Pin This: 5 ways to scrapbook using FREE items! Save money and win!

Many of us know just how expensive crafting can be. If you’d like to know how to scrapbook on a budget or how to scrapbook for free, you’ve come to the right place. Around here, we prioritize where our money goes. Savings, retirement, insurances - you know the drill. While I do spend money on my scrapbooking hobby, I like to challenge myself to find new ways to make such an important aspect of my purpose as a memory keeper as inexpensive as possible so I can devote my funds to other areas of life.

I try to think outside the box when it comes to keeping my budget happy so I have found a few ways to use free items and not spend any money at all. Today, I’m going to share some of those ideas with you. No, they’re not novel ideas and have probably been done before but nonetheless, they’re good ideas to consider if you’re trying to save a little money but still want to preserve your family’s memories.

Note: This blog post contains affiliate links.

1. Use What You Have and Minimize

Follow Mandy | Turquoise Avenue's board Create :: Free Printables & Freebies on Pinterest.

I covered both of these topics under How to Scrapbook on a Budget, but honestly, I can’t say enough about either concept. Instead of buying embellishments, look around your home to see what you can use. I used a bottle cap in this layout, a gift tag in this layout, printed a map from Google as a journal card, and included money and receipts in this layout! Not to mention, I keep my layouts simple. To me, it's more important to document the memories and stories than it is to fill my pages up with stickers and store bought things.

2. Join a Creative Team

In exchange for your time and talent, many of the creative team opportunities out there offer discounted or free designs and products. This is a great way to receive items at little or no cost on a regular basis and have plenty of new items to choose from. I have worked on several creative teams since the beginning of the year and have found it to be a really rich experience - I’ve made wonderful friends, enjoyed products I didn’t even know existed, and have access to a plethora of beautiful designs.

3. Enter Giveaways

With the craze that is social media these days, many large companies (and even the small ones) offer giveaways occasionally. Take the time to follow your favorite suppliers online and watch for when they hold a giveaway. I always take the time to enter when I see a brand I like or want to try out and it's worked out great for me. I won a Fuse tool from the Lilypad, a three month subscription from Felicity Jane, and tons of other fun little giveaways.

4. Search for Freebies

Online there are hundreds of different avenues for finding free downloads, printables, classes, and tutorials. You can browse freebies right here on my website, follow my Pinterest board of freebies, view my Bloglovin’ freebie collection here, and sign up for various company’s newsletters to receive additional freebies!

5. Swap with Friends!

Sometimes those stickers you have in your collection that you’re never going to use are just the thing a friend may have needed to complete a page. You can easily set up swaps between friends to grab new-to-you, free products. It's a win/win for everyone! The same goes for tools and other items that you may need to only once, you can always borrow and return!

Come share your favorite ideas and freebie links with me in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you!