Quitting your hobbies because dolls are expensive

If I gave up my other hobby- historical costuming -my dolls would be naked! I make all their clothes, with scraps from my bigger projects. I think the spending works out because dolls are more a "save up for months" purchase every once in a while, while fabric, patterns, etc. can usually be managed within my normal monthly budget. (Of course, having access to a discount designer fabric store is a massive help too.)

 

I didn’t really quit a hobby but I collected fashion dolls from the early 2000s and stopped buying them after I really got into bjd. I think when I see a doll from my wishlist for sale I probably sell most of them. I need space anyways

 

Fortunately I've never had to deal with this. My only other hobby is collecting horror manga, and considering how few come out a year, I can still comfortably enjoy the manga and my BJDs.

 

Kind of… Many years ago I used to draw a lot and spent a substantial amount of hobby money on markers and pens. After getting into BJDs I started spending less money and time on drawing. This was partly due to cost but mostly just that BJDs satisfy my need for a creative outlet. I find I will postpone getting a BJD or related item or not do aesthetics work on my dolls in favor of getting frog stuff (plant stuff in the past) or engaging in a hobby or interest I share with my partner.
In recent years, when money was tightest, BJDs were usually the first thing I would step away from since nothing will die if it gets ignored for a while, and BJDs is the most expensive of my hobbies.

 

Honestly, I'm leaning more toward taking a break (not quitting) dolls to focus on collecting coins and silver stacking just because I'm worried about the economy.

 

I don't think I will quit the hobby because dolls and accessories are expensive. Instead, I will take a break, replenish funds, and return. I don't think this is a hobby you can really quit because even after many years, there are still that one doll can make you fall in love again at first glance.

 

I have to not look at my banking app after I buy a doll because seeing the number go down that much H U R T S

 

Super smart. I have been doing the same thing, everything going on right now is super scary!

 

I was big into figure collecting for years, but with the prices how they are nowadays, it costs almost the same to collect dolls as figures
I still have a small figure wishlist, but it's mostly older pieces.

 

Thankfully, my other "pricy" hobbies are nowhere near my BJDs in terms of cost. Those would be video games and knitting. I don't tend to buy a lot of games in general, and when I do it's usually either during sales or they're less pricy indie games. I have my one big-budget game vice, Destiny 2, and even that tends to be spread out. Yarn I have a stash to sit on for a while, and the leftover odds and ends from that becomes doll clothes! Plus it doubles as my Christmas gift budget. Very efficient hobby, if I do say so myself!

My other hobbies, such as writing and sewing, aren't very high budget at all. I buy almost all my fabric at the thrift store for a buck apiece (and sometimes less if the cashiers take pity on me for picking up the small scraps), and writing uses equipment I already have, like my laptop.

The hobby BJDs did affect was my other doll collecting. I still have a couple AG dolls, but collecting Barbies, Monster High, what have you, ground to a halt. Getting my BJDs made me realize I enjoy working with the bigger scale dolls, and would rather spend time on them than a bunch of smaller dolls. I sent most of my playline dolls to a friend this year, which is a weight off my shoulders, but I still have a dollhouse I was working on repainting as a cabin. I'm torn between trying to find someone who wants it to make space for a bigger storage solution for my BJDs that I could maybe decorate into dioramas, and the guilt of giving up on it, especially after my mom got me kitchen furniture for it as a birthday gift! But I haven't touched it in ages, the cat plays with it more than I do.

 

I sold all my reborn and artist made baby dolls as I got sick of just taking photos of the new outfit they got. I would never dare travel with a baby doll even a small one. So happy 15years ago I found BJD and I have never looked back. I have found I enjoy taking photos of not just the dolls at home, but when husband & I traveled I always had a doll with me to be my replacement for travel photos. Weather I still have the doll or not the travel photos are extra special.

 

If anything ive gained MORE hobbies because of bjds, especially if it can be used to make stuff for them! I learned how to crochet over the pandemic and have been making tiny doll sweaters and cardigans! I want to learn how to sew better as well but thats a bit harder cuz i sew by hand...

 

I didn't give up other hobbies for dolls, since before then I didn't really collect anything. My hobby was art, but mainly digital, and that went away as my depression took the energy to draw out of me and made drawing joyless. Finding BJDs was a new way to get creative, and one that worked with my depression. It feels like more than anything this hobby is opening up more hobbies to me rather than closing them off.

 

My other hobby is making long furbies. I sell the long furbies and use the money to buy dolls. Except sometimes I really want to just have a doll day and spend it making wigs or practicing face ups, but I have to spend it making long furbies for commissions.

So the hobby that allows me to buy dolls takes away all my doll time.

 

I didn’t give up other hobbies so much as I used this one to consolidate them all into one place. I’ve always been into creative things and it was a breath of fresh air to be able to roll all those various artistic pursuits into a single hobby. There hasn’t been a single day since I first joined DoA in 2006 that I haven’t happily been thinking about, exploring, and working on my next creative adventure. Sure, it can be an expensive hobby, but I feel I get a lot more bang for my buck being able to focus my $$$ on a single all-inclusive hobby like this one that gives me all the creativity I could ever want rather than piecemealing it out on a string of unrelated various artistic pursuits.

 

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I've had many hobbies over the years, and many of them have gone through rotations of activity and inactivity. Action figures, Lego, Pokémon cards, table top gaming miniatures, plushies, etc. All have had cycles of activity; and I manage that ok.

The problem though, is not so much my hobbies, as my doll's hobbies... Some of my kids are high maintenance.

 

I kind of just focus my spending on one (expensive) hobby at a time. In my first year of being into BJDs, I spent a tooon on them. But now that we bought a house, most of my discretionary income is going towards renovations/decorations. I'm confident that in the future I'll be able to return to spending more on my resin angels, there's no rush.

 

I feel like I've always been good at saving up/not spending money, maybe even to a fault. For my other hobbies I think I have everything I need atm (good PC for gaming, and the tools for art), and the rest is currently tied to dolls.

The only thing that I put on hold, cause of my hobbies is buying stuff for myself, e.g. clothes and accessories I've been wanting for a long time. At least my dolls can have that goth fantasy, even if I cannot.

 

I'm usually good at saving up and don't buy that many dolls, so that hasn't really been an issue. Thankfully my other hobbies are mostly art related, so I can mix things up and make things for dolls too!