How I reached and achieved a six months no spend on craft stuff | Top tips on how you can too

Hello there, firstly I apologise for my absence on here lately, this is down to me re-evaluating things and putting my energy into organising my life and finding the right balance to put into my crafting, as at times I've been crafting to just to get my work on my blog and now think I need to start crafting for me first. From now on I'm going to focus more on the quality of my work than the quantity of my blog posts, I so hope you agree with me on this one? Yes there will be slightly fewer posts each month but I'm hoping there will be of higher standard and I'm hoping to do more tutorials, tips and tricks posts too if you like this one.

Right on with the the blogpost, back earlier in the year I decided to have a massive craft stash sort out, I took no prisoners and really got rid of a awful lot of stuff, things I'd not used for years to brand new things that were just sitting in a drawer. I was totally ashamed and astonished at how much I'd collected over the years. From that point I sat there and set myself a goal....no more purchasing craft things, I didn't know how long it would last or if I could do it...but I did and in September I reached six months no spend. Which I am totally thrilled about it and very proud that I've managed to do it. Below is some tips and tricks on how you can do the same, or save money on your crafting. So hope you don't think I'm preaching as that's not how I wanted to put it across, its just to help others in crafting life.    

Willpower  is definitely needed !!!!  

• Blitz your craft room /space or area, look through everything you have and ask yourself this, do you use it? have you used it lately? do I need it? Be ruthless and just keep the things you really do use or will use. I found this part of the process totally refreshing and therapeutic, it certainly spurred me to carry on. The things you no longer want...you have many options to head, personally mine was donated to a local charity shop but you can donate to schools, charitable organisations or of course you can sell them on auction sites, car boot and jumble sales near you.
• Use what you have already, that is the obvious I suppose, but we all have craft supplies that we may have only used on or maybe twice, like clear stamps a lot of us use a couple of the stamps in set and put them back in our storage boxes. Well get them out and play about with them and see what else you can with those supplies, believe me you will be surprise what you can make with them.
• If you already own a electronic die cutting machine, see this as free shop at home as you can design your own cutting files or use elements you're already purchased. Lately I've been loving the stitched A2 (US) panels and instead of purchasing dies I created my own. Also is abundance of FREE cutting files you can pick up on the internet (as long as you make sure to adhere to their copyright and angel policy) both Birds Cards and Miss Kate Cuttables are very good. Also you can do a whole lot more than cut just cutting files, you can create your own stencils, embossing folders, stickers and of course decorations for the home. 
• CD ROM papercrafting for backing papers....Yes you heard right...CDRoms don't seem to be used as much as they use to be these days, I'm a massive fan of them because you can print as many as you want and have them at home on hand when you need them, like having a little FREE craft shop at home day or night. Printing them these days is more economical when you use super smooth card or paper and print on just normal settings, you don't need all singing and dancing printer as mine is only about £49.99 and that was couple of years back. I've decided once all my paper pads have been used up I vowed that I won't be purchasing anymore and use solely CD ROMS to print off backing papers. 
• Making your own card blanks and envelopes, this is a major saving when crafting as pre packed card blanks can be expensive. I use two different score boards for making my own and had these score boards for many years now, for card blanks I use big score board and for making envelopes I use the Envelobox board. 
• Embrace D.I.Y !! You won't believe what you can find online or even pinterest on how to make your own crafting tools, like when I made my very own DIY Stamping tool that was found on Youtube. You can make your own texture paste, mini blending tools and so much more with household items you may already have. Just search online and you will be surprise what you can come up with.

We are so very lucky to have such wonderful craft industry and we see so much new and amazing products every month and we would all like to own it all, but most of us just don't have that sort of budget, so the next time you see something you want, try to see if you can create it yourself using what you have already have. I use to feel that I needed to have the latest things to be modern and on trend but I've realised you don't have too. 

I so hope you're enjoyed this post and would love your feedback on the subject and hear if you agree or if you found this of help to you. Would you like more tutorials and craft advice in the near future?