Learn how to fix things, especially expensive things. Working on your own house can save an enormous amount relative to hiring someone.
When thinking about hobbies, prioritize ones that don’t have large consumable costs
Social dances (I like contra dance: trycontra.com) are really cheap for how much enjoyment I get out of them
Many events will let you in free if you volunteer to help. I’ve taken money at the door for an hour at many dances in exchange for admission, and it’s a great way to meet people.
Get good enough at a hobby that it makes you some money (for me, playing music for dances)
Learn how to cook: if you get to where it’s fun then it’s not housework anymore
Get excited about optimizing things (for me, recently: house cooling without AC, bulk groceries)
If you have kids, figure out how to get things done while also watching them. Bring them to the grocery store, cook with them, etc. It’s fine if it takes a lot longer that it would if you did the thing without the kids, because the time is coming out of childwatching-time and not childcare-time
Learning how to make the components of your hobbies instead of buying them can be a lot of fun, and can allow much more creativity later as you understand more about the things you’re working with.
A lot of this depends on what you enjoy, what you’re good at, and what your situation is. A lot of people would find many things on my list not fun at all and probably actively unpleasant.
(On the other hand, I think EA has generally overemphasized frugality. If spending more on transit, or buying food instead of making it, or getting a better internet connection, etc means you have more productive hours on valuable work that can easily be worth it even if it means spending more than your ‘share’ of world income.)
Other things in this direction I’ve enjoyed:
Learn how to fix things, especially expensive things. Working on your own house can save an enormous amount relative to hiring someone.
When thinking about hobbies, prioritize ones that don’t have large consumable costs
Social dances (I like contra dance: trycontra.com) are really cheap for how much enjoyment I get out of them
Many events will let you in free if you volunteer to help. I’ve taken money at the door for an hour at many dances in exchange for admission, and it’s a great way to meet people.
Get good enough at a hobby that it makes you some money (for me, playing music for dances)
Learn how to cook: if you get to where it’s fun then it’s not housework anymore
Get excited about optimizing things (for me, recently: house cooling without AC, bulk groceries)
If you have kids, figure out how to get things done while also watching them. Bring them to the grocery store, cook with them, etc. It’s fine if it takes a lot longer that it would if you did the thing without the kids, because the time is coming out of childwatching-time and not childcare-time
Learning how to make the components of your hobbies instead of buying them can be a lot of fun, and can allow much more creativity later as you understand more about the things you’re working with.
A lot of this depends on what you enjoy, what you’re good at, and what your situation is. A lot of people would find many things on my list not fun at all and probably actively unpleasant.
(On the other hand, I think EA has generally overemphasized frugality. If spending more on transit, or buying food instead of making it, or getting a better internet connection, etc means you have more productive hours on valuable work that can easily be worth it even if it means spending more than your ‘share’ of world income.)
Thank for recommendations