Compared to a lot of scrappers, I don’t spend all that much on scrap supplies. I guess it’s because I’ve never understood the idea of hoarding supplies, and without an LSS at my fingertips I don’t have the temptation to nip in and ‘get a few items’. Maybe this is for the best.
But I also stick to a spending rule… 1 page per £1 (or dollar). This is something someone mentioned to me a long time ago, and I’ve always used. I was recently reminded of it again, and I thought I’d share this here. Basically, the idea is the I need to make a page for every £1 I spend on an individual item. If something is £5, then I need to be able to use it on 5 layouts—- it’s as simple as that. I find that this system works in two ways. It means I avoid buying a single item that is expensive, but promotes things I might have found expensive but once I broke it down they seemed much more reasonable. For instance, I love the ‘lil Davis chipboard letters, but at £8 for a package of 26 letters it seems a little bit steep. Then I realized that I could probably use a single package on about 18 different layouts (assuming I spell out a few words) —that’s now less that 50p per layout! So I bought 2 packs. :) Same goes for tools, stamps, and other scrapbooking staples.
I also try to avoid hoarding supplies. I have less than 3 inches worth of paper, and I find that’s far too much for me. I’m trying to wittle it down a bit. It’s not that I don’t like having lots of choice for papers, but rather if I have less paper then I can justify buying more of the new stuff that is coming out from CHA…. or at least that’s how I can justify it to my husband. :)