Think Your Hobby Is Expensive? These Are the 10 Most Expensive Hobbies People Actually Have

From restoring old cars to skiing pristine slopes, some everyday hobbies come with premium price tags. Here’s what makes these popular pastimes so expensive — and how they compare to yours.

Car Restoration

Turning an old vehicle into a gleaming classic might be rewarding, but it’s rarely cheap. Between specialty tools, bodywork, paint, and parts that can be hard to find or expensive to fabricate, the final cost can easily top $30,000 per car.

Golf

This leisure sport demands more than just patience. With high-end gear, regular green fees, private lessons, and optional club memberships running into the thousands, golf is a hobby that quickly adds up, especially if you’re playing weekly.

Photography

A serious interest in photography often turns into a serious investment. A professional-grade camera body, quality lenses, tripods, and editing software can run well into five figures. And that’s before you even factor in travel costs for shoots.

Scuba Diving

It may feel like a tropical getaway, but diving is an equipment-heavy and certification-required hobby. You’ll need to budget for lessons, wetsuits, tanks, and periodic travel to prime dive sites, all of which make this a luxury pursuit.

Equestrianism

Few hobbies match horseback riding in terms of cost. Lessons and riding gear alone are expensive, but if you own a horse, boarding, feed, healthcare, and grooming can run several thousand dollars each month.

Skiing

Whether it’s a weekend on the slopes or a full winter season, skiing doesn’t come cheap. Lift passes, equipment, winter apparel, and travel to mountain resorts combine into a costly cold-weather tradition.

Home Brewing

While making your own beer or wine sounds economical, it’s not. Fermenters, sanitizers, temperature controls, kegs, and constant ingredient refills can turn a “fun experiment” into a recurring expense.

Music Collecting

Vinyl records, vintage instruments, and high-end audio setups are catnip for audiophiles, but they’re rarely budget-friendly. Rare LPs can fetch thousands, while quality turntables and speakers push collections even higher.

Mountain Climbing

The gear needed for technical climbs, ropes, helmets, clothing, and hardware is just the start. Factor in training and travel to climb-worthy destinations, and this pursuit becomes one of the most expensive physical hobbies around.

Model Building

Model trains, planes, and ships may seem modest, but the costs stack up. Premium kits, paints, tools, and the space to display or operate them can quietly consume thousands — especially as collections grow more elaborate.