Ideas to Save Money on Supplies for Scrapbooks

"Getting money is like digging with a needle;
spending it is like water soaking into sand."

Japanese Proverb

Money Saving Ideas for Scrapbookers

Scrapbooking expenses can add up. Use these tips to keep your hobby costs low.

Be extra thrifty by making scrapbook calendars to give as gifts to family members each year. Calendar make great Christmas gifts. There are several ways you can do this easily. One way is to use a software program with a calendar making feature. Many greeting card programs also have a calendar feature. Self publishing site Lulu allows anyone to have a professional looking, personalized calendar made relatively inexpensively. You can have family calendars printed with important family dates like, birthdays and anniversaries.

Keep your supplies well organized. Clear plastic containers work best so you can easily see what you have in stock at all times.

If you know what you have in stock, then you are less likely to buy duplicate items that might end up going to waste.

Have a swap night with friends and trade off ribbons, papers and other items. To Paraphrase the old saying, one scrapbooker's trash is another scrapbooker's treasure.

Shop with friends for supplies and try to buy in bulk when possible.

Keep track of how much you are spending on supplies each month, as well as keeping a "per page" estimate.

There are many cute supplies available that can easily end up costing you $20 or more a page! If you have that kind of budget, that's fine. But if you are like me and don't have an unlimited supply budget, be careful to set a monthly budget for supplies and stick to it. If you want more supplies than your budget allows, then try to cut back in other areas, like eat at home on a Friday night instead of going out.

Things you can put in your scrapbook that are free (or at least very inexpensive) include:

Tickets for concerts, movies, plays, sports events, air lines, etc.

Recipes and menus

Quotes, poems, personal writings

Cards

Maps

Letters

Magazine articles and pictures

Pressed leaves and flowers

Drawings

Report cards

Letters of recognition

Promotion announcements

Invitations

Receipts

Stamps

Foreign money and coins

Postcards

and of course pictures!

It never hurts to search through thrift stores and garage sales for unusual items for your pages.