We have talked a lot about the first part of the question, the cost of living. Here’s an answer to the second part, did I spend money on photography lately.
Yes, yes I have. In fact, I more or less swapped out my entire kit in the last year, and replaced my computer.
It’s almost embarrassing, really, how much stuff I tried out. But I realized that I wouldn’t get that voice in my head from stopping the “what if” game without satisfying its curiosity. So I tried all the things. Bought and sold dozens of cameras. Rationalized the difference between buying and selling as a “rental fee”, of sorts. Eventually the urge to try things abated, as I slowly got to know most tropes.
That in turn meant I had finally learned what kind of gear gives me joy, and started accumulating a consistent kit of it. Last year it started making “sense” to buy some more recent/expensive/specialized gear, since I no longer feared I’d grow out of it before too soon.
But I fully acknowledge that all of this is toys to me. It does not represent an “investment” any more than a vacation does. And I know all of it can be sold quickly and without much loss should I need to.
And I must say that all things considered, photography is not that expensive a hobby. One colleague of mine is into cars, which are just woefully expensive. Another likes video gaming hardware, which loses value in mere seconds after it is released. Another enjoys musical instruments, where the used market is almost nonexistent and selling is largely not a viable option. And let’s just not talk about jewelry or watches or top-tier smartphones. And my not-quite-recent Fuji kit is comparatively modestly priced, anyway.
And yet, I evidently felt the need to defend my purchases here with several paragraphs worth of hedging and rationalization. I don’t know if that’s healthy, either. Perhaps a sane person might simply own up to buying frivolous things for fun? Perhaps a sane society would not put a stigma on reasonable excess? Or perhaps I am insane after all, and decadent, and a hypocrite? I truly don’t know.