My freshman year of college, I learned what it really means to be “college student broke.” Although my physical needs were still taken care of by my parents at that point, I also had thousands of dollars in tuition hanging over my head almost constantly. This meant that, although craft stores and online shopping were more accessible to me than ever before, I almost never had any money to spend. In the meantime, I figured out some strategies to still be crafty, even on a $0 budget, and today I’m sharing them with you.
Recycle everything
The first thing you can do to be crafty as a broke college student is to recycle everything. I still do this, even as a now-employed college student (who still doesn’t have a ton of money to spend). Look for everything: cardboard boxes, food containers, plastic packaging, anything you can potentially find a use for. The possibilities are endless! You can also use this technique to reduce the amount of waste in your life :).
All the Pinterest freebies
This tip is most effective if you have access to a color printer at home (or on campus ;). Pinterest has tons and tons and tons of free things! Just search “free printable + [whatever you’re looking for]” and you’ll probably find something you like. If you’re a planner girl, check out my Pinterest board for all the planner resources, most of which are free. You can also find free graphics (“free png + [item you’re looking for]”) and use them to make your own printables on Microsoft Word.
Go window shopping
The next way to be crafty on a $0 budget is to go window shopping. Ride, walk or drive to the nearest craft store. Admire all the pretty things there, and imagine what you’ll make once you can afford to buy some of them. Make lists of things you’d love to have, and look for off-brand versions that may be less expensive. Most of all, learn to enjoy the experience of looking at beautiful things without the pressure of deciding what to buy. It can be enjoyable, if you approach it from this mindset. You can also “window shop” online.
Ask for things for Christmas
One of the benefits of being a broke college student is the amount of blessing that comes when people buy things for you. My freshman year, I tagged my grandma in a Facebook post with a Bible journaling bag that I wanted, but couldn’t afford. That Christmas, I received the bag as a gift, along with some other things I had wished for. It made me feel so happy and blessed! While I wouldn’t recommend asking for things quite as publicly as I did, it can be helpful to make a list (on Amazon, for example) of things that people can bless you with.
Buy one really good thing, then use it often
Another tip I have for crafting on a $0 budget is to save up for one tool that you know you’ll get lots of use from. I saved up birthday and babysitting money a few years ago and bought a beautiful set of Koi watercolors from Hobby Lobby (you can also get them from Amazon). I used that set just about every day for the next year at least, and it gave me so much joy! Here are some tools that I would recommend for a one-time purchase:
- watercolors
- brush pens
- colored pencils
- stamps
- a really good sticker book (Happy Planner or American Crafts)
- a sketchbook or journal (or journaling Bible!)
*Interested in starting a new journal or trying out Bible journaling? See this post for more! 🙂
Buy small things when you can
Many broke college students will occasionally earn small amounts of money. I earned money babysitting from time to time, and sometimes my parents gave me allowance. When you earn these small amounts, give yourself permission to buy something small. This will help keep you from becoming discontent with the amount of supplies you have, and will keep the creative juices flowing. Here are some of my suggestions:
- single scrapbook papers
- single sheets/small sticker books
- clearance!!
- craft paint
- single colored pencils, pens, or markers
- tombow fudenosuke brush pens/pigma microns
Conclusion
Being crafty on a budget can be hard, especially when there are so many pretty craft supplies to wish for! But there are also some benefits. Since you have a small stash, you will be more likely to use the things you have. Receiving the gifts you wished for is an even bigger blessing when you have no way of buying them for yourself. And when you have a $0 budget, there’s very little pressure to decide what things to buy, and no guilt at spending too much.
Hope you’ve enjoyed, and that these tips help you.
Happy college!
