Patriots, check your bank statements. That knitting project, the tackle box, the camping gear, the ski pass — they're all quietly getting more expensive, and the numbers now prove it.
Bank of America Institute card data shows spending on hobbies rose 7.9% year over year in August, more than twice the 3.4% growth in transactions over the same period, according to Fox Business. That gap — prices climbing faster than purchases — is the fingerprint of "funflation," the term economists use for the rising cost of entertainment and experiences Americans are determined to keep paying for. The report covers arts and crafts stores, hobby shops, outdoor recreation service providers, and retailers specializing in hiking, camping, skiing and scuba diving.
The reversal is striking. In August 2025, transactions actually outgrew spending by nearly a percentage point — a sign of discounting and deal-hunting. One year later, the script has flipped. Bank of America Institute researchers note that spending growth on hobbies also outpaced transactions during the pandemic, when social distancing pushed Americans toward at-home pursuits, before they "gravitated back toward pricier alternatives like travel throughout 2022 and 2023."
Now, per the Institute, there may be "some rotation back to less expensive leisure like hobbies as after-tax wage growth slowed considerably" — and the report points to another factor: "some consumers balance shift away from travel due to higher prices from rising fuel costs."
In plain English: when filling the tank costs too much, families stay home and pick up a cheaper hobby. Except the hobby isn't cheap anymore either.
The generational split
The Institute's data breaks down who is spending what each month, and the generational divide is wide. Older millennials sit at the top, spending nearly $220 per person monthly on hobbies, edging out Gen X and baby boomers. Boomers and Gen X average more than $200 per person, while Gen Z spends about $100 and younger millennials just over $140, according to the Bank of America Institute analysis.
Researchers believe older millennials lead for a simple reason: they're the cohort most likely to have young children, meaning they're funding their kids' hobbies alongside their own.
It's not just a spending story. A recent Gallup poll cited in the coverage found that more Americans than two decades ago now rate their hobbies or recreational activities as "extremely" or "very important" to them. And during the pandemic, nearly 60% of Americans picked up a new hobby, with about half of those turning it into a side hustle for extra cash, according to a LendingTree survey. One example reported by Entrepreneur: Anna Hudick, who turned a jewelry-making hobby into a business at age 58 after retiring from an engineering career, now selling her designs and teaching craft classes priced between $65 and $75 per person.
Fast Company, covering the same data, framed it bluntly: as Americans spend more on at-home activities like knitting and baking, rising prices mean they're getting less fun out of every dollar.
What this means for your wallet
The hobby economy was supposed to be the affordable corner of American leisure — the place you go when the vacation is off the table. Instead, the funflation trend means the backup plan is getting squeezed too. For families already stretched by grocery bills, energy costs and the broader cost-of-living crunch, a 7.9% annual jump in the price of leisure isn't a curiosity. It's a budget line that keeps growing while the paycheck doesn't.
There's also a deeper signal here about how Americans are responding to economic pressure. They aren't stopping the things that make life worth living — they're downgrading the venue. Fewer flights, more fishing rods. Less resort, more workshop. That's resilience, but it's also a warning that household budgets are being rearranged around the cost of simply having a good time.
Our Take
Here's the part the legacy media will gloss over: this is what happens when an economy punishes the middle class for years and then wonders why nobody feels like celebrating. Funflation is not some quirky trend piece. It's evidence that the cost of everything — including the small pleasures Americans reach for when money is tight — keeps climbing while wage growth stalls.
And notice the behavioral shift the data reveals. When gas and travel prices spike, families don't stop pursuing joy — they retreat to the hobby bench, the workshop, the campsite. That's the American spirit the Left loves to mock: self-reliance, craftsmanship, time with family instead of a $9 latte and a $200 concert ticket. But even that escape hatch is now being price-gouged.
The Trump-Vance administration's focus on energy dominance and deregulation is exactly the right medicine — because fuel costs are directly tied to why families are abandoning road trips in the first place. Lower energy prices mean cheaper travel, cheaper shipping, cheaper goods across the board. That's how you deflate funflation instead of just writing clickbait articles about it.
So here's the question, folks: if the cost of a simple weekend hobby keeps climbing while the dollar in your pocket shrinks, how long before the American family decides the fun isn't worth the price — and what does that say about the economy the establishment built?
