Do you think you can actually save money by crafting things?

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Do you think you can actually save money by crafting things?
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Islay

Joined: 11 Aug 2009
Posts: 38
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 09 11:21 am Post subject: Do you think you can actually save money by crafting things?

I'm not talking about getting a free bench by carving your own wood (obviously this is cheaper), but by doing things like card making, knitted gifts or whatever.

Everyone I speak to seems to think that it's impossible, but I'm convinced that I save money. I used to spend ï¿½2 or so on a nice card for every single event, and now I spend a tenner on enough stuff to make 20-30 cards.

I also knit a lot of gifts, and while wool isn't the cheapest thing ever, I find I'm spending under a tenner for a lot of gifts (I am going to have to come up with something other than socks at some point...) where I once would have spent at least ï¿½15-20.

What do you think? I just wrote a massive blog post on how I keep trying new crafts and how I'm justifying them to myself, and it made me think....

lettucewoman

Joined: 26 Sep 2006
Posts: 7834
Location: Tiptoe in the Forest!!

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 09 11:23 am Post subject:
not only can you save money you can also make money!

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 09 11:25 am Post subject:
A lot depends on how you cost your time.

Stacey

Joined: 18 Jul 2005
Posts: 8380
Location: Kernow

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 09 11:29 am Post subject:

sean wrote:

A lot depends on how you cost your time.

Beaten to it by Sean

Islay

Joined: 11 Aug 2009
Posts: 38
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 09 11:33 am Post subject:
That's true - I kind of don't think about that so much because I have the time, and I know I'd prefer to be doing things like knitting a pair of socks than being at work, so I'm prepared not to take that into the calculation. Lettucewoman your jewellery is lovely, by the way! I love the twisty twizzlyness (ermm... you know what I mean)

lettucewoman

Joined: 26 Sep 2006
Posts: 7834
Location: Tiptoe in the Forest!!

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 09 11:39 am Post subject:

Islay wrote:

That's true - I kind of don't think about that so much because I have the time, and I know I'd prefer to be doing things like knitting a pair of socks than being at work, so I'm prepared not to take that into the calculation.

Lettucewoman your jewellery is lovely, by the way! I love the twisty twizzlyness (ermm... you know what I mean)

thanks!

I cost out my time as a proportion of the price.. I don't cost out my jewellry as one shoud because it would make it prohibitively expensive, but i do make a small profit which helps to pay the leccy bill...

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9881
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 09 2:32 pm Post subject:

sean wrote:

A lot depends on how you cost your time.

I think costing your time in only comes into effect if you are either selling your goods, or giving up paid employment to make them

When it comes to a gift.. the time and effort you put in is part of the gift, and if you are time rich and money poor, that's what you can give.

The crafts themselves.. it depends. you can definitely spend more on yarn than you can buy garments for.. but if you regard it as a hobby too, then you are getting something out of it yourself

other crafts.. such as I made some lovely thigns out of a shrunk felted jumper.. the costs were nil.

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 09 2:37 pm Post subject:

colour it green wrote:

you can definitely spend more on yarn than you can buy garments for..

Absolutely, but as with most of these things you have to compare like with like. A one-off hand-knitted cardie will set you back ï¿½120 at the very least in the shops.

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 09 2:42 pm Post subject:

My friends, family and I have pretty much abandoned obligatory birthday/Christmas gift-giving now - that saves a lot of money (and time)

. We still give gifts, but only on an ad hoc basis - jar of jam, home-grown produce/cuttings/pot plants, inexpensive CS book on a subject the recipient is interested in etc.

I sometimes make cards because I enjoy making them, especially if I can create something from materials already in the house, but you can buy nice cards really cheaply in charity shops (e.g. 3 birthday cards for 99p in the Mind shop, 20 Xmas Charity cards for ï¿½3-4 from a supermarket) and it's hard to beat that in terms of cost and time taken.

I'm trying to "cost" all my money-saving activities by including minimum wage for my time - I know it's not just about the money, but it does help to focus my mind on what's worth doing and what isn't. I can still do things that aren't particularly cost-effective, but I don't delude myself that I'm saving money.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9881
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 09 2:51 pm Post subject:

judith wrote:

colour it green wrote:

you can definitely spend more on yarn than you can buy garments for..

Absolutely, but as with most of these things you have to compare like with like. A one-off hand-knitted cardie will set you back ï¿½120 at the very least in the shops.

very true. I spose i was thinking of all those fluffy scarves everyone made back a long..

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9881
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 09 3:00 pm Post subject:

marigold wrote:

My friends, family and I have pretty much abandoned obligatory birthday/Christmas gift-giving now - that saves a lot of money (and time)

. We still give gifts, but only on an ad hoc basis - jar of jam, home-grown produce/cuttings/pot plants, inexpensive CS book on a subject the recipient is interested in etc.

I agreed some time ago with friends and family that for that winter festival thingy we give homemade thigs. most of the time it is something I was making anyway, like I made lots of damson jelly. I'll give some as gifts. I'll get back things I didn't make.. its all nice feelgood stuff.

Quote:

I'm trying to "cost" all my money-saving activities by including minimum wage for my time - I know it's not just about the money, but it does help to focus my mind on what's worth doing and what isn't. I can still do things that aren't particularly cost-effective, but I don't delude myself that I'm saving money.

I can see your point - it is worth knowing just how many hours went into saving money and was it worth it.. could you have used your time and energy better.. etc

But I dont see the point in actually putting a sum of money against it.. not unless you are actually losing it somewhere, or if you need to include it in pricing your goods.
in the same way i would not cost a game of badminton as cost of the court + 1 hour of my time at min wage.. this is my free time.. this is how i am spending it. I'm not losing out. nor do i include my time in my figures for raising pigs or chickens for eggs.. I don't charge myself for my time.. no money changes hands.. it's just a question of whether the gain is worth the effort.

wipka84

Joined: 07 Feb 2009
Posts: 221
Location: Essex, UK

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 09 3:16 pm Post subject:

If you find pleasure in doing a craft, then its unlikely you'll need to cost your time. After all the reward is not the monetary saving, but the pleasure in spending the time doing the hobby.

Watching tv whilst pleasurable to some isn't going to produce much at the end of it, except perhaps a bit of knowledge at the end. Leisure activities will reward you with fitness. Whilst jogging or walking is virtually free and will give the same benefit as a game of badmington, the cost of the court if you find badmington more pleasurable will negate the added expense.

So back to the cards, if your enjoying it and doing this craft during your free time, rather than time you need to set aside to earn a crust, you could in theory offset a monetary sum for pleasure and only add a bit for the wage rather than the full minimum wage per hour.

I guess a lot of craft sellers settle for ï¿½ per hour well below the minimum wage because it doesnt feel like work and are getting additional non-monetary benefit. if they didnt i guess there wouldnt be so many craft sellers around.

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 09 3:19 pm Post subject:

colour it green wrote:

Quote:

I decided to use an actual sum of money because I couldn't think of any other easy measure to use - I'm not saying anyone else should do that, but thought I'd mention it in case it was of interest. I've developed a lot of time-wasting habits since I've been off work and I need to find a way of focusing my mind on what's worth doing and what isn't. I don't have a lot of time or money to "spend" and I really need to be aware of the value of what I'm doing - "monetising" it is a crude, but quite useful measure (for me, at the moment).

Stuff like knitting myself a jumper has multiple values - for the cost of the yarn I get a unique garment that would cost a lot more to buy made by someone else, plus the therapeutic value of the actual knitting, plus the satisfaction of having made something lovely, plus the warm glow when people admire my work. BUT at my slow knitting speed it wouldn't be remotely worth trying to make garments to sell and I only knit socks/scarves as gifts for very favoured people!

Going off-topic a bit - I recently spent time saving myself ï¿½42 off my car insurance - by the time I'd faffed about on various comparison sites and phoned my current insurers to beat them down I had spent a good one and a half hours of my time. That's well worth the effort to me now, but it wouldn't have been when I earnt more than that per hour at work (unless of course I had stolen the time from my employers

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9881
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 09 3:23 pm Post subject:
I see your point. I guess i have done it in reverse.. you know.. looked at something I wanted to buy and then asked myself if i was willing to work for x hours to get it. I'm the same with knitting.. too slow to make money on it.. only close family get gifts.. in fact.. it's Septmber.. I ought to get on with it.... but bah its sunny - ... off outside

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 09 3:30 pm Post subject:

colour it green wrote:

but bah its sunny - ... off outside

Same here and I'm wondering why I'm faffing about on t'internet when i should be going for a walk to work off some of my flubber

.

Seeya later!

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