I love Scrapbooking. It's both enjoyable and fun. However, scrapping can be very expensive unless you find ways to save money. For all you scrappers out there, I will give you all my money saving secrets. You can enjoying scrapbooking and still say on your budget.
The first secret is to visit your local Arts and Craft supply stores in your area. If you don't have any locally, go online and view the Micheals and the JoAnn websites. Get a good feel for what everything actually costs. This very important because it is the first step to saving money on craft supplies. How will you know if you're getting a deal if you don't know the regular retail prices?
My second secret to saving money on scrapbooking is to look around the house. Newspapers, magazines, and old yarn make great scrapbook material. I also love paper bags! They are cheap and in many cases, they are free. You can pick them up at your local grocery store. I brought a whole set of 50 brown paper lunch bags for $1.92. That comes to around 4 cent a bag. You just can't beat that price! A free way to get paper bags, is to save them from your visits to the Chinese restaurant. Sometimes, you may not be able to do this. Some restaurants, the food will leak into the bag. However, my Chinese take out uses super tight containers and they rarely, if ever, leak into the bag. I save them and use them for my mini scrapbook projects.
My third money saving secret is Ebay and Etsy! You can save a lot of money on your scrapbooking supplies on Ebay as long as you do your research. This is why I recommended that you visit your local arts and craft stores to get a good feel for what things actually cost. When you visit ebay check out the wholesale lots. You can find some excellent deals there. However, be careful with the bidding. Some of the new buyers on Ebay have a habit of running up the bids to the point where it's no longer a good deal. Rather than bid on a hot item, select the watch feature and keep an eye on the item. This is what I do. Sometimes I win and sometimes I don't. Another thing I do is check the Buy Now auctions. I've actually found a ton of good deals there. Ebay is a great place to save money if you know your prices. Be willing to walk away from an item if it's too much money, this way you will never overpay for anything.
On the same order of Ebay is a lesser known website called Etsy. I love Etsy. I have purchased several items from there. Most of the items sold on Etsy are handmade and handcrafted items. It's a great place to save money if you know your prices. Be sure to use Paypal when buying from both Ebay and Etsy. Paypal offers you a layer of protection that other forms of payment just don't offer. Play it safe while you save money.
My fourth craft money saving secret is Thift Stores and Yard sales. I've purchased many things this way for just pennies on the dollar. What I like about thift stores and yard sales is the fact that you get to see exactly what you're getting before you buy. You can buy yarn, ribbon, patterns, and craft books for a fraction of the retail cost. You can find lovely wreaths, pictures, and wooden items. Spruce them up with beads or flowers and it will look brand new!
My last money saving secret is Walmart and Dollar Tree. Recently Walmart has started to sell scrapbooking supplies. I've found scrapbooking paper stacks there for $5. They also sell some stickers and other embellishments. Check out the Dollar Tree too. I've found flowers, paper, and embellishments at the Dollar Tree. Every time I'm there, I stock up. It's only a dollar so you can't wrong. It'll be well worth your while to check them out also.
Scrapbooking can be very costly but there are many ways you can save money. If you know your prices and you do a little searching, you can find everything you need. Yes, you can enjoy scrapbooking without going broke.
Which is Better Joann or Michael's?
