My December Scrapbooking Expenses

Every other Friday, I write a post about Minimalist Scrapbooking. And, once a month, I share what I spent on scrapbooking in the previous month.

In December, I spent $78.60, much less than the $352.68 I spent in November. This brings my monthly average down to $112.76.

Here’s what I bought:

• I spent $8.20 at my local scrapbook store. I bought two sheets of Christmas pattern paper and wire cutters for my cinch.
• I signed up for Stamp Carving 101 at Balzer Designs for $30. I’m not much of a stamper but am intrigued by the idea of carving my own stamps. I did have to buy a couple of supplies for the class, but got those from Santa so they are not included in my expenses.
• I also signed up for One Little Word at Big Picture Classes. I was on the fence about this one but decided I’d check it out this year. I spent $32.40 (using a 10 percent off coupon) on the class. I am not planning on buying any supplies for the class but adapting the supplies I already own to the class content.
• I spent about $8 at Hobby Lobby on paintbrushes. I’ve been using paint quite a bit more and needed to add some variety to my paint brush stash and replace a couple of brushes that have seen better days.

Overall, I did bring my spending down considerably compared to November. I spent quite a bit on classes this month, which means I most likely will not be signing up for any more classes for a few months.

In 2012, I’ve decided to start the year out with a budget of $60 a month for scrapbooking, which is $720 for the year. I spent $1014.86 from April to December of 2011. (I only started keeping track in April. I don’t believe I spent that much the first three months of the year, but I can’t remember). So, I am looking at reducing my scrapbook spending by around 30 percent. I will continue including the costs of photo printing in my scrapbook budget. Reducing my spending by 30 percent will be tough because I would like to replace my broken photo printer at some point this year. So that will be about $150. I’d love a Silhouette, but that probably won’t happen with this budget. I don’t want one bad enough to increase my budget. I’m still not sure I would use it enough to justify the cost, which is why I am not going to buy or budget for one at this point.

Guess what? I’m not the only one out there blogging about how much they spend on scrapbooking! Sara at 1200 Some Miles has started doing the same thing.

Do you have any big scrapbooking splurges planned in 2012? Comment below!

Related posts:

• My April Scrapbooking Expenses
• My May and June Scrapbooking Expenses
• My July Scrapbooking Expenses
• My August Scrapbooking Expenses
• My September Scrapbooking Expenses
• My October Scrapbooking Expenses
• My November Scrapbook Expenses

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Stephanie