Hobby now pays for itself plus a little extra and it took almost no investment

I make music as a hobby for years. I spend probably $500 total over time on equipment and software which felt like a lot for something that's just for fun.

Earlier this year I decide to see if I could at least make some of that back by putting my stuff on streaming platforms. I expect nothing honestly.

9 months later I now make about $180 in streaming revenue. So my hobby is officially breaking even and starting to go positive.

The frugal win here: I don't spend any extra money to do this. I use free distribution and just upload tracks I already have. Zero additional investment.

My takeaway: if you have any hobby that produces something tangible it's probably worth seeing if you can monetize it even a little. Might take a while but turning a cost center into a small profit center feels great.