According to the experts “hobbies are the best way to develop a positive attitude and achieve happiness.” Hobbies can make you happier because they boost your confidence and self-esteem. With most of the hobbies below, investing your time into them results in tangible products. I have chosen to mention hobbies that are relatively cheap, there are plenty of hobbies that I would love to have, but they are simply too expensive. All these hobbies are either free or super cheap, in fact, if you do a few of them properly, they may even save you money.

Every hobby eventually gets encouraged to be made into a side hustle. So if you woke up one day and realised you don’t do anything for just you anymore, do not worry. Pick up one of these fantastically creative hobbies and do not feel guilty for spending hours on them with no financial reward. Unapologetically create for yourself and your sanity.

Cooking and Baking

If you’re a foodie and don’t spend too much time in the kitchen you should totally change that!

This could actually be a hobby that will save you money! Or you could have a taste for all things fine in life and buy truffle oil or fancy cheeses like me. Both works.

Do your research about which books might be the best for you, or explore the plethora of foodie content available online.

Choose your favourite cuisine and spend one evening a week devoted to cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Grab a glass of wine, put on your favourite music, and ditch your phone.

Equally, you could pick up baking. I don’t love cakes but can eat my entire body weight in bread. Most of us need bread anyway, but the act of making the dough and nurturing it while it proves and rises and bakes is incredibly satisfying. I would highly recommend picking it up as a hobby, and it also makes a fantastic gift.

If you want motivation for picking up such a hobby, watch The Great British Bake Off, I think it’s on Netflix. The show portrays the sheer joy and technicalities that are involved with baking as a hobby and literally shoves you into the kitchen to turn your oven on and hunt down some flour.

Knitting and Crochet

I have also put these two hobbies together, as they both have the same idea. Pick up a hobby whereby you work with yarn and a metal stick to create some adorable things.

My competency in knitting extends only to make something that is a square or rectangle, so only scarves for me. But all my baby photos feature me wearing some adorable hand-knitted cardigans and jumpers courtesy of my grandmother.

To start knitting or crocheting buy some yarn, some knitting needles, or a crochet hook and find a free pattern online. Head to YouTube and watch some tutorials, such a handsy-technical craft is best picked up by watching, and then knit or crochet away!

What I love about this kind of hobby is that it can be done while you’re watching TV in the evening, so you can still be present around your family or partner, and engage in your new, creative hobby.

Musical Instrument

I am not musically gifted or talented, but if you are that way inclined, why not pick up a musical instrument and express yourself that way?

We all know how uplifting listening to our favourite music is. Now imagine how uplifting creating the actual music could be?

Learning to play an instrument does not need to break the bank either. Some instruments are cheap anyway, such as a ukulele which you can pick up for under £20. Other instruments can be bought cheaply from online marketplaces.

It has been said that playing a musical instrument makes you happier because of the effect of music on your emotions and the ability to vent some steam. I imagine smashing the drums would be particularly cathartic.

Again, before you pay for expensive music lessons why not see what YouTube has to offer to see if it is the hobby for you.

Collaging

I recently read this fantastic article that seriously motivated me to shred up some magazines.

I had previously never really considered collaging a hobby, but it totally is. A cathartic and cheap one too. Read that article to be truly sold on it.

You simply need to find some magazines, newspapers or even brochures. Cut them up and stick them in any way that makes you happy.

You can focus on the end product entirely, or simply relax to some of your favourite music and just find joy in the act of cutting and sticking. Just writing about this makes me want to switch off my laptop and express myself creatively through some collaging.

Update: the rest of this article was written the next day because I did indeed switch off my laptop and spent my evening collaging. Would highly recommend.

Sewing

I taught myself how to sew a few years ago, and have since made my own clothes, gifts for friends and family, and lots of things around the house.

If you can get your hands on a machine affordably, the actual act of sewing will save you money. In the above article, I explain how I managed to make a dress for £2.

It doesn’t have to be sewing clothes for yourself though.

Sewing includes quilting, making cushions, making scrunchies, making makeup bags. All are easy to pick up thanks to the plethora of resources online, largely on YouTube.

The reason I love sewing is that you have so much creative freedom. You get to choose what to make and which fabric to make it in. Therefore the combination of creations is truly endless. I spent so many evenings in high school with just the sound of my sewing machine or the snip of my fabric scissors.

It is an incredibly immersive and escapist hobby, that I would highly recommend anyone pick up.

Painting

This is one of the best hobbies for getting lost in.

Pop on some music, some old clothes you don’t mind getting ruined and cover your surface in tubes of paints.

If you want to start off with a confidence boost watch some Bob Ross on YouTube. Alternatively, find a beautiful reference picture on Pinterest and go wild.

The amazing thing about modern art is that because it is so abstract it is not compared to real-life or your reference photo. So if you paint in a modern art manner, you get to ditch the ideas of what your painting is meant to look like and just have fun applying paint to paper or canvas.

Photography

Photography as a hobby can be fulfilled in many forms. I personally love my Instax camera, which is an instant camera with film. You could use your phone, a film camera, a regular camera or an instant camera like me.

Again what you photograph is completely up to you and the opportunities are endless. From nature to your city, to people, to food.

You could focus heavily on post-production, which is essentially the editing of the photo, or if you use instant film like me, experiment largely with lighting and positioning.

You could start an Instagram to show off your photography or keep it to yourself.

To photograph is to creatively express yourself while capturing memories, what could be better?

Your approach to hobbies should be two-fold. On the one hand, you will be considerate of the end product but on the other hand, you should immerse yourself in the act of creating and the process, for a truly relaxing and meditative experience. I am such a huge proponent for creative hobbies that are not attached to any form of income or side-hustling. Just some creative time with no expectations or pressures attached.

Source: medium.com ~ By: Lu Mar ~ Image: Canva Pro