'The cost of my favourite hobby got out of hand. Until I found a simple way to save hundreds'

Everyone has a hobby. Some people like to read books, others enjoy playing sport, and some like to find the weirdest and wackiest thing they can throw themselves into for sheer entertainment purposes.

I, however, have a simple hobby. I enjoy sitting in front of the TV with a good movie on and building a Lego set.

It's not a hard hobby, and it's easy enough to get into; the only barrier I constantly find myself encountering is the cost – until recently.

Just a 10-minute walk from my house is a shopping centre with a Lego store where I would browse the latest additions to the 18+ Lego Botanicals range.

But, it got to a point where I simply couldn't justify spending around $100 a week on a Lego set I would finish before the movie was over.

As beautiful as the Lego bouquets and plants decorating my home look, it just wasn't worth the cost anymore.

So, I had to put my hobby on hold. Limiting myself to one new Lego set each month.

That was until I realised that there was a cheaper alternative.

READ MORE: Extreme ways Aussie parents are trying to make ends meet

READ MORE: 'Disappointing': Woolworths discontinues in-store check out option

READ MORE: Shortage of popular cooking ingredient leaves shoppers scrambling

One day, strolling through Kmart, I noticed a shelf at the edge of the toy section lined with Lego. And not fake Lego dupes, I'm talking real, proper brand, Lego.

At first, I only noticed the sets targeted at a lower age range (as a 26-year-old woman, I have too much dignity to purchase any Lego without the 18+ label on it), but lining the lower shelves, I saw several sets that I already owned, plus a few that I had had my eye on.

I saw a set that, just two weeks prior, I had spent $99.99 on, now available at Kmart for just $78.

So I looked through the available options and compared them to the prices online at the Lego store on my phone, and imagine my shock and delight when I realised that all the sets I had been wanting to purchase were around $20 cheaper in Kmart.

There wasn't a huge selection in store, but when I got home and looked online, Kmart had almost every Lego set I'd been hoping to purchase, and they were obviously much cheaper.

And it turns out that it's not just Kmart! After a little online research I found that other budget retailers such as Big W and Amazon also sell Lego for the same, discounted price.

You can even get your hands on some of the larger sets that would set you back around $249.99 at the Lego store for just $199.

It might not seem like a huge discount. And I don't disagree that it's still quite a price to pay for a few bags of plastic bricks and an instruction manual. I have to admit that when you purchase the amount of Lego I do, the discount really adds up.

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.