Hobbies That Don't Break the Bank

Carole:

• Practicing the piano
• Crocheting or knitting
• Decorating on a shoe string – $20 for paint, fabric for pillows or curtains on sale for cheap, cheap, cheap
• Gardening (start with seeds) 
• Hiking 
• Bike Riding 
• Blogging 
• Writing in a diary
• Volunteering
• Book club 
• Couponing 
• Writing  your epic novel 
• Touring model homes 
• Playing cards with your family 
• Embroidery or cross stitch 
• Upholstery 
• Refinishing furniture 
• Singing in a choir 
• Community theater 
• Baking breads or other things 
• Organizing areas in your life 
• Sunbathing 
• Swimming

Janssen

• Cooking dinner (am I the only person who generally enjoys making dinner?)
• Making lists (I love lists - books I want to read, recipes I want to try, places to visit)
• Free museum days
• Trying new restaurants with Groupon certificates
• Checking out cookbooks and decorating books from the library
• Maintaining a little herb garden on my balcony
• Reading magazines (from the library - I could not afford my magazine habits otherwise)
• Getting the mail and sorting it immediately (I don't know what sad things it says about me that this has been the highlight of my day for years).
• Craft group (Kayla gave me this idea - you get together every few weeks and every one works on their own project)
• Dessert nights (much cheaper and easier than having people over for dinner. Plus, you aren't staring an entire cake down with only two mouths in the house)
• Checking out TV show seasons from the library (Friday Night Lights was a recent favorite)

Merrick

• Go on a walk -- the summer is upon us, and what better way to relax than take a stroll in the sunshine? I've been going on daily walks/jogs with one of my good friends. We push our strollers and catch up on each others lives! 
• Go to the library -- find a good book, a quiet corner, and dive in. So much better than spending $15 on a book that you may never want to read again. 
• Crafting -- doing something with my hands always relaxes me (one of the many reasons I paint!). Crafting can be expensive if you get carried away with it, but with my box of scrap fabrics, I can embellish a old tshirt or make a headband for pennies!
• Rent a movie -- after a long week, this is one of Philip and my favorite ways to relax. With a $1 movie from the redbox, you can't get a much cheaper date than that!
• House Hunting -- from the early days of our marriage, Philip and I have loved driving around and looking at houses. We mostly drive through high end neighborhoods, admiring the beautiful landscaping, scoffing at the gaudy architecture, or swooning at the beautiful stonework. Since they're so out of our price range, it doesn't depress us that we don't own a nice house like that -- it just inspires us to do beautiful things with the tiny space that we currently have! 

What hobbies do you have that aren't too expensive?