Totallllly. With the teams and just like, the gear. I was glad they mentioned kitchen stuff too, like chef grade items will not make you a chef, you’re better off learning skills!
9 Likes
yes this is exactly what i think they were talking about. like it wouldn’t have cost me much if anything to run track or play volleyball in high school, but if i was better at it and wanted to join a regional team, it could get to be more $$$$ than what it’s worth.
there’s also the sports consumption part. like fair enough if you want to play ultimate frisbee on the weekend but if you need to spend $400/month on the cable package that lets you watch all the games + jerseys + tailgating, etc. people in pittsburgh spend WILD WILD WILD amounts of money on this. it seems dumb as hell to me. as does being a car person who like spends $$$ on trim packages and whatever the fuck.
but also my hobbies include buying beautiful plus size clothes (we are in the golden age!!) and the fanciest art supplies available which probably seems dumb as hell to others, so … judge not lest ye and yer need for 20 cute summer dresses be judged, madge 
15 Likes
Ohhhh the gear. Oh the $300 race suits that are only good for 5-6 races 
my parents laid down the law about gear pretty well. Basically I always had what I needed to train and race, but if I couldn’t win state wearing my cheap suit, then I needed to train harder haha.
Kitchen gear is a tough one. There is such a middle ground! I’ve had multiple friends who really struggled to enjoy cooking, and I’d cook in their kitchen and like….they were doing everything with one paring knife, and no cutting board so cutting on ceramic plates, etc. I think having good gear makes cooking more enjoyable….like I used to leave garlic out of recipes because I hated chopping it, but I got a $15 press on Amazon and now I put garlic in everything. Butttt it’s definitely not applicable to everything! Like, I don’t think anyone needs a Traeger grill, but damn sure seems like everyone I know is buying one right now….
9 Likes
Also agree on the good kitchen gear. Anything that makes it easier!
4 Likes
Bahahahahaha <3 <3 <3
7 Likes
clutches pearls
First off how DARE you. 
11 Likes
So this is super nerdy but the reason I like these forums and MMM and other money forums is I LOVE to see how other people spend their money. I think it is so cool to get a glimpse into what they are passionate about.
My car friends- I get to see their enthusiasm around finding the perfect part and understanding how the engine works together and troubleshooting when things go wrong. Hear them talk about how frustrating and rewarding it is to fix some issues. How they get to go on these drive trips with their friends and their families all meet up because if they love for cars. That they can tell every car on the road from the bumper the make and model of it. They know exactly which friend is showing up at their house based on the sound of their car (unless it’s a hybrid those sneaky things). Their heads turn at luxury cars and they get excited knowing all of the specs.
My clothes friends- how they love to learn about different fashion trends and what is the history of them. How they can artfully craft perfect outfits and find things that go together. Matching patterns that I could never dream of. I get to hear about the hunt for the perfect jacket and how they look at the world around them and find so much beauty everywhere.
My running friends - the intricate details of the shoes and their running gear, their training and nutrition strategy. Races they are excited about and friends they meet along the way.
My biker friends- they are so into their bikes and as @mountainmustache29 said having 7 of them sounds reasonable and practical. They have custom upgrades on their bikes with the fanciest gear shifters and breaks because they put hours of research into it. One of my biker friends is super into the seats and was sharing with me it wasn’t until the last 5-10 years that they started designing seats specifically for females (it’s not like the anatomy down there is different or anything, lol) and sent me an article about how doctors had women sit in clear seats loaded with sensors to determine where the highest pressure points were so they could design them to be more comfortable.
My garden friends- they know everything about their gardens. What to look for on the leaves of their plants, what the weather is going to do to the yield, what their favorite ways to use and eat them are. The perfect place to put each plant in their yard based on the shade and sun parts and years of experience and trial and error.
My travel friends- they know the best way to find a deal and optimize points and rewards. They have a knack for finding really unique and cute places to stay and experiences on their trips. They spend hours planning and optimizing travel and it is wonderful to watch and hear them talk about it.
My sports watching friends- they have so many memories about games they watched with friends and family. They know every player and their stats and what to expect from the game. Watching sports is so much more fun with this type of person because I don’t know much about sports but the nuance and strategy is what makes it cool. They spend time finding the perfect gear that they love because they support the team.
My board game friends- they meet game designers and find other friends who play with them. They build a community and make custom pieces and holders for their favorite games. My friend hand painted his own pieces and they look fabulous. They are constantly trying new games and seeing what they like.
My video game friends- they have excellent hand eye movement- idk if my fingers can move that fast on a controller or keyboard. They develop a community around their game and discuss strategies on how to beat certain sections. There are full wiki pages on many games with more nuance and detail than I can imagine.
My reader friends- they love exploring new worlds and perspectives. They also love talking about books they read and connecting with fellow fans. Some use the library. Some love to collect books and share them generously with others. There can also be a community element here.
My cooking friends (okay fine it’s me) - own way too many cook books and appliances and find other people to share recipes with and explore. Each recipe is a blank canvas for a meal that you create. It’s fun to learn and fail and try again. Understanding every step of the process takes more research and learning and is such a wonderful exploration into other cultures (when diving into Indian food I learned that chilies didn’t come to India until the 1400’s and most N. Indian food isn’t as spicy because they didn’t accept the chilies like the S. and coastal areas).
My reality TH watching friends- they love the game play and strategy of the show. They love following the characters and seeing where their lives end up. There is a whole community of people who they can connect with and watch with.
My point of this novel is that I love to see where people spend their time and money because it allows me to get to know them better. I can ask them what they are passionate about, what they care about, what makes them feel alive. I can find out why they love their hobbies and their favorite memories from them. Sure it’s not how I would spend my money and I might not think it has value but it does to them. And finding out why that value exists for them is magical. It’s not my money, it’s not my job to tell them how to spend it.
I have 8 pairs of running shoes, 20 cook books, 2 instant pots, an air fryer, and more. We have spent $1000’s on camping, climbing, and backpacking gear. To others that might seem dumb, but ask me about it and I can tell you about every pair of shoes and why I have them, what’s in all of my cookbooks and my favorite recipes.
I think to @AllHat’s point people do need to consider if they can afford these things and cut back to the necessity of them when needed but I think it’s okay for us to all have things we spend money on that don’t make sense to anyone else. Don’t get caught up in spending top dollar right away because you think it’s the only way. Find out what you love about your hobbies and try to keep spending money in that direction instead of in what you “should” have for your identity.
I know I missed so many hobbies in this. Art of any kind (quilting, painting, making coffee mugs, music making, music watching, theater going, clothing making, concert attending, etc). Bird watching. There are hundreds in this forum alone that I could never understand but love to learn about.
19 Likes
This episode has given me a new podcast! Thank you!!
So the hidden costs of being a football fan actually got me because I’m adamant that my husband spends more than me and I don’t spend that much… because my favourite spending is fully rolled into household. It’s my fancy groceries, my new mugs and plates and cutting boards, too quality eco friendly toiletries for everyone, same with cleaning products and you know I want an eco friendly toilet paper subscription!!!
Same with food, they are right, beans and rice and oatmeal at home isn’t hobby spending, but fancy restaurants and my tea collection might be. The line isn’t as clear as mmm used claim. But it’s there somewhere. And fancier ingredients won’t make you a better cook if you are into cooking.
@mountainmustache29 definitely I think that doing healthy active things are necessary for optimum health- but what are you choosing, is it also a hobby, can you afford it and are you open to playing around with costs. Even something like running outdoors! You can have a set of summer and winter clothes and a pair of shoes and replace as they wear out- it’s going to cost you maybe 5-800$/year. But you add in gels and bars and powders and more clothes and shoes and running groups and race entry fees and race travel fees and you probably aren’t tracking it all as running. And where I live the community baseball for kids costs $150/season. Which is expensive but a lot of parents can afford it. But in my neighbourhood growing up most kids didn’t join even if they liked baseball because you also needed your own glove that fit, special shoes, a uniform or shirt, to take your turn bringing snack, a special approved water bottle, and then the not mandatory stuff that all the other kids got to do like ice cream after a game or a meal out. Swimming and skating were the same cost for a season but you needed a swim suit or used skates and nothing else. The only fancy thing I remember was one girl had this two in one brand name strawberry shampoo for after and the rest of us used either the soap from the pump or something boring our moms squirted on us.
I also listened to the career as identity one today and I think it overlaps a lot with some of the buttons this episode pushed. In good ways!
13 Likes
I think this is the important piece that often gets missed. Even if you have the money, it’s better to just dip a toe in and try a new hobby at an entry level before shelling out for all the best stuff. I think especially in really active states (like Colorado) people get really sucked into buying all the nice gear before they even know if they like mountain biking, or hiking or camping, etc. My first bike was $500 and I loved it just as much as my $10K race bike at the time because it was the only bike I had. As I grew in the sport, I bought more and more gear that served me better for what I was doing, and I had a reason and explanation for every piece of gear! Same in the kitchen, I have tons of appliances and tools and I use all of them. But I’ve been cooking since I was 5 years old and don’t plan to stop anytime soon, so it feels like a worthy expense.
7 Likes
and it isn’t just because you don’t yet know whether you’ll stick with the new thing, but you won’t know enough to understand what you really need (e.g. more ankle support vs. weight on hiking boots). I think I’ve mentioned here that my yarn tastes have changed, and some of the things I bought 5 years ago aren’t what I’m really interested in knitting with now (though they are mostly still gorgeous, they don’t fit in my wardrobe).
9 Likes
I love everything you wrote <3
4 Likes
Why did no one quote Kiersten from the end of the hobbies podcast??
“I really want to know the history of the phrase ‘Rob Peter to pay Paul’, is Peter okay? How’s he doing?”
I got a good chuckle. I really enjoy their chemistry and how they banter and the way they talk about money and life. I haven’t listened to enough yet to see if there is a total “theme” but it doesn’t seem like it. By theme I mean: “live your rich life” or “get out of debt”. I like that there seems to be variety and nuance so far and they aren’t trying to give blanket advice for every situation.
9 Likes
Hahaha, that was really funny.
1 Like
I really liked her Elon musk joke in an earlier episode. Where she added “Musk” at the end “as if there’s another Elon running around.” 
3 Likes
An underlying, but not explicit theme, could be knowledge. The way they each arrive at this is different—Kiersten seems to prefer reading articles, while Julien seems to prefer experiential learning.
3 Likes
Every time this thread pops up I think about being wealthy with good digestion 
11 Likes
Lots of money to spend on Activiaaaa!
4 Likes
Just started listening to some of these. I made it partway through the hobbies episode before crashing hard and falling asleep last night. So far I love their banter and feel like I am much more likely to agree with them than Ramit…
The thing about people being inflexible with their hobbies is so interesting. Because of health stuff I’ve had to give up so many hobbies over the years and I’ve been forced to be really flexible about it. Which does suck but at least it’s taught me that there are plenty of communities I can learn to love and hobbies don’t have to be forever.
I do struggle a lot with deciding to spend $$$ on things when I don’t know if I’ll actually stay “serious” about it! Or what if my tastes change. That definitely happened to me with yarn and fabric stash. I’m always grateful when I find hobbies that don’t need a constant payment to keep going. (Right now for me that’s birding and crosswords.)
10 Likes
I’m glad you said this because that’s been my experience too. I have to admit it was really difficult for me, during covid, to hear so many (able) people express extreme inflexibility towards all sorts of things, especially hobbies. Obviously this is a me problem, haha, but when I would suggest something like home workouts or a free outside alternative to their usual gym/studio/whatever and be met with, “NO, for me xyz class/studio/specific setting is really important, and it affects my mental health!!! that’s important!!!” I wanted to be like…yeah, I know. I know all of this so acutely well and I assumed that’s why you came to me for advice. Like, preferences affect everyone’s mental health, lol, it’s not some person specific quirk. That is literally what adaptation is, lol. It’s not getting 100% of everything you want in the easiest way possible, it’s adapting. And if you see your own preferences as unique and sacred, but other people’s as highly flexible/magically easier for them, or even less important…adaptation is going to be tough going, lol.
But also it can be so awesome, because you can find new things. And I think it’s actually healthy to detach your sense of self from doing a specific thing. I look at all hobbies as temporary for sure. The world is big, no need to make it smaller through invisible barriers!
18 Likes
Episode 11: Imagining Your Worst-Case Scenario
I was not familiar with the “Two-Income Trap” (as an idea & book) prior to listening to this episode, but now it feels like one of those things I’ve always known now that I know it, if that makes sense?
The “two-income trap,” as described by Warren, really consists of three partially separate phenomena that have arisen as families have come to rely on two working adults to make ends meet:
- The addition of a second earner means, in practice, a big increase in household fixed expenses for things like child care and commuting.
- Much of the money that American second earners bring in has been gobbled up, in practice, by zero-sum competition for educational opportunities expressed as either skyrocketed prices for houses in good school districts or escalating tuition at public universities.
- Last, while the addition of the second earner has not brought in much gain, it has created an increase in downside risk by eliminating an implicit insurance policy that families used to rely on.
11 Likes