Americans average $3,458 on entertainment & hobbies in '22

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,042]

After the Old Timers thread, I was wondering what the avg person spends on hobbies. This was the closest article I could find with an recent data. $3,458 doesn't seem that bad if you put it all towards one hobby to be honest. 

What do you think? Is $300 a month on entertainment and hobbies in line for your current spending? It seems like for gaming $300 a month goes pretty far. Even if you're strictly gaming. That's 4-6 AAA games a month.

From the article:

"Costs can vary widely depending on the hobby involved. For instance, after the initial purchase of supplies, gardening runs an average of $70 per person per year, according to Bigger Garden, while Stitch Golf puts the annual costs of golfing at about $2,000 to $2,500."

"I tell my clients all the time how important self-care is,” said Rebecca Weiler, a licensed mental health counselor in New York City. “It helps people to live longer, it helps people enjoy life more, it gives people something to look forward to.”

"Several studies have found that people are happier when they spend money on experiences rather than material goods, while researchers at the University of Cambridge found that individuals who spent more on products that match their personality reported higher levels of satisfaction.

“Somebody working really hard at their job who knows they have something to look forward to outside of that will be a better employee,” said Wailer."

 

[Gloves | 12,251]

If I was spending that little I'd be rich.

[Hammerfestus | 4,100]

40+% of Americans claiming cooking is a hobby?  Microwaving several different kinds of hot pocket at the same time hardly could be considered a hobby.  

[a3quit4s | 4,344]

4 minutes ago, Hammerfestus said:

40+% of Americans claiming cooking is a hobby?  Microwaving several different kinds of hot pocket at the same time hardly could be considered a hobby.  

Where do you draw the line at i am cooking to survive and I’m cooking for fun?

[Hammerfestus | 4,100]

11 minutes ago, a3quit4s said:

Where do you draw the line at i am cooking to survive and I’m cooking for fun?

Do you throw it away?  Or is it dinner?

I hardly think even people that try a little harder should be called hobbyists.  Certainly not in the same way as my game collecting.

Edited July 29 by Hammerfestus

[Sumez | 3,153]

Well, Americans are weird. I wouldn't use their habits as a reference for anything 

[DarkKobold | 228]

On 7/29/2024 at 4:33 PM, Hammerfestus said:

40+% of Americans claiming cooking is a hobby?  Microwaving several different kinds of hot pocket at the same time hardly could be considered a hobby.  

There's probably some Gen-Zer youtuber out there with a "Microwaving Hot Pockets" video that has net them 200 million views, and they're making more off that video than I make all year at my job. 

[Tyree_Cooper | 858]

Where's "Porn 95%"?

[GPX | 1,403]

Looking at that rough average money spent on games, I would think there are various groups lumped into one. Likely there would be high end collectors spending in the 10s of thousands, and also likely much more of the casual gamers who would spend in the hundreds per year. 

It would be quite interesting to see how much would the average spending be relative to the individuals’ income? For example income range $25K-$50K; $50K-$75K etc.