Juggling hobbies

so I've been into numismatics for the good part of the last 7 months or so and I've been really involved, as much as I can, the one problem is, at the moment I have multiple hobbies. With numismatics being one of them, it's easy to spend all of it on coins, but I also want to spend money on the other hobbies, without draining my wallet too much where I don't have enough to spend on coins. At the moment I don't have a steady flow of income so I only get money every once and a while. Any suggestions for juggling all my hobbies and having money to spend on them all?

 

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You can save a lot of money if you get rid of your wife or girlfriend. J/K!

Chris

 

that's easy prioritize your wants/needs

 

Depends on what your hobbies are. I also love fishing so I have to buy tackle, bait and munchies when I fish. It's expensive but I set aside a budget for it. I also love metal detecting... I don't have to buy anything for that but I make a profit on the coins and precious metals that I find such as silver and gold. You may not have the same hobbies as I do but you need to create a balance between them and make sure you don't spend too much money to leave you flat broke for your daily needs such as food and bills!

Here is a good example. This is 5 years of metal detected park quarters I am about to turn in. $288.00 and I haven't even counted the Nickels and Dimes! The beach Quarters are in a separate container with $131.00

 

also what paddyman98 said.... always pay your bills first, then food, gas,etc... it does not hurt to save up for a coin you have wanted for so long. a have 3 coins that I saved up for (5-15) years just waiting for them to come on the market. set aside money monthly for 1 hobby then next month do the same for your other hobbies. coins are great for a life long hobby, but many people have other interests. I myself want to get into painting cat heads just for myself. I also want to get into sculpture some time down the road when I get my debt paid off. I would also like to learn how to carve into wood (cat heads). yes I have 3 cats and I love them more than anything. you could say I am the crazy cat guy. I also collect cat figurines. it is good to have more than 1 hobby. make time for each of them. you will feel as though you are really living.

 

Well, you could find a way to make more money, or you could prioritize your hobbies. Which one do you enjoy more? Which one do you want to spend more money or time on? We all have limited resources, and we have to choose.

 

I had two expensive hobbies: numismatics and philatelics.
One HAD to go and it was the stamps.

Stamps are a hobby that has essentially gone into a coma if not actually died.
You're lucky if you can get 20% of catalog; 10% is closer to the truth.

 

Make sure you are out of debt before you spend on numismatics and bullion. That is my advice. As far as my hobbies go I fish and hike too, relatively low costs. I put a lot into my savings and 401K also. If you are young you may not be thinking about those but it's never too early. If you are hurting financially but still want to collect coins then I recommend coin roll hunting.

 

I juggle half a dozen hobbies, plus home and work life. My method is to have a project to complete, and when I finish I decide if I want to keep going with another project within the same hobby or if something else is pulling at me. Often I will finish a project, then go on to honey-do's, then start a project in another hobby. The key for me is to FOCUS on the one project so I get the absolute maximum out of it in terms of enjoyment and in pushing my knowledge and understanding forward.

 

I collected stamps briefly when I was a kid - lost interest. I haven't seen a stamp shop in years, let alone stamp shows.

 

I still get notifications of small stamp shows.
But I haven't been to one in 10-15 years.

I think there are at least 2 large shows in my area each year.
I wonder what attendance is like.

 

What are all these other hobbies you're juggling? Without a steady income, it's hard for me to see how you have enough money to spend on hobbies. Of course, if those every now and then checks are big ones ....

 

I see stamp guys and girls at Las Vegas coins shows here and there. they have a stamp shop in Vegas that also sells coins. I bought some nice world coins there for cheap.

 

How many hobbies do you have? 3? 5? 10? More?

Prioritize your hobbies and rank them. Depending on how many hobbies you have, cross out the bottom 80% and focus on your favorite hobbies. Do the same with the coins you want to buy. Once you're tired of the hobby, or want to take a break, then do the hobby ranking list once more and re-prioritize.

You can enjoy all of your hobbies, just not all at once. But this way, you can focus on quality because there's more thought and more funds put into it.

 

After all the adulting expenses are paid for one must decide how much truly 'discretionary income' exists.

I keep an account with that money in it which is tied to my PayPal, and if I sell hobby stuff then it can get spent on hobby stuff which keeps it from getting away from me. I dump money in there when I feel like it/have it to allocate to 'fun money'.

Basically figure out what you like to spend this money on and either allocate between hobbies or rotate it around as the mood strikes. I got around this a BIT years ago by calling bullion purchases part of my investments. Still consider bullion about 5% of the overall net worth but got over the whole 'collecting bullion' mindset.

 

I do the same thing, though I let the $ sit in PayPal balance. When my balance is zero, I get very grumpy.

 

I am currently getting my pilots license and I am rebuilding a classic Porsche 911 in my spare time but my passion is grading US coins.

 

And bragging. Don't forget bragging. Or trolling.

 

Parts costs must be deadly.