How To Control Spending

There’s been a bit of discussion on Splitcoast, regarding the costs of stamping, and various ways to save money.  Keep in mind that the following is just my humble opinion, and comes from what I’ve personally learned over my 13 years of stamping . . . *grin*

Hobbies, generally speaking, are not “cheap”.  Hunting, fishing, model building, oil painting, gardening, etc., all have expenses that come with them for tools, supplies & materials, and in some cases, education/training to learn more about the hobby you enjoy.

Some things to think about, regarding spending:

• Start with good basics (stamps, ink, paper).  Also, a $13.95 circle punch may seem spendy at the time, however, simple geometric shapes are my most frequently needed, so I get much more mileage for my $13.95 investment in that, than I do in a specialized shape
• Invest in quality tools; cheap substitutions usually do not perform well, or break down, subsequently causing you to spend even more to replace them.  My Milwaukee Heat Gun performs as well today, as it did when I purchased it for $32.95 11 years ago, and has *never* failed me.  If I ever have to buy another, you can bet that Milwaukee has earned my loyalty, and I won’t hesitate to pay full price!
• Assess how likely you are to use something in a variety of ways; the more versatile it is, the more value you are getting for your investment
• Don’t purchase something just because it’s a great deal–if you don’t love it, you won’t use it = wasted money
• Don’t purchase in bulk, unless you have at least one specific idea, hopefully more than one, in mind for the product, or again, wasted money
• Don’t buy it “all” at once!  You may find your taste changes as you learn/explore more, and you can’t use it all at once anyway! *wink*
• If you haven’t used it in a year, chances are, you are not gonna again, so get rid of it (sell it, trade it, give it to someone, etc.) and free up some storage space for something you will use!
• What do you enjoy making most?  Invest in products that are geared toward that.  For example, I enjoy card-making more than anything else; investing in tools for making my own books (such as a Bind-It-All, which I think is *uber* cool, and I want one only because it is cool), would not be a wise investment for me and I *know* it; I don’t actually like making books. (insert shocked expression)  So, it would be wiser for me to buy the occasional pre-fab book when I do want to make one as opposed to investing in a tool I’d use so rarely.  I also think about for whom, and for what occasions I am most likely to stamp:  I *love* flowers, and they work well for all girls in my life, and are suitable for get well, birthday, thinking of you, sympathy, friendship, etc.  For the men in my life, well, they all fish and are into sports, so I focus on products that enable me to create a variety of projects that suit.  I also love things such as coffee, chocolate, girlie stuff (shopping, dresses, shoes, purses), snowmen/snowflakes, and last, but not least:  appletinis *wink*
• There are certain embellishments that pack a wollop, but are relatively inexpensive and worth having on hand, as staple items, from the get-go.  I would be lost without: Prisma Glitter and a Sakura Quickie Glue Pen, Mini brads, ribbon, and a bottle of Prima “Got Flowers” (dang, have you seen how many little blossoms there are in each bottle???).  These are things I always keep available and re-stock when the supply gets low because, more often than not, when I need that extra little touch to set off a design, these rescue me perfectly and I love them!
• If you need to, create a monthly spending allowance and stick to it.  If there’s a big ticket item you want, what are you willing NOT to buy or how much are you willing NOT to spend, for a few months to enable you to save to buy that item?
• Invest in organization and storage; if you can’t find it, you won’t use it, OR, you just might buy a duplicate ‘cuz you forgot you already have it!  ACK!  ROTFL!

Now, if you got into stamping because you thought you’d “save some money by making your own cards”, over purchasing them ready-made at the card shoppe, I’m sorry to inform you that this is a myth, and you need to quit deluding yourself!   ROTFLMAO!

But, if you consider the stress-relief that stamping provides, well, no offense to all the psychotherapists out there, but, any hobby, including this one, is well worth the investment for that reason alone. *chuckle*  That, and the joy of creating, simply for the sake of creating, give me immense personal satisfaction.

One thing, above all, holds true:  the friendships that grace my life, as a result of this obsession shared by so many, are absolutely priceless! *grin*

Great advice, Julie!  I know I have fallen victim to some of the things mentioned above, but I’m getting better!  Hopefully, this message will help out some of you who are just starting out so that you can learn from our mistakes and save some $$!!

Happy Crafting!

Happy Crafting!

For example, I use Aleene’s Tacky Glue for pretty much everything because it’s super cheap and works for me.  I purchased my last bottle for a whopping $0.92, and it’s lasted me for about a year now.  Now, some people might not like to use it because the tip always gets clogged and it doesn’t dry as quickly as some of the “designed especially for paper crafting” liquid glues.  However, I simply keep a little plastic tray with my bottle and every time I use the glue I completely unscrew the top of the bottle and pour a little into the tray, and then use a toothpick to spread it wherever I want to use it.  I don’t mind throwing away the glue I’ve poured out that day but didn’t use because it’s so stickin’ cheap!  Plus, I’m also a pretty patient person so I don’t mind waiting for the glue to dry.  I usually have something else to work on anyway! 

So, yes, it can be a little bit more of a hassle sometimes to use the cheap stuff instead of the specialized products that might come in easier to use forms, but you just need to figure out what things you’re willing to skimp on and what things you aren’t.  However, I will offer this caveat emptor: sometimes the cheap stuff really doesn’t work.  Sometimes the reason it’s cheap is because it is just not a high quality product, and has nothing to do with the packaging or other negotiable qualities.  But, if you try the cheap stuff first and find it doesn’t work, at least you won’t have wasted that much money!

Happy Crafting!

P.S. If any of you have a frugal tip you’d like to share I’d love to hear it!  Pass it along and I may post it for everyone to read!

There are times when I look at all my crafting tools and supplies and think “ugh – I want something new!”  When this happens I have two choices: give in and go shopping, or resist and get creative!

For instance, some time ago I really wanted to buy a swirly line style stamp.  I didn’t have a particular one in mind, just something swirly to use as backgrounds.  Well, instead of going out to buy one I forced myself to dig through all my stamps and supplies to see if I could get the same look using something else.  Know what I discovered?  I had this sun stamp from Stampendous that had these really fun swirly rays, and I thought “hey – this would make a great background!”

All I did was stamp the entire image, and then cover up the face of the sun with another stamped piece and, voila – a swirly background!  It was so simple I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it sooner!  All I needed to do was look through my stash with a different mindset.

So that’s my challenge to you this week: discover new ways to use your old supplies!  Instead of going shopping, challenge yourself to think of one new way to use something you already own.  This can also be a great way to get inspiration if you’re stuck doing the same designs and techniques over and over again: pull out something you have lying around and force yourself to come up with a different way to use it to before you go buy anything new.  The most creative pieces I make usually come out of a time when I am low on supplies but have no money to spend on any new tools or products!

Happy Crafting!

Have you ever seen those books that are chock full of really cool images that you can cut out, photocopy, or use as clip art (most of them also come with a CD with all the images in electronic format)?  Well, chances are that 90% of those books you see are from a company called Dover Publications.  Dover has books covering every topic you could imagine, from blacksmithing project instructions to activity books for kids.  However, their specialty is in providing copyright- and royalty-free images for artists to use as they please.  Their images are gorgeous, and you can manipulate them however you want! 

Well, I recently discovered that Dover offers free sample images from their books delivered to your email – every week!   All you have to do is enter your email address on the Dover Sampler web page and you’ll soon be receiving dozens of free images every week!  This week I downloaded some beautiful Chinese designs, historic photos of New York City from the 1940s, and even quotes from Mark Twain.

Here’s a quick card I made using one of the images I downloaded from the Dover Sampler.  I simply printed the image onto cream cardstock and glued it onto my card front – easy!

Happy Crafting!

This week’s frugal tip:  Don’t go into a craft supply store looking for inspiration!

Don’t do it!!  This is like going grocery shopping when you’re hungry. There are a lot of great ideas and examples on display in most craft stores, but their main goal is to sell you new products and tools, instead of showing you what you can do with what you already have.  They just want your money!!  And, I know, you really want to give it to them, don’t you?  But you can do it!  You can resist!  So instead of going shopping the next time you’re feeling a little low on the mo-jo, hop on the web and check out your favorite blogs or galleries.  Or, better yet, call a buddy and confess your weakness!  It is an addiction, after all, and the first step is admitting it.  

This week’s frugal tip: get free envelopes! 

If you’ve ever been into a retail store that has a large card section, I’m sure that you have experienced how messy and disorganized those card display racks can get.  Lots of envelopes get misplaced, lost, and separated from their cards.  My husband used to work for a retail store that had just such a card section.  So one day I happened to ask the woman there who organized the cards if she had any extra envelopes lying around, and low and behold, she had hundreds!  She was delighted to let me take them off her hands!  So now I have a huge bin full of envelopes, enough to last me years! 

Now, keep in mind that these envelopes are all different sizes and colors, and most have a logo imprinted on them, like Hallmark or American Greetings.  But I’ve found that that doesn’t really cause a problem when I’m just sending my cards out to friends and family.  So why not go and ask your local card store for their extra envelopes?  It certainly can’t hurt, and you might just never need to buy an envelope again!