Shannon:
01/20/2011
I was very excited to start the Wilton cake decorating classes at my local craft store. It seemed a pretty good bargain too at $27 for the four week course (one night each week). With $5 off coupons for the two follow on classes I figured I was getting a pretty good class for not too much money. The course ends up being a budget buster though. Here's what I ended up spending:
- $71 for the class "tuition"
- $99 for the toolkit that I thought would provide the tools I needed for the first two courses (not the case)
- $50 for the course 2 and 3 class kits (after the 40% off coupons)
- $50 for decorator icing
- $8 for chocolate decorator icing
- $11 for colored fondant
- $20 for gum paste
- $7 for white fondant
- $3 cake leveler
- $10 cake lifter
- $9 cupcake decorating kit
- $10 tip covers
- $6 couplers
- $6 various decorating tips
- $8 icing colors
- $4 piping gel
- $6 meringue powder
- $14 turntable
GRAND TOTAL $392!!
This doesn't even include the cost of parchment and wax paper, cling wrap, cake boards, and ingredients for making the cakes. Now this all was spent over 12 weeks so at $32/week it really sneaks up on you. I didn't really have to buy everything that was on the list. If you are interested in the class here's some tips to make it more budget friendly.
- $72 - just buy the class kits with the 40% off coupons and it ends up being cheaper than any of the bargain tool boxes
- $7 - make your own butter cream and cut down the cost of frosting significantly
- Skip the colored fondant - I didn't really miss it and I just used the $0.99 color to tint it for the class
- Skip the cupcake kit - the cupcake nail was stupid and I didn't use it at all and the only tip I needed was the filler tip - order online before you start the class.
- Skip the tip covers - or buy only one pack when you get to the royal icing class.
Grand total $234 a $158 savings! To save $30 more skip the extras like the cake lifter, extra bag of gum paste, extra tips, extra colors, and extra couplers.
Shannon:
01/06/2011
I have two modes when purchasing yarn for projects: budget or binge. Usually binging wins out and I end up with way more yarn than what I need. I end up buying too much because I but it online. One of my favorite resources for all things yarn is http://www.knitting-warehouse.com/. When I get on the website to order the color and quantity I need for a new project I end up getting distracted by all the other colors available. I think to myself, "Well, that's a really pretty color and I can always use that in another project."
Well, now I have ended up with 6 bins overflowing with various yarn - some colors I have never used. So I still end up binging, but I have made myself practice discipline when it comes to new projects.
Are there situations where it is actually good to binge? The answer is yes. I am constantly re-ordering my neutrals. White, Cream, Tan, Camel, Light Brown fly out of my bins faster than anything in my hobby room. I also make baby blankets so colors like the softest shade blues, greens, purples, pinks, and yellow are good to have on hand in larger quantities. Crochet is one of my most participated in hobbies so I do dedicate more of my hobby spending money and organization space to yarn. I still order my neutrals and baby blanket colors online when I am running low and order large quantities of them. I have been mid-project and lost steam to finish it because I needed more of a color. However, I have started practicing budget when it comes to special projects and non-typical colors.
One thing that really undermines my budget mentality is when I go to the store, they don't have the yarn I need, and I have to go online to order it. My binge temptation is always online, but yours may be when you go in the store and see all the lovely colors and types of yarn. Know your weaknesses and try to use avoidance as a method of dealing with it. If you can be disciplined online then don't drive to the store or stay away from the yarn section when you are there for something else. If online shopping makes it too easy for you to order en mas then drag yourself out to get supplies for the project that you are starting. (Project planning helps with sticking to your budget - post on this topic coming next week.)
When to budget - when your spending money is tight. To help budget:
- Plan out your project.
- Look at your inventory - can you adjust your plan to use something you already have?
- Shop around - don't just go to Michael's: look for prices online (don't forget to add shipping into the price/skein), think Walmart, and use coupons (http://www.michaels.com/ always has 40% coupons).
- Only buy what you need.
When to Binge - when all three of the following are making the perfect storm:
- When you have extra cash on hand.
- When you have a need for yarn (some of you standard colors are low/gone in your inventory)
- There is a sale on yarn.
So, keep in mind that planning, budgeting and discipline help eliminate overspending, overflowing mess, and unnecessary inventory.
