5 Ways to Save Money on Art Supplies

You may know all of these already.... and these may not work for you... but I have to think that if I knew these things when I started buying art supplies, I would have saved a lot of money in the process of getting to where I am today. Here are 5 ways I save when shopping for art supplies. Feel free to leave me a comment and let me know how you save too!

1. Check prices online. Things are different now than when I started my journey as an artist. Since everyone has the internet in the palm of their hand, retailers have to be competitive to stay in business. I don't buy anything without checking the price online first.
2. Forget coupons. Yes. I said it. You know those stores that offer coupons every week? Their regular prices are so high to begin with, they almost HAVE to offer a coupon. I don't use them...I don't shop in those stores that offer weekly coupons. Rarely have I found a deal on a supply that I use when using a coupon that I can't get everyday somewhere online.
3. Don't get sucked into the sets. I'm a victim of this one for sure. I see a box set of something on sale and I buy it...only to only regularly use 30% of the items in the set. I have piles of tins of pencils and pastels...and I only use a few of the colors in each box. They sure look pretty all lined up in their trays...but unfortunately, I think I would have liked to see that money in my bank account instead.
4. Keep a list. Find yourself running low on some paint colors? Keep a list so that you can order colors at once, hopefully saving money on shipping or getting the most of a discount promotion.
5. Be Trend Selective. Trends come and go...and I certainly don't want my art to be that way. I'm spending a lot of money on art supplies, I don't want to feel like my paintings go out of style! Try and resist the impulse to buy into art trends and stay classic. (My mom told me this about clothing when I was younger.) If you think about it, there are a lot of products you may already have that will create similar looks that the trends may be offering at any given time.

As I write this, I can think of a lot of others ways to save while being an artist. I'll come back in a few days to share some other experiences with you that you may find beneficial...or maybe you won't.. I wish someone shared this info with me though when I was in the "collection" phase of supply hunting. :)

Digital painting created on my iPad Pro.