Do Your Hobbies Make Or Cost You Money?

Do Your Hobbies Make Or Cost You Money?

Everyone has something that they invest their spare time and money on. Some of these hobbies retain their value more than others. Do you pick hobbies that can bring returns on your investment?

Picture: Roadside Guitars/Flickr

By their very nature, hobbies don’t need to make money. They’re for entertainment and relaxation, so a return on your investment isn’t required. It couldn’t hurt though. Take the Simple Dollar’s example of comic-collecting:

At first glance, a person might think this is a wasteful hobby. Thousands of dollars a year on comic books?

Here’s the catch: his collection is retaining at least all of the value he’s putting into it.

Just like many of us, he’s spending a lot of money each year on something that entertains him. He gets a great deal of personal enjoyment from it.

The big difference is at the end of the day, he can sell off the items he has been purchasing and not only recoup his money, but likely make a nice return on all of it.

Of course, that’s not always a guarantee. Comics will lose most of their value the moment you buy them, but if you’re willing to put in the effort to find a buyer when you’re ready to give them up, you can probably make some money. On the other hand, collecting things like DVDs or Blu-rays will probably be a pure money pit.

What about you? Do your hobbies bring you extra cash? Or do you prefer to not worry about finances when you’re having fun?

Hobbies That Retain or Create Value [The Simple Dollar]


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