There are numerous no spend activities that fit into your frugal lifestyle well. I’ve posted no spend indoor activities ideas here and the outdoor activities ideas here.
In this post, I want to share ideas for activities that appear to be expensive but are actually ‘cheap’ in the long run. Expensive here means those activities in which initial cost to buy the necessary equipment is considerably high, and cheap here means no cost when doing the activities.
1. Photography
The initial cost may be a bit costly. A good camera, for example, the Sony A6000 that I’ve been using for the last few years, costs at least AU$800. But once you know the basics of how to operate a camera and learn about composition, the possibilities of taking pictures of anything are endless, and free, depending on your creativity. That would be like, spending AU$800 for the next ten years or so. The best part is that you can make money with it by becoming a professional photographer, or simply by selling your pictures to stock agencies like Shutterstock and DepositPhotos. So it’s a hobby where you can make money.
2. Astronomy
There is one major piece of equipment to get started with this hobby, and that is a telescope. The cheapest, good beginner’s telescope costs AU$250, as suggested by OZScopes in their article, “Choosing a telescope: A Beginner’s Guide in 6 Easy Steps”. But viewing Astronomy objects can be done any outdoor where it’s dark (at night) for free. All other gears as described here can be purchased elsewhere at a lower price if you do your research well. The best thing is that Astronomy can be combined with photography and not only can you sell the images to the stock agencies as mentioned above, but you can also print them out in A3 size to be given away as a gift for your friends, an elegant gift that costs less than $15 if you print it in a store like Office Works and buy an A3 frame from eBay like this one.
3. GoPro Videography
A new GoPro 8 Black bundle is currently AU$400 here on eBay. The possibilities of making any kind of smooth video or time-lapse are endless. You can strap GoPro on your chest or head while bike riding, snorkeling, skateboarding, etc and capture interesting video. You can review your videos for fun, or you can upload them to Youtube and start making money with Youtube Ads. Here is how.
4. Snorkeling
The initial cost is not that costly if you just buy the basics, which normally costs around AU$45 for a 3-pack starter kit (mask, snorkel, fins) like this one on eBay. If you need a wetsuit, you can buy a basic one here for AU$90 on eBay. But many people think snorkeling is an expensive activity, while in reality, just with the starter AU$45 plus AU$90 as mentioned, you can snorkel practically anywhere on your local beach for free for the next few years until you need another new set of equipment due to normal wear and tear use.
5. Playing/Learning Piano
A real piano costs at least AU$4500, but a digital piano with the weighted key is around AU$600 like the one sold here on eBay. If you have a knack of music in you, or even if you don’t have any but you’re curious, instead of going to a music course or hiring a music teacher privately which is very expensive, you can learn the basics which you can get from Youtube like from ManGoldProject for example. You can then create your own songs and sell them on stock music agencies like Shutterstock, go busking on the street to make money, or just play for fun.
If buying new equipment is not within your budget, you can consider the following tips to save money:
Research for discounts
Sometimes some good quality products are replaced by new designs but not necessarily better quality, which often means products with outdated designs are likely to have their prices slashed.
Rent instead of buying
If you only need to do certain activities once a month, or perhaps, just want to try to see if you like it, renting is always the best option, because not only it’s cheaper, you’ll also save space from having to store equipment that you don’t often use.
Buy used
As a photographer, I prefer to buy a brand new camera but buy a used lens. Why? Because unlike used cameras, used lens, as long as the lens is not scratched, don’t really have ‘expiration’. Cameras, on the other hand, have an expiration. The typical life of a shutter can vary from anything as low as 50,000 shutter right up to 350,000, as explained here.
Beware of unnecessary accessories
You should only buy necessary accessories, and by necessary, I mean, only related to your needs and not what a professional’s needs. For example, most people would buy a suction cup for the GoPro to be attached to a car’s dashboard but if you use GoPro mostly during bike riding or skateboarding, a suction cup is not useful no matter how many people recommend it.
