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If you’re looking for ways to save money while you craft with your Cricut, look no further! These money saving tips and tricks are sure to help during your next Cricut project.
As much as I love my Cricut, I’ll be the first to admit that the costs for that thing can certainly add up! Not just the initial cost of the machine, but tools, cutting mats, an Easy Press, vinyl, contact paper, T-shirts… the list goes on!
If you’re running a business with your vinyl cutter, you especially know how these costs can eat into your profits. Over the years I’ve come across a few money saving tips to help save some of my hard earned cash, and I’d like to share them with you!
Money Saving Cricut and Silhouette Tips
Clean and Reuse your Mats
If you’re not already cleaning and resticking your old mats, you absolutely should! When I first started, I went through SO many cutting mats before I tried to clean them.
If your mat is still a little sticky, you can probably get away with using a baby wipe and then rinsing with a little soap and water.
However if your mat has totally lost its sticking power, try using some spray adhesive.
Make sure the surface of the mat is clean. Then, tape the edges so they don’t get sticky. Grab your spray and cover the surface of the mat. It should be good as new! Here’s some adhesive sprays I would recommend:
Kryolan All Purpose Spray Adhesive
3M General Purpose Spray Adhesive
Loctite General Performance Spray Adhesive
Use a Pen Adapter
I’m constantly using pens in my Cricut Explore Air to make cards, and those Cricut pens are super pricey!
I found this adapter on Amazon and it’s been freaking awesome.
You put it into the pen slot and it allows you to use TONS of different pens and markers – not just the Cricut ones! Now I can use pretty much any pen or marker I want, which saves me lots of money, plus it gives me way more options when I’m making a card!
Don’t worry, there are also pen adapters for the Silhouette Cameo and the Cricut Maker!
Keep Vinyl on a Roll
Instead of cutting off a new piece of vinyl every time you go to cut out a new design, try leaving your vinyl on the roll. That way, when you’re done with a cut, you can just use some scissors to cut around the used section. This will save you from wasting any precious vinyl.
Use Household Objects as tools
This one is only limited to your creativity! While you can go out and buy new weeding tools, a lot of the time, things you can find around the house will work just as well.
For example, while I personally use and love my XL Scraper, if mine were to break, I would probably just use an old credit card or used gift card!
The same idea goes for other tools and accessories. If you already have something similar that can be used as a weeding tool – use it! There’s no point in spending extra cash on specific tools if you don’t need to.
Invest in an SVG and Font Subscription
This one might sound counter intuitive, but trust me, it’s not!
If you find yourself buying a lot of fonts and SVG files, you might consider a Creative Fabrica subscription. They have a few different plans, but I’ll list the 3 big ones here.
The Crafter Plan: For $12 every 3 months and get access to over 17,000 SVG files for commercial use.
The Font Plan: For $15 a month, you get unlimited access to over 15,000 fonts for commercial use.
The All Access Plan: For $30 a month you get access to all of the fonts, graphics, and SVG files on the site for personal and commercial use.
I’ll be real here. If your Cricut or Silhouette is collecting dust in your back room, don’t invest in a subscription. Chances are, you’ll forget about it until it shows up on your credit card bill months down the line.
However, if you find yourself regularly buying SVG files (remember, your average SVG is around $3), then this could actually be a pretty big money saver! Same goes for fonts, which usually go for around $12 to $20.
I personally am a subscriber to Creative Fabrica! I was lucky and got my subscription on Black Friday, so I pay $9 monthly for an all access pass. I can say that for me, it’s absolutely worth it. I love being able to constantly use new fonts in my designs, plus there’s more added daily!
Order in Bulk
If you’ve got a vinyl cutting business, your main expenditures are likely blanks and vinyl. Instead of buying these at your local Michaels, you should try ordering wholesale and in bulk. Many stores will give you deep discounts for doing this, so there’s a ton of money to be saved.
My favorite store to order t-shirt blanks from is Shirts In Bulk. My favorite vinyl store is Expressions Vinyl. Here’s a few more great places you can order from in bulk to save money!
Amazon
Alibaba
Jiffy Shirts
Save A Cup
Use Free SVG Files and Fonts
If you’re frequently making a lot of different designs and you don’t currently have a Creative Fabrica subscription, you can still save money!
Lots of websites and designers offer free SVG files and fonts. Many are for personal use, where you would have to purchase a license if you want to sell any items made using the design, however some are for free for commercial use!
You can check out my freebies page for some free SVG files as well as my list of free script fonts. You can also take a look at my guide on where to find free commercial use fonts.
Check Your Heat Press Energy Consumption
Something that many people don’t consider when buying a heat press is the cost of electricity! Commercial heat presses are an industrial appliance, and they often use a ton of power. Many do not come with an auto shut-off timer, which can consume lots of power if you forget to turn it off (not to mention how dangerous that is!).
Make sure to consider this if you are currently in the market for a new heat press! My recommendation is the Cricut Easy Press 2.
My Easy Press has totally conquered everything I’ve thrown at it, and I absolutely love it. It’s not industrial, but there’s absolutely no reason you couldn’t use one for your business, unless you needed a higher temperature.
For a less expensive option, there’s always the original Cricut Easy Press.
That’s all Folks!
Hopefully you learned something new! Do you have any great money saving tips for your vinyl cutter? Let me know in the comments!
As always, if you enjoyed this list, feel free to share it on Pinterest!
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