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100 Cheap Hobbies You Can Start This Year

BySarah Bailey

You don’t need a trust fund or a fully colour-coded craft room to have a hobby.

If you’ve been telling yourself you’ll “start something new” but your bank account keeps laughing at you, this list is for you.

Here are 100 cheap hobbies you can start this year; most under £20, many under £10, and some are even completely free.

£0 Hobbies (Completely Free)

A person wearing a beige jumper types on a laptop displaying a blog post with a photo of a mug. The scene includes a coffee cup, notebook, and a lit candle on a wooden table.
  1. Walking new routes in your area
  2. Journalling
  3. Blogging
  4. Reading library books
  5. Learning via YouTube
  6. Birdwatching
  7. Podcast deep-dives
  8. Meditation
  9. Stretching routines
  10. Decluttering
  11. Creative writing
  12. Language learning apps
  13. Free online courses
  14. Sketching with a basic pencil
  15. Photo walks with your phone
  16. Organising digital photos
  17. People watching (ethically, obviously)
  18. Playing chess online
  19. Calligraphy practice with old pens
  20. Curating playlists

Under £10 Hobbies

  1. Adult colouring books
  2. Basic crochet starter kit
  3. Candle making (simple kit)
  4. Scrapbooking
  5. Puzzle books
  6. Baking simple recipes
  7. Indoor herb growing
  8. Painting mini canvases
  9. Origami
  10. Sudoku habit
  11. Collecting postcards
  12. Learning card tricks
  13. Budget photography challenges
  14. Making zines
  15. Pressing flowers
  16. Knitting simple squares
  17. Home coffee experimenting
  18. Board game nights
  19. DIY bath salts
  20. Upcycling small items

Under £20 Hobbies

  1. Watercolour painting
  2. Embroidery
  3. Lego building sets
  4. Houseplant collecting
  5. Film photography (starter roll)
  6. Roller skating (second-hand)
  7. Baking challenges
  8. Creative bullet journalling
  9. Thrift flipping
  10. Indoor mini workouts
  11. Resin crafts (starter kit)
  12. Soap making
  13. Model building
  14. Baking bread from scratch
  15. Tarot learning
  16. Miniature painting
  17. Learning ukulele
  18. Journalling challenges
  19. Indoor gardening projects
  20. DIY home décor

Low-Energy Hobbies

Close-up of a person’s hands knitting with wooden needles and beige wool, surrounded by cosy blankets, a basket of wool, and a lit candle in a warm, softly lit setting.
  1. Audiobooks
  2. Diamond Art
  3. Knitting while watching TV
  4. Puzzling
  5. Slow cooking experiments
  6. Gentle yoga
  7. Digital scrapbooking
  8. Colour organising
  9. Mood tracking
  10. Watching documentaries intentionally

Social Hobbies

  1. Book club
  2. Walking club
  3. Charity shop treasure hunting
  4. Amateur pub quizzes
  5. Open mic nights
  6. Community gardening
  7. Volunteering
  8. Swap meets
  9. Local photography groups
  10. Craft swaps

Slightly Nerdy (But Excellent) Hobbies

  1. Board game collecting
  2. Learning about investing basics
  3. Learning basic coding
  4. Map reading
  5. Local history research
  6. Geocaching
  7. Fantasy map drawing
  8. Collecting niche items
  9. D&D campaigns
  10. Speed cubing

Seasonal / Rotational Hobbies

A person in a beige jumper holds a handful of seashells by the shore, with a basket of more seashells resting on the sandy beach nearby and gentle waves in the background.
  1. Seasonal baking
  2. Autumn leaf collecting
  3. Summer picnic planning
  4. Spring seed planting
  5. Christmas decoration crafting
  6. Ice skating in winter
  7. Beachcombing
  8. Stargazing
  9. Nature journalling
  10. Creating your own “100 list”

Final Thoughts

Hobbies don’t need to be monetised, they don’t need to become your personality and they don’t need to be aesthetic, they just need to be yours.

What’s your favourite hobby?

Competition

Would you like to win a LEGO Creator 3in1 Turtle with a Water Lily Flower Toy then to be in with a chance all you need to do is follow the options on the Gleam widget below.

Win a LEGO Creator 3in1 Turtle with a Water Lily Flower Set

There is no mandatory entry option on this giveaway; however, the more options you enter, the more entries you will have in the final draw.

The competition is open to the UK only and has a closing date of 12/04. Good Luck!

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58 Comments

  10. Reading and I am so addicted, I read Historical Sagas, I know its not everyone’s cup of tea but I love them and read for at least 2 hours a day

    Reply

  22. I love anything to do with crafts and I a, teaching my small granddaughter to make things but she still lives Lego best.

    Reply

  23. I love knitting and crochet. I find it both very soothing and satisfying, and the end result if always a plus!

    Reply

  24. My favourite hobby is doing online surveys, I then save up the points to get Amazon vouchers, and treat myself to something nice every so often.

    Reply

  28. favourite hobby (at home)is doing puzzles (the physical ones ie where you have to put things back together or puzzle out)

    Reply

  38. Interesting to see blogging under the £0 section. I’ve often thought about starting a blog but thought you had to pay fees to the host or something? Any more info would be most welcome, thanks 🙂

    Reply

    1. Hi! If you want drop me an email and I’d be happy to help but there are free platforms such as blogger and free wordpress where you could start which wouldn’t cost anything. You would have a subdomain so your URL would be yourname.wordpress.com, as URLs start at £10 a year but it’s 100% possible to start a blog for nothing 🙂

      Reply

  40. My favourite hobby is definitely beachcombing, I’d love to do more hobbies and this list of ideas is great inspiration! thank you!

    Reply

  41. My favourite hobby is beachcombing. I’d love to do more hobbies and this list is great for inspiration, thank you!

    Reply

  44. Gardening is my favourite hobby because it brings me a sense of calm and peace, helps to keep me moving and I can always do a bit more!

    Reply

  50. My favourite hobby is reading. I always have a book on the go. I love escaping from my world into someone elses.

    Reply

  52. My favourite hobby is watching the football on the TV, although my Premier League are rubbish at the moment lol. But it’s also my volunteer role, as I volunteer for my very local (15 minutes walk) football team, which I absolutely love. I screamed (yes really) when I was told to meet with the Head of Operations down at the ground. I can’t remember getting home that day, I was so happy. Only been there since November but Phil told me the other week “you’re part of the furniture now” lol. Sorry for the long comment.

    Reply

  54. I can’t believe I’m thinking this let alone writing it but it’s going to the gym, I’m 62 and I never in a million years thought I’d be saying that. I really do love it and have found at my grand old age (joking) that bench press is my favourite exercise of all time, I got a PB of 25kg last week which I’m pretty proud of.

    Reply