Elder millennials are driving a hobby renaissance in 2026, but ‘funflation’ could ruin the party

Want to have some fun this fall? It’ll cost you. The Bank of America Institute has released a new report on the hobby economy, and it shows that the price of fun is going up. According to BoA card data, hobby spending increased in August by more than double the pace of overall transaction growth. In other words, consumers are dropping more cash on their hobbies, but their hobbies are also getting significantly more expensive. Right now, hobby culture is having a moment online, as Gen Z and millennials document their pursuit of “grannycore” skills like knitting, gardening, scrapbooking, and sewing. But hobbyists should expect to shell out a bit of extra pocket money for those pursuits, as arts and crafts stores, hobby shops, and outdoor recreation retailers are driving what the BoA Institute has dubbed “funflation.” The mini hobby renaissance The report’s data reflects the idea that hobby culture is having something of a mini renaissance. Per the company’s research, hobby spending spiked majorly during the pandemic (around early 2021), before petering off over the next several years. Now, interest is ticking up again. In August, hobby spending was up 7.9% year-over-year, while actu…