What it's like having a hobby you can barely pay for as a 15 year old.

Have you ever been curious as to how a 15 year old kid can manage a hobby he can barely pay for himself? No? Yeah that's what I expected, though I bet you're curious now, huh? Well, I'm here to satisfy that curiosity! Being a 15 year old, unemployed kid with a hobby like mine, I get asked how I'm able to afford it all, and today I'll go over just that!

First off, let's talk about what my hobby actually is. I collect anime and video game figures. For those of you who don't know what that is, an anime is a style of Japanese animation, almost like a Disney movie, though are more often TV shows. And I hope you know what a video game is, as they have been around as a mainstream source of entertainment for quite a while now. So now that I've gone over that, I collect figures of characters/items found in said games/anime. It's extremely similar to collecting porcelain dolls and such. Though it may not be as expensive as other hobbies, such as car building or skydiving, it's not exactly cheap, with figures ranging anywhere from $10-$500 at retail price. So, being my age, it must be difficult to spend any time in this hobby, right? Well, not exactly.

There are some reasons as to why I'm actually able to buy figures and actually have the money for it. Some more obvious than others.

First off, I do yard work. Lots and lots of yard work. Like I said, some would be obvious, and it doesn't get anymore obvious than this. I had my grandparents put up an ad on Facebook a few years back asking if anyone would willing to pay me for yard work, and sure enough, I got offers for lawns to be mowed, dog poop to be picked up, weeds to be pulled, etc., etc. I'd make up to $80 a day at times! With summer just around the corner, I'll be back to business any time now!

Second, I sell stuff I no longer use or just don't need anymore. I've made over $700 selling old things like clothes and figures I no longer want online! It's helped pay for a large chunk of my collection, that's for sure.

Third, I split costs with friends and family. What I mean by that is when its a couple figures in a lot, and I don't want ones they otherwise would, I ask if they would like to split the cost, and we each take what we want from said lot. The amount I've saved on shipping as well as the price of a specific item is incredible, almost $200!

And finally, holidays. These are the best because I don't have to spend any money at all, and I still get amazing additions to my collection! Holidays I receive gifts would be Christmas and Easter, though I'd count my birthday among them.

Now that I've cured your supposed curiosity, I hope you have a better understanding on what collecting is as a 15 year old kid like me. It's fun, and even challenging at times, but it makes me happy, as well as many others. It's a hobby that's grown over time, and has a good and supportive community that cares and helps each other. There are figures ranging from anime that are so underground and unheard of that it'd surprise you to see a figure of, to being able to collect 14 Link figures! (Yes I have 14 Link figures.) There's something for everyone, and if this has hopefully sparked you interest at all, please try it!

Thank you for reading and I hope to see you soon!