Hobbies To Make Money: 12 Truly Enjoyable Hobbies That Pay (2021)

Hobbies to make money: 12 truly enjoyable hobbies to intertwine work and money. Spend more time doing what you love and grow your income at the same time. This article may contain affiliate links.

If you’re like me, you are obsessed with your personal hobbies.

You always want to be working and making progress on them. When you are not spending time on your hobbies, you feel like you are wasting time.

The problem is that working on your hobbies is not always the most productive thing to do.

Your time might be better used networking or climbing the corporate ladder. At least sucking up to your boss would lead to more money.

Fortunately, it’s possible to intertwine your hobbies and finances in a way that is fulfilling and beneficial to your finances.

In this article, I will show you 12 truly enjoyable hobbies to make money. These are not fake hobbies that you don’t really want to do, like networking or pretending to like your bosses hobbies. These are legitimate hobbies that you can’t get enough of.

Let’s dive in.

Hobbies To Make Money

I’m a big fan of spending time on what you love. As a financial independence seeker, I realize that time is all we really have.

Consequently, the real reason to pursue financial independence is fulfilling work.

If you can find a way to make money from your personal hobbies, you get to spend more of your life doing what you enjoy.

Here are 12 truly enjoyable hobbies that make money.

Hobbies To Make Money: 12 Truly Enjoyable Hobbies That Pay (2021) - Dividend Income Investor (2)

1. Blogging

I have been enamoured by blogging ever since I found out it existed.

The combination of writing, marketing, and designing a website is such a fulfilling hobby to me. It’s a never-ending challenge.

Frankly, blogging is one of the main reasons I switched from full-time to part-time work. I simply wanted more time to blog.

Although I would blog for free, what makes it even better is that blogging makes money.

Here are a few ways bloggers can make money:

Display ads such as Monumetric or Google Adsense
Affiliate marketing
Sponsored posts
Creating and selling products
Offering services

Personally, I prefer display ads and affiliate marketing for monetizing a blog. This way, I can focus on creating and marketing content, which is the part about blogging I enjoy the most.

If you are interested in creating a hobby blog, here are a few resources I would recommend:

Blog Income Report May 2021 – How I Made $233.03

How To Blog Successfully (in 2021) – 8 Blog Tasks With The Highest ROI

Monumetric: A Simple Way For Blogs To Earn Monthly Income

2. Investing

You might not think of investing as a fun hobby, but there are plenty of people out there that live and breathe investing.

I am one of those people that absolutely loves it. It’s another one of the main reasons why I am pursuing financial independence. I love analyzing stocks, allocating capital, calculating numbers, and I enjoy learning about the markets.

3. Photography

I used to enjoy photography a lot before my interest in blogging took over.

But then I realized that some people are naturally better photographers than I am, and others are more willing to travel to get better shots. In truth, I’m a homebody that is fine with short walks around my neighbourhood.

Nevertheless, photography is a wonderful personal hobby that makes money if you are any good at it.

If you get good enough and are willing to market yourself, most photographers are able to make side income by photographing weddings, pets, or children.

4. Selling Nostalgic Collectibles

Nostalgia is like a drug.

In the words of Don Drapper from Mad Men, “it (nostalgia) takes us to a place where we ache to go again.”

Hence why people are attracted to collectibles like old games, hockey cards, antiques, coins, and stamps.

People have a sentimental bond with items of their past.

As such, people are willing to pay higher prices to reconnect with nostalgic collectibles.

If you have a hobby like gaming, you likely have specialized knowledge of that particular industry.

In other words, you know what other gamers find valuable. So, you can put that specialized knowledge to use by selling collectibles that other gamers would be willing to overpay for.

For example, you could wait for a store like Walmart to have a clearance sale. Then you could scoop up games that people find valuable and sell them on Ebay.

5. Writing

Writing is a hobby with many benefits.

If you spend enough time on it, your critical thinking ability can improve immensely. You learn what needs to be said and what isn’t worth saying. It helps your break down your thoughts.

If that’s not enough, writing can be a lucrative hobby in 2021. Since the invention of self-publishing, writing is no longer reserved for university graduates with degrees in journalism.

Furthermore, even if you are not inclined to write a book, you can become a freelance writer.

In this era, job boards exist for bloggers and freelance writers. So, as long as you are willing to put in the work, almost anyone can make money from writing.

6. Social Media Marketing

I’m going to be honest—I think a lot of influencers are pretty trashy.

Many of them don’t add any value at all.

In fact, I could argue that they are negative for society.

However, I can’t deny that social media marketing is a real business in 2021.

If you like posting on social media, why not start earning money for it instead of seeking likes?

If you like food, create a social media account on the food you eat. Eventually, you might be able to get paid for posting it. At the very least, you might be able to get free food.

7. Graphic Design

In the gig economy, independent workers with specific skills can get paid for their services without committing to a 9 to 5 job.

8. Web Design

Do you love designing websites and coding?

If that’s your hobby, you could easily turn it into a full-fledged business.

There are plenty of people out there that need help with websites.

This is especially true after Covid. The pandemic came along and forced a lot of physical stores to close their doors. Meanwhile, online businesses like Amazon and Shopify did better than ever.

As the business world moves towards an online economy, more and more small businesses are going to need website designers.

If I was starting school over again, I would probably study web design and coding instead of studying business marketing. Business marketing is easy to learn online through self-study. However, website design and coding are more challenging to learn on your own.

Hobbies To Make Money: 12 Truly Enjoyable Hobbies That Pay (2021) - Dividend Income Investor (4)

9. Vlogging

For those who are unfamiliar with the term vlogging, it is essentially video blogging.

YouTubers are vloggers.

Over the past five years, a lot of online content has shifted to voice and video instead of written form.

Frankly, it’s an easier and more engaging to way to digest content.

If I was less shy, and if I didn’t have a job, I would be tempted to try out vlogging. To be honest, I think I would do well with it. But since I’ve never liked being the centre of attention and because I enjoy writing, I stick to blogging.

With that said, vlogging can be monetized in similar ways that blogging can:

Video ads
Sponsored reviews
Affiliate marketing
Creating and selling a product
Offering services

Hobbies To Make Money: 12 Truly Enjoyable Hobbies That Pay (2021) - Dividend Income Investor (5)

10. Artist (Painting/Drawing)

Being creative and working on art can be a relaxing hobby.

If you are a talented artist, though, you might have a dream side hustle on your hands.

In my opinion, every artist should have their own Etsy store or website nowadays.

Even if you don’t make a lot by selling your art, it’s a great way to put yourself out there.

Why not find out how talented you really are? Maybe you are more talented than you think.

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11. Gardening/Farming

In our fast-paced world, growing your own produce has become a lost art.

One hundred years ago, most people were likely farmers in some capacity.

But in 2021, many millennials don’t even know how to cook a basic meal. They just order Uber Eats every day.

If you are one of the rare individuals who enjoys gardening and growing your own produce, you could have a small business on your hands.

Of course, it depends on where you live because produce isn’t easy to ship. The food industry is heavily regulated too.

But if you live in a more rural area, you could consider selling produce to local traffic that passes by. At the very least, you could cut down your grocery bill by growing your own fresh vegetables.

12. Health & Fitness

In an increasingly lazy world, health and fitness is a growing industry.

Plenty of people are willing to pay good money for advice on how to work out or what to eat.

Frankly, it’s easy to learn how to work out or what to eat online. But many of these people just need someone to motivate them.

If you love health and fitness, and you’re always spending time on it, why not get paid to share your knowledge with others?

Also, I’m not talking about gloating or sharing your physique for likes. That’s pointless and it defeats the purpose of exercising and eating right for good health.

I’m talking about people who really love working out and eating right to be healthy.

If that’s your hobby, the market of people you could help has never been bigger.

Hardly anyone cooks anymore, and more people than ever are chained to a desk all day.

Hobbies To Make Money: 12 Truly Enjoyable Hobbies That Pay (2021) - Dividend Income Investor (7)

Hobbies To Make Money – Final Thoughts

By focusing on personal hobbies to make money, you can intertwine your beloved pastimes and work.

In turn, you get to enjoy as much of your time on this earth as possible.

Instead of going to that networking event or doing stuff you hate to climb the corporate ladder, it might be more worthwhile to improve at personal hobbies you love.

This way, you can maximize your time on things that you enjoy and grow your income at the same time. Even if your income grows slower, at least you will enjoy making it and not lose your soul.

Do you earn an income from your hobbies? Any other hobbies to make money that I missed?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.