That advice really stated to stick with me when I read on a photography blog, or perhaps heard on TWiT, that it’s not the camera that makes the photographer. It’s the skill. Gradually buying higher quality tools also helps to figure out what will actually be used. It also helps to cut down on the clutter sitting around.

Whoever said photography is an inexpensive hobby clearly didn’t care to get very good at it…

Some hobbies are about relaxation and vegging out, some are about mastery and learning, some are about simply getting away from someone or something.

Understanding your motivation before you invest any amount of time or money is critical. Some people have personalities that require “new things” and new experiences almost constantly. These are the folks who have to be most aware and mindful before they succumb to their urges, regardless of their budgets.

Sometimes it helps to speak to others who share an interest to find out what is required. But every whim, interest, desire does NOT have to be indulged.

Discipline is important here because most of us simply cannot afford all the things that interest us. We need to choose, and do so mindfully and carefully.

Sometimes, in exploring the attraction to an interest or hobby, we learn something about ourselves. Then we can apply it without wasting money and other resources.

The other aspect is how pursuing a hobby or passion increases the quality of your overall life. Is it something that takes you away from your family for extended periods? THat distracts you from work you must accomplish at home or elsewhere? Does it leave you refreshed and more desirous of sharing what you’ve learned? Or does it find you indulging shadow desires and such?

Understanding why you are interested in, attracted to or even compelled to do something along these lines is very important. It’s not JUST the money spent.

If not, you’re likely to end up with piles of barely used stuff in your house.

Shouldn’t the title say HOBBY rather than HABIT?

I can’t think of any particular hobby I spent a ton of money on and then quit. I tried lots of sports-related activities, but even for the more specific ones, such as scuba-diving, my investment was minimal. I took the classes and got certified but I didn’t buy anything beyond a snorkel, a mask and a pair of fins. Everything else, I rented. Good thing I did because I eventually found that hobby not to be very practical for me, so it’s something I do only once in a while. Other people went nuts right away and got the wetsuit, the regulator, harness, the information console, you name it. Not all of them have stuck with that activity.

He has an allowance (that we agreed upon at some point, but he gives it to himself– I don’t remember what it is) and has to save it up for those kinds of expenditures if he doesn’t have the money on hand. If the hobby is still around by the time he’s saved up for it, he gets the thing he wants, even if deep down he knows he’ll step away from the hobby a month later. Sometimes he picks hobbies back up months or a year later (euro-games being one that comes back regularly… my favorite are the cooking-related hobbies). He gets depressed if he gets between hobbies for too long.

There’s some increase in stuff, and he’ll get rid of stuff once a year or so (which seems like a waste to me, but whatever, it’s his money, his stuff). But the allowance keeps expenditures down to a manageable level and keeps me thinking his hobby jumping is sweet and amusing rather than annoying.