Actually, I collect money, which you will be able to help with that once I get my "Donate to Paypal" tag up.
“Everbody’s gotta have a hobby.” It isn’t true. But, if you already have been pulled into the trap of fishing, knitting, or even the trap of trapping, you know how expensive you can get. Fishing is a great example. It used to be you get a stick off the ol’ oak tree and some fishing line from your momma’s ol’ used floss and a lure from your momma’s ol’ heirloom drawer and go down to the ol’ fishing hole and fish ’til you get something or until some girls show up. Then, throw mud at/skinny dip with the girls, depending on your age.
Well, no longer. It’s all about using the right lure with the right pole and in the right spot to get that trophy bass or a Macropinna microstoma (also known as Barreleyes). What ever happened to just enjoying the afternoon and perhaps a cold adult beverage, again, depending on your age? Things are getting pretty ridiculous, I mean, a one million dollar lure? It’s just a publicity stunt, you would think, but the company MacDaddy has sold seven of them so far. With a name like MacDaddy, though, how could you blame them for creating a diamond-encrusted jewel of a lure?
C'mon, to Alice Cooper's "Billion Dollar Babies", sing it..."Million...dollar lu-ure!"
Buying diamond lures are really not the way to live largely on the cheap, unless you buy a knock-off, so what is a fisherman to do? Go back to using that stick and floss, of course. Now, your fishing buddies might laugh, but here’s the way to maintain your ultimate fisher status: “I’m doing this as an experiment for an article in Field & Stream.” There you go, you look even more like a guru than before. Follow that example with any hobby you have, and you’ll be well on your way to living largely on the cheap.
Of course, there is even a better way to keep an interesting hobby while actually making money off of it. Sweepstaking. What a great way to use your time to enter contests to win stuff. I mean, c’mon, if your going to have a hobby, why not make money at it? Besides, if you don’t want people to know that you are stretching your dollars, this is a hobby you can hide easily (unlike most drug addictions).
Speaking of drug addictions, let me talk about those for a moment. They do not make good hobbies. They are illegal. They cost a lot. They take up much of your time. Plus, the little green men always tend to be ‘out to get you’.
There are many, many other hobbies out there that probably cost less than the one you are involved with now. Spam sculpting, extreme ironing, collecting other people’s underwear. Start-up costs for these are fairly low. Lawyer fees could run high, though, for that last one.
The main point I have been trying to make here is that just because you have a hobby, doesn’t mean it has to be expensive. And just because it isn’t expensive, doesn’t mean you have to look bad doing it. Keep a balance between those, and you already are a hero in my eyes.
My barreleyes. (That fish is so weird!)
