men and their toys/ hobbies , and associated £

[shirleybasseyslovechild]

of course some women do it to but what's with men and their hobbies?

my ex had six road bikes, FIFTEEN pairs of cycling leggings, had parcels delivered every week from wiggle for goodness knows what . no he wasn't a professional cyclist.

Friend's DH just bought his fourth set of golf clubs ( he plays about 5 times a year)

sister's DH just bought his fifth fishing rod and is constantly adding to his collection of over a thousand fishing flies.
I know loads of men who do stuff like this.

Brother has six guitars , which are stored 300 miles away at my parents as he doesn't have room.

my friend's ex has FORTY SIX full sets of golf clubs. I kid you not.

as far as I know they are not going into debt to buy all this stuff , I just don't get why one would continually spend money on things for a hobby when you already had several of those things.

DH has two good quality 6 man tents. One has never been out the packaging. he is currently looking to buy a third and has been buying up all kinds of camping gear. How often has he been camping in the last 4 years ?
Once !

it seems such a waste

any thoughts? is it more of a male thing ?

I have four bikes - I use them in different situations: one for riding to work, one for going out with the kids at weekends, one for going out without the kids at weekends, and one permanently attached to a trainer. It's not really a hobby, it's just something I enjoy doing even though I'm quite unfit and rather overweight and never ever wear lycra. None of them were terribly expensive (no carbon fibre here), but they certainly take up a lot of space!

No doubt I could do all of these things with just the one bike, but I really like bikes so I've found excuses reasons to have four and I'm thinking of buying a fifth...

I do agree with this. DH has a wide number of hobbies, some of which have stuck - hiking, camping & then maintaining and driving a midlife crisis 2 seater convertible and some of which haven't - cycling, golf etc.

They all seem to require huge outlays of cash. I could have wept when after our first (and just about only) disastrous camping trip, DH's answer to the problem was to buy top of the range camp beds, sleeping bags and roll mats. Nope, still hated it and now it cost us about as much as it would to have stayed in a luxury 5 star hotel for the same length of time.

I do have my own addictions - hotel chocolat, make up, clothes, but I spend my own money on them, rather than it leaking into joint expenditure territory and we're talking about double digit expenditure rather than £100s.

woolythoughts I have just bought a set of KnitPro Karbonz, they are lush to work with. And the wool for the socks I'm knitting at the moment was £20 just for the wool....

wooly, can you explain WHY you buy more? - not having a go, I just don't understand it

There is a difference between
" I have an expensive hobby " and
" Im looking to buy a third tent (but almost never go camping )"

I had a horse. It cost a lot to keep, feed, shoe.
But I didn't have 46 rugs for her, like golf club man

It's the accumulation of unnecessary, seldom used STUFF I don't understand.

manin come back when your twins are 7/8 and tell us the same thing please

It is fine when they are too small to express their own material wants, but things do change as they get older.

DH buys a lot of things to do with his car, and a lot of new computer parts.

I buy shoes and expensive skincare (not makeup though).

BadLad I hear you.... but it doesn't HAVE to be like that.

I have 2 year old twins now and my hobbies haven't changed.

You see what many people don't realise is that you don't NEED all these expensive gadgets and associated tat that the magazines and shops try to guilt you into buying. A small child doesn't NEED to be clothed head to toe in designer labels and as they get older they don't NEED smartphones / Ipads / games consoles / fancy trainers coming out of their ears.

Don't get me wrong, you've got to look after them properly and can't deprive them of everything like a total selfish arse but most kids are totally fucking spoilt. It results skint parents who are fed up at never doing anything for themselves and entitled little brats. It's just a question of balance.

I hear you but I've always worried about money. As well as what I spend on my hobbies, I also save and invest quite a bit, and if I had dependants I'd worry much more with the added financial responsibility. Plus, there's the matter of space. At the moment my wife and I each have a room for our hobbies, whereas with kids Id have to give those rooms up or move to an even bigger house.

Back to the OP, I think there can be a certain amount of pleasure in ownership of things, not just using them.

I would hate to think how much all my photography stuff has cost over the last few years; and in the last how much I spent on craft stuff.

Dh plays golf and squash but tbh doesn't spend that much on either really.

oh good gosh the golf stuff....My spare bedroom is full of the stuff at the moment. DH got his first credit card last week(against my advice but our finances are pretty separate so if he wants to waste the banks money that's his look out) and has bought a new set of clubs, a new bag, a trolley, New clothes and shoes and more balls and tees than you can shake a stick at. He plays maybe 6 times a year. His old clubs are only 2 years old (so used about 12 times).

I wouldn't mind if he played more often, but he doesn't and doesn't have the inclination to.

Luckily for our lot my main hobby cost no more than £35 - Football Manager 2015. But then I'm easily pleased

DH and I are as bad as each other, but his is way more expensive than mine.

He's into sailing, I dread to think how much stuff he has floating about. It's not a cheap hobby that's for sure.

I'm into sewing/knitting/crochet/etc. I have my craft shed in the garden which is stuffed with fabric, wool and god knows what else. I get paid for some of the stuff I make though, so it pays for itself

I spend £25 pm on gym membership, £45 for kick boxing, and £45 for the kids kick boxing. About £40 on supplements and have tons of gym clothes.

I don't go our drinking, gety nails done, go out for meals often or buy lots of clothes for outside the gym. We can afford it so why not?

Dhs hobby is gardening and spends money on that, which actually benefits me too as we have a lovely garden. We have a joint hobby that costs us £5 each per day we do it, which is about once a month.

Sil is on her 8th pushchair in 3 years and calls that her hobby and has spent thousands.

It's not down to men or women, it's down to people. As long as it's not restricting the family, I don't see the issue.

I have a weakness for dog crates. I actually have more crates than dogs (and I have six dogs). Some on wheels, some for my grooming room, some in the car, some stored in the shed. It's a sickness really.