A counter question to the guy who posted a similar question few hours ago, cause most of the answers weren’t helpful for someone like me, who doesn’t have much money😅.
Running costs a pair of shoes every now and then and extra laundry detergent but otherwise free. Like any other hobby you absolutely can spend tons of money on it but it’s not required.
Runkeeper is a free app where you can log down your runs but a casio watch with stopwatch is good enough if you know the distance.
Also, contrary to what a lot of people think you don’t have to push yourself, you can just be easy running (chill jogging) and still make massive gains in endurance, speed, physical health and mental health. Depending on your starting point brisk walking can be sufficient to get started and then transition to “let me just jog a bit” when you feel like it and still have massive gains.
You can even combine it with other hobbies like audiobooks, music and/or podcasts.
Running feels to me like “cleaning the pipes” of the body that’s relaxing and makes the remainder of the day a bit more enjoyable.
Check out your local library! They have books of course, which can open up all sorts of new hobbies, but modern libraries also can have computers, free classes, workshop and maker spaces, tool borrowing, and sometimes even video games and the like. My local one even has free tickets to museums and the zoo!
If you want something free/cheap as hell, take up drawing. You don’t need fancy art supplies, just a pencil and paper. Look up proper drawing classes and books and get awesome at sketches!
Pottery. Clay is free. Water comes from the sky. If you have like a bucket or something, you’re set. You can fire it in an oven you make yourself. Out of clay. For free. Clay is great. Highly recommended. Ask your physician if clay is right for you.
Also, be careful where you source your clay from. You don’t want to get Lynks disease.
Hiking/going for walks, sketching, reading (public domain books are free at project gutenberg, libraries are free), watching shows/movies (again, libraries offer access to this locally and through apps like Hoopla, Kanopy, etc. and there’s free streaming off Pluto.tv, Shout.tv, Tubi, etc), music (again, libraries or free streaming), body weight exercises and cardio don’t require a gym.
Might add more later…
Sneezing.
TTRPGs like GURPS or OpenD6 for free group activities. All you need are pencil/paper/notes app and 3 6-sided dice, and you can roll them with an app or on plenty of webapps (dddice.com is a good one for shared gaming). A lot more to learn than playing cards or board games, but much more fun than a typical game night, something the group can talk about all week between sessions.
Hiking can be nearly free especially on beginner trails that don’t require special equipment
Writing is something I hated in school but as I’ve gotten older it can be fun to kinda play god with peoples lives.
Cooking isn’t free but could actually save you money if you eat out a lot.
Writing fiction is so much fun.
When you start writing, you’re in control, but about 1/3 of the way through a longer story, the characters start taking over and leading the way, to the point that if you’re not careful, they’ll lead you astray from the story you want to write, and they’ll start writing their own story--which may or may not be a better story. If you’ve never experienced this, it’s surprising the first time it happens.
As long as you have a computer you can code, write, or digitally create nearly anything you want.
If you have a computer, you can learn to write code. The market for programming is in shambles, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. You can do all sorts of things like make a game, build a personal website, make a custom app, make art, and more
That’s my career 😭. I honestly wish to change careers and do programming just as a hobby, but right now, it’s already what I do.
reading.
I have a very weird relationship with reading. I either am not reading one, or I’m obsessively reading one. I’ve completed not so small books in 2 days, like project hail Mary. I completed animal farm in a day.
Great suggestion, but I need better time management while reading books.
Yes! Libraries are free, and awesome. Unless you don’t have one near you. Even then, used books can be had pretty cheap, and you can often find ebooks given out free or cheap. Plus stuff like Gutenburg and Standard Ebooks for older texts. Doesn’t take long to build up a stack of books you have no hope to finish reading!
There you need to buy books unless you go to thenlibrary
or go to anna’s archive!!
Drawing. A pencil, pen, eraser and paper are the type of stuff you could even steal from an office and people wouldn’t bother. Drawing for fun is mostly about just doing whatever or doing caricatures, the latter are great because if it sucks then it’s actually better 😆
Writing. Stories, reviews, fanfics, whatever. You posted here, so you already have everything needed. Literally any working computer will suffice if you prefer a bigger keyboard.
Going out and walking or jogging. Not to any specific place, just literally walking around the place you live, get to visually know the neighborhood. Not fun when it’s too hot outside. Related to walking, bodyweight exercises. Not really fun, but you don’t have to pay anything to workout. Some people make hobbies out of physical exercise, so ymmv.
To add: if pen and paper aren’t your thing you can create computer art with free programs like Blender. Or you can use something like FreeCAD to design objects that are easier bring into the real world via 3D printing or other machines available at most makerspaces (though those are materials and makerspaces will cost something).
That’s assuming the computer even runs those programs, plenty of budget choices don’t even support OpenGL3.
Check what physical goods your local library lets you check out. Some have tool libraries, creative spaces with access to artistic tools and supplies, kits to do citizen science, etc.
If you’re low income you might also qualify for free or low cost recreation programs through your county or city’s parks and recreation centers
Bird watching and sketching.
Yes I know that binoculars can be expensive, but you don’t actually need them for casual birdwatching.
Look into Merlin or BirdNET Live. They’re free apps that you can use to identify bird songs.
And you can get a sketchbook at the dollar store!
masturbation
And crying.
This question has shown up a few times already, here’s my answer with a lot of free or near-free hobbies to try =)
