Quitting your hobbies because dolls are expensive

I've definitely sold off parts of old hobbies/collections in order to buy more bjds and accessories for them. I only have a few hobbies I really care about lately, so downsizing ones I haven't been into in years has been easy. I don't think I could ever completely get out of some of my hobbies though, I'd miss them too much. So I just try to prioritize one thing at a time and wait for dolls I really want.

 

I wasted a lot of money on video games and anime figurines after I finished high school, so I've gradually been selling them off to fund my bjd collection.
If all you think about when you see something you own is how much space it's taking up, it's probably time for it to go.
But getting into bjds has gotten me back into sewing, and it feels good to do something with your hands, so I guess I'm trading a hobby I felt blase about for one that lets me be creative and customise a lot of things

 

I used to collect manga and various anime figurines that I liked. However I have stopped buying in recent years not only to increase the doll fund but also due to the lack of space to store them. Honestly, when I started on BJDs, I was planning to stop at 2 dolls and invest more on their accessories. They were my substitute cosplay buddies... but 1 thing lead to another (no thanks to enthusiastic friends...) my collection is now up to 11 dolls. I have been selling off my other collection items to fund my hobbies and to free up space. To decrease temptation, I did stop browsing thru BJD sites.. hahahaa. Not sure it is helping much with the friends I keep!

 

I'm pretty good at saving up and waiting so no, I've never quit a hobby because it's too expensive or sold things from one hobby to pay for another and honestly I don't think there's any need to. If something is not affordable to me at that moment it means that I have to save up and wait for the circumstances to be right to bring that item home and that's fine (which hobby it's for and what I've got going on with other hobbies has nothing to do with it).
I don't always see the need to spend money on any of my hobbies anyway and would rather enjoy what I've got. I also don't focus on all my hobbies all the time anyway (that'd suck the fun out of all them pretty quick).
There's no need to quit anything you enjoy just because money might be tight, just focus your time and resources on each hobby at different times. Just because you're spending all your time/money on BJDs now doesn't mean you have to stop enjoying what you've already got in another hobby nor will it force you to quit your other hobbies unless you no longer find joy in those things.

 

No, I stil collect for BTS related items and kdrama box sets. It's just weighing my options which I want more when there is a sale for something I collect. Timing my buys is important too. If I can wait I will wait, but with BTS if you wait too long you might miss the restock period and there isn't a regular restock after it's been restocked a few times. Then im left to buy at a markup. Official kdrama box sets usually have a set period to buy, so I can buy within that period. If the drama doesn't make it to production then I can't buy it which happened often for me. It just really depends on the fan cafe you joined how they go about it. If usually the fan cafe doesn't exceed 1000 members it most likely will fail into being made into a blu-ray. The demand has to be enough for the drama to be made into a bluray which is upsetting.

 

I used to be huge into cosplay and conventions. I didn’t really want to give this up…but over COVID, I kinda lost all of my cosplay friends and cosplay connections. I went back to a con last year and the luster it had when I was younger was…gone. I still miss dressing up and all the shenanigans, but I have no more friends to do it with and I’ve developed a “comfort over cosplay” mentality. I can’t tolerate costumes for nearly as long, I feel embarrassed now when before I didn’t, etc.

So with that dying down, it just seemed to make more sense to change hobbies and the freed up money from that led me into BJD’s. I don’t regret it since it was something I’d wanted to do for awhile.

But it does make me sad knowing I likely won’t put on a cosplay again for who even knows how long, if ever again.

 

I've definitely stopped buying dolls as much to enjoy the collection I have currently. My other hobbies include fitness, which costs some money for gym memberships every month but it's not too awful. I also have my yoga teacher certification so I am hoping I can eventually start teaching and get some more supplemental income.