Hobbies/Crafts and MoneySaving ...

mcbadger

I recommend a good game of bridge...most people live within 15 minutes of a club, and they usually do teaching and stuff in a friendly relaxed way. Typically you pay about a pound or two for an evening playing cards, and that usually includes at least one coffee! It's also a great way to get your brain (back?) into shape...

If you fancy finding a local club https://www.ebu.co.uk lists them I think :cool:

jlh_2

Bell Ringing - just turn up at your local church when you next hear the bells ringing on their practice night, and ask if you can have lessons with them. There's no charge, its good fun and completely takes your mind off anything else - its not as easy as it looks and can take quite a few months before your accomplished at it, but its a lovely thing to learn .... for nothing. Go on, give it a go. :j Forgot to say, if you ring at a wedding you get paid!!!!

moanymoany

Boot sales are great for lots of hobbies and I buy up stuff in the summer to take me through the winter. How-to books are very common and dirt cheap and are there for dozens of hobbies. Knitting is getting vogueish again and I've seen yarns, patterns and needles. I make re-cycled jewellery and get most of what I need from B.S.'s. If you buy rusty tools that are otherwise OK spray them with WD40 and leave them for a few hours, then rub them with wet and dry, wash them and dry them in a warm oven. Good as nearly new!

newfunk

My hobbies include reading I vist the library regularly , playing squash twice a week costs about £6, which is only just more than a pack of my OH cigs...Walking, playing the guitar(BADLY), since buying a digital camera, I seem to be snapping away like crazy, hoping to do a photography course starting in September. I find having hobbies that dont cost the earth, more rewarding..

nightsong

mcbadger wrote:

I recommend a good game of bridge...most people live within 15 minutes of a club, and they usually do teaching and stuff in a friendly relaxed way. Typically you pay about a pound or two for an evening playing cards, and that usually includes at least one coffee! It's also a great way to get your brain (back?) into shape...

If you fancy finding a local club https://www.ebu.co.uk lists them I think :cool:

Quite agree mcbadger, I play bridge at my local clubs and I am not 90 years old . It's good fun, a great intellectual work-out and you meet some nice people, (some weirdos too but that's all part of the entertainment ) - three hours of amusement plus tea/coffe and biccies all for as little as £2, what more can you ask!

lady_lucan

Hobbies wise birdwatching and fishkeeping are great, and you can do them indoors or outdoors. British Trust for Conservation Volunteers is excellent for meeting people and doing something useful, and you can go on quite cheap holidays that way. Apparently the Brownies are short of adult leaders if you're that way inclined. Two things I intend to check out this year are the Woodcraft Folk and getting an allotment - loads of veggies, mmm! Anyone had any involvement with Woodcraft?

Tondella

I knit, which I absolutely love, but unfortunately it can be a come a bit of a self-righteous money sink, especially if you live in a big city and your only decent yarn barn is John Lewis I know people have suggested buying wool from car boots and sales, but I don't like to stock pile (dont' have the room for one thing) and if you have a specific pattern in mind it's a tough time trying to find a suitable yarn (gauge, length, type, colour) at a bargain price! Still with friends starting to produce babies it means I can give some really special presents for a lot less price than you would normally pay.

LabRat_3

Hi Starlorna22,

I really wanted to relearn how to sew, so that I could make my own clothes, as well as doing simple repairs. I joined a nightclass in dressmaking, and have been doing that for over a year. I am now thinking of doing a more professional qualification in dressmaking and fashion. The night class option is really good, you get to try out different things for not too much money. Sometimes they have one day taster courses. I am lucky to live near a college where they do one day courses in learning to use a sewing machine etc. You can do some correspondence courses in dressmaking, but those I know that have tried them found them very difficult, because it is a practical skill where you need someone to show you when you are stuck. Good luck!

starlorna22 wrote:

Thanks for all the ideas everyone, I've actually got a bike, so might dig it out if the sun comes back again . . .
Also we've just booked to go camping for 3 nights in the Lake District in August (for my birthday) so that should be good too.
I've been on the local college website, and I'm going to enrol on the Jewellery making course they've got, so hopefully I should be pretty busy.
I would also like to get into sewing. Does anyone know the best way to learn this? I don't really have anyone who can teach me. Do you think this is something that can be learned from a book or picked up by practising, or do you think you'd need to learn it at college?

lowra_2

Hi all. hope this is right, i'm a posting virgin as it were!
i was bored a few months back and vowed to build myself some hobbies. i walked round the craft section of my local library and picked 10 books which looked vaguely interesting. from that it escalated, and i now knit regularly for the family, cross stitch, belly dance, ballroom dance, make my own greetings cards, and bake cakes and biscuits! there was an initial financial implication, but you can easily make that money back, and more besides! i'll never complain of being bored again! xx :T

BWZN93

Welcome Lowra!