills are paid and you’re saving for the future before turning to hobby-related spending, Wrenn says.
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Reflect on bigger goals
What’s your master plan? Thinking about your goals and values is a useful way to decide how to prioritize your discretionary funds, says John Jones, a certified financial planner and investment advisor representative at Heritage Financial in Newberry, Florida.
If you have a partner, it’s useful to talk together about where you want to be in five, 10 and 15 years, he adds.
“How do you want to spend your time? How do you want to spend your financial assets? Is it on golfing, boating or sailing? One might appeal more to one person than the other,” Jones says.
Build hobby spending into your budget
Once you’ve set your financial priorities, you can make room for your expensive hobby in your overall budget, Jones says.
“I like to think through what is sustainable,” he says.
A sustainable expense is one you can pay for with your current cash flow instead of turning to savings or loans.
There might be ways to cut back in other areas to make room for the extra expense. “Maybe we save $10,000 a year for this hobby,” Jones suggests.
Wrenn takes that approach in pursuit of her passions, which include travel and crafting.
“For me, it was important to have money in the budget to do the things that I enjoy doing,” she says, which means scaling back spending in other categories to compensate.
Find creative ways to fund your hobby
To fund her travel passion, Wrenn strategically uses credit cards. She pays them off each month to earn travel rewards. Done right, she can purchase airplane tickets with points instead of savings.
She recently took her family on a trip to Scotland, which was paid for largely by those travel rewards. “I could afford it because I planned for it,” she says.
Another option is to brainstorm ways to make your hobby pay for itself. If you’re a crafter, you can try to sell some of your creations on Etsy. If you love to sail, maybe you can offer charters to paying clients, Jones suggests.
Embrace patience and planning
Sometimes, a big hobby-related purchase requires extra planning, Wrenn says.
For example, she spends big on craft supplies, but only stocks up during her favorite store's annual sale.
“For me, going to the craft store and spending $300 makes me happy, so I save for that,” she says.
In her case, savvy planning pays off. She used the stamps, ink and paper — all bought on sale — to make her annual holiday, thank-you and greeting cards.
Another tip: Create a separate savings account for the hobby and deposit money into it each month, says Wrenn. That can make it easier to accrue funds for a passion while avoiding debt.
This method also helps head off any potential fights with your partner about how the money is spent. “If the spending is pre-planned, you don’t need to fight about it,” she says.
Taking that approach allowed her to purchase a large sewing machine and a computer to assist with crafting projects.
“Having a dedicated savings account that I just put money into every month makes it very purposeful and allows me to save without being tempted to spend on something else,” Wrenn says.
Expensive hobby. Justified.
Reddit is an online forum where users share their thoughts in “threads” on various topics. The popular site includes plenty of discussion on financial subjects like spending and saving, so we sifted through Reddit forums to get a pulse check. People post anonymously, so we cannot confirm their individual experiences or circumstances.
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