What is your stamping monthly budget?
 

And how do you break it down? There is so much that I want right now from so many different places.

I want more House Mouse stamps; I want to try Bella stamps; I want all the SU! ink pads; I want all the new In Colors stamp pads and cardstock; I want more Copic markers; I want new furniture for my scrap/stamp room; I want more Nestabilities; I want more Cuttlebug embossing folders; I want the new Tinkerbell, Cars, and Seseme Street Cricut cartridges. I could go on all day. :rolleyes:

So what's your budget and how do you spend it? All in one place each month, or spread the love around LOL~ Help! :D

Someone on this board has a siggy line that goes something like-I can buy all the stamping supllies I can hide from my husband. LOL!!!

I don't have a budget, but probably should! And I spread the love around!

Budget...what budget???

Nancy

I don't have a budget as such. Some months when i'm not crafting much i won't spend as i can't justify the costs. I have now just spent a small fortune on setting up a craft space in my bedroom and i've made 2 cards there yesterday. Since then i have spent another �400 on supplies from two places - i don't know how 2 cards justifies that but hey ho, thats the way i am!!......lol.

I try to limit myself to one hundred dollars a month. I usually go over.

My sentiments exactly! Oh, I buy stamps from them too!

We are on a pretty tight budget, so sometimes I sell older things I'm not using if I don't have the $$ to purchase what I want. I would say on average, it's about $50 - $100/month. I spread it around to severak companies.
I'm pretty practical though. I have a list of wants... but I try to buy from companies that don't retire things every 6+ months so I know there is a chance I can purchase what I want. Make sense?
Good luck...
em

My husband and I have a strict spending money budget of $50 per month, so that's all I can spend unless I earn money some other way, like by selling cards or old supplies or freelance editing.

What's a budget?? ;)

I don't really have a monthly budget. I don't usually buy stamp/papercraft stuff every month. Usually I go shopping when I have some extra cash. Or I save up for one of Gina K's releaseas. I have too much stuff already and really don't need anything else. No more room for it either. I think there was a similar thread several months ago. It's very interesting to read other responses.

Budget? HaHaHa I have not bought anything since April when I went to a stamp convention. No job=No $. :( With the way the economy is going it will probebly be awhile before I have extra funds. I didn't even buy one thing from this past SU Catty. Oh so sad. I envy those that can shop when they feel like it, I wish it was me.

Sarah

My hubby and I have separate checking accounts for our "hobby" money. We get $100 each a month and we can spend as we wish. Sometimes I spend it all, sometimes I don't spend anything for months and then go on a spending spree. Anything I sell, the money goes into my account. I don't feel guilty and hubby can't question me.

Having a budget was a huge help to me as I really question my purchases now before just spending. I also ask for bigger items for bday and xmas gifts - like paper trimmers, scor pal, xyron, etc.

I go to 2 stamp class a month and they are $20 a piece. Then it really depends on my mood and what I want/need. I would say anywhere up to $100 depending on extra cash. Some months I go over that like when I bought 20 cuttlebug folders :D . And some months I go over when I buy new tools. I think I am pretty good for now. I have everything I want tool wise except some new tweezers, I can�t seem to find my Making Memories one and the one I have I don�t really care for. Well maybe the score pal mat.

As for new supplies that is a different story. I saw the new basic grey paper and am in love, some more embossing powder, more colors of stickles, more stampin up paper and inks (I almost have all the colors), some of tim holtz grunge board? AND of course who can pass up ribbon! I am trying to be good and only spend a few dollars here and there for now anyway.

hmmmm I don't have a budget...........if i want it, ummmm i mean NEED it I just buy it - plain and simple LOL Seriously, I do sell a lot of my cards and have many repeat customers so I usually use that money to purchase more product, along with a little of my own $$$ haha :mrgreen:

Mine used to be 100 per month... now because we are saving to buy a place it is just 30 per month which I spend on a monthly kit club.

I love the variety.

I don't have a budget but I do have to make sure everything else is paid before I can buy more. I usually spend no more than $20-$30 a month. Right now I am tring to get the nestabilities so some months that is all I spend.
I have a huge list of stamps I want and it gets harder and harder to keep to the budget.

I am supposed to stick with 400$ a month for ANYTHING extra that I want. I work so I just stick 200$ a paycheck into a separate account. Sometimes I remember I have it and use that account...sometimes not. But other times I'll take money out of there for DH or whatever. I think it all evens out in the end.

bud-get! I can't spell it, forget having one! Don't tell my husband that there are people out there that budget for the hobby and still cook dinners for their loved ones! I told him our kitchen is an entertainment center. After 34 years of marriage, he might be wise to me by now!

i don't have a budget per say...

i try to pace myself. sometimes i splurge and other times i resist. it's kinda like a roller coaster for me.


click, click, click, (buy, buy, buy)... then- weeeeee! stamp, stamp, stamp!


WOW! i sound like i am crazy! well... maybe a little!

We're supposed to have a budget? I must have missed that message..

I probably spend $150. a month, give or take....or...probably a little less than DH spends on golf..lol

:shock:

uumm.......$10.....IF THAT!! 4 kids, one income,.......need I say more.

I just finished 12 scrapbook pages without spending a DIME by using what I have bought on clearence or was given to me as a gift.

I sell my cards and save that money with any Christmas/birthday money and make ONE big order during SU sale-a-bration in Feb/Mar to earn the free stuff.

Well as a sigle mom of 2... my budget seems to be dwindling. LOL! I get to spend more sometimes like when I get a bonus and the kids don't need something immediatly. LOL! I just keep thinking one day my girls will be all grown up and I can spend like crazy. I will be one card making, scrapbooking, CHA attending momma! Untill then...

I have a budget of $150 per month, most months I stay within it others I go over like when the retired list comes out for SU. Most big ticket items I have been able to get because of extra money from selling cards, and other things. I was able to get my Prisma pencils because I put some stuff in my mom's garage sale. I usually check out to see who has the best buys and deals and I shop where it is least expensive, I also have to factor in the cost of shipping and exchange rate, coming to SCS helps as well because everyone is always letting us know who has the sales and best deals on shipping.

You are not alone!!!!

LOL! i keep trying to figure out how you guys get this birthday/christmas money!! Every since I gave birth my family has kicked me to the curb. LOL! However, i do get hand made "cards" from my Darling 5 year old who seems to be developing a hefty crafting habit as well. LOL!

hmmm...yeah, I don't (but SHOULD) have a budget... I try to keep it reasonable, but pretty much buy what I NEED (haha...need) - however, I only really have the rest of this month to do that, b/c I"ll be moving to Columbus in August to go to Vet School - so I won't have ANY extra money to spend on *fun* things... :-( although, I'm sure I have already have enough supplies and don't need more...

My mom usually asks gives me a couple of bucks for birthday and I just tell DH not to buy anything and I use the money he would have spent on me and apply it to my one yearly SU order. MOST of it is from selling cards though.

I probably use about $40 of my personal spending money from my paychecks for crafting/stamping supplies. But I also sell cards and things, so whatever I make from that I usually put back into stocking my supplies.

Thanks for sharing everyone!

Hmmm, so it sounds like I need to get creative and actually USE some of this stuff that I seem to keep collecting. Then sell the cards. What do home-made cards sell for, roughly? I guess I never thought to do that. I've seen some scrapbook paper piecings go for HUNDREDS of $$$ on ebay, but I'm no where near that creative.

I keep telling myself that I'm spending more because I'm just starting stamping and need lots of basics that will last a long time. But I think I'm just kidding myself. It's always something new.

I don't really have a budget either. I save $ from selling cards or getting them published as well as sell the product I no longer use. It's been a long time since I had to dip into our savings account. Our LSS had a garage sale and I sold $300 worth of product so it has been nice to go and buy whatever I wanted for the last couple of months.

this is SO true!

i did spend more in the beginning.

it will kinda taper off. i say KINDA be cause it is a 'roller coaster' for ME. sometimes a lot other times not.

No budget here - I sell my cards, any sets that I don't use, and I do work for a small business in town. She sells shirts that you can have whatever you want put on them in swarovski rhinestones - names, words, etc. They have to be made by putting one stone at a time on sticky paper that is then used to put the design on a shirt with a heat press. VERY tedious work - doesn't pay really well, either. With one income, 2 kids, 2 cars a house and a timeshare, I don't get lots of extras. :) I usually ask for $$ for birthday, Mother's Day, Christmas, etc. instead of gifts.

I sell my cards for $1.25 each. I was doing them for $1 and they sold much better that way, so I may go back to that. DH takes them with him to work to sell for me.

budget?
 

Well, I tell myself not to spend over $100 per month. Most times I stay under that. I will share a little something called the Fresh Flower Index that I developed to rationalize just about any purchase. Feel free to use this method at any time! It goes this way: I could stop on my way home and buy a bunch of fresh flowers, which I really would like to do. Let's say it costs me $25. What would I have at the end of one week? I would have dead flowers, that's what! Now, if I buy that stamp set or those pretty pumps on sale at Amazon (they sell SHOES too!), what would I have at the end of the week? I'd have a stamp set or a pretty pair of shoes! Also, along the same lines, I work outside the home three days a week, but I always pack a lunch. I figure that saves me at least $5 per day, that would be $15 per week and $60 a month. Add to that the four bunches of flowers that I DIDN'T buy and you can easily see that I am saving a lot of money!

Trust me - I can rationalize any purchase!

Jutta

I try to limit myself to $100 a month. Some months I'm over and some I'm under. But I also do other crafts besides stamping which makes it harder.

LOL THATS SO TRUE

i dont have a budget ,i just buy all i can get my hands on ,if i dont have any more money i still buy more :)

I don't have a budget either. I buy what I want. My DH doesn't really care because it doesn't come out of the household money. He plays golf; I stamp - it all works out in the end.

I haven't sat down and stated: well, you can spend X number of dollars a month on toys.

BUT..If I know I can't pay off the credit card, then I don't buy it. In fact, sometimes I go to the OTHER extreme..and hold off on buying stuff even when the price is right.

before I stumbled upon SCS I had never heard of cuttelbugs or dew drops or House mouse. I placed 2 orders a year with SU! ..when each catalog came out. they are typically large enough to get hostess bennies. and when SAB comes out I usually buy enough to get whatever free sets I want.

that has all gone flyin' RIGHT out the window. I debated for WEEKS before justifying my Cuttlebug. and I must say it was worth the investment. I have lots of folders now that get used all the time. I have discovered hedgies and meeces and hoppers and fluffles and even bellas and have begun branching out Right now I am trying to convince myself that Nestabilities and Prismacolors are worth the expense. i think I can talk myself into the nesties, but unless I get free money either through selling stuff or gifts, IU have other things I can use to color..for now.

so while I don't have a budget per se, I have noticed that my monthly spending has increased a smidgen. But after the August Catty comes out and I go nutsoid, I probably won't buy anything big again until SAB.

besides, DH gets THREE payraises next year.. One in January for COL, one in April for making O4 and one in October for going over 14 years In. tthose will cover my student loan payments AND some extra fundage for my toys. Lucky me , DH doesn't have any expensive habits, although now that he's made Field Grade, he may have to take up golf just to keep up.....:rolleyes:

Welcome to Columbus BTW! We have a lot of great scrapbooking/stamping stores in the outer sub areas! OHHH, sorry we WERE talking about budgets LOL. I dont really have a budget, but I dont allow myself to buy with my credit card. I have to pay cash/debit or not buy. The exception is online purchases, which I am a little less constritive. But mostly I am an impulse buyer by looky/touchy so the cash thing works for me.:)

I don't have a budget but I don't spend a lot either. I will be signing up as an SU demo next month and then will have a budget for my SU supplies providing I end up having to meet minimums on my own. Any cricut cartridges I get, I buy on sale or on layaway. I figure I can wait for them.

ditto!

I don't really have a budget either...but I try to be reasonable. I sell everything I don't use any more. It's nice having $ in that Paypal account. And I try to only buy things I REALLY want and WILL use. I don't usually buy on the release days or nights, because I will just order everything. I try to take a few days and really think about what I wan. This month, I've already spent $200. Thats probably about my average.