Sometimes you have to get crafty to make big savings throughout the year. When it comes to personal finance, it’s the little things you do that add up to wealthy gains. Use your imagination this summer, and try out a few of these crafty ideas to help you stack some cash. In many cases, being crafty not only saves you money but it also cuts down on the waste and hassle of everyday life.

Sell Your Stuff

• Sell gently used clothing to resale or vintage stores for cash on the spot. Check with the stores in your city for the type of clothes they accept.
• Books - Sell back books you’ve already read or have no use for on Amazon or PaperBackSwap.
• Ebay/Craigslist- These are obvious choices, but they work. Spend a Saturday looking for items in your home that you don’t need anymore. Post them online and start selling immediately.

Food

• Scour your kitchen for ingredients you already have to make the next lunch or dinner. Visit Allrecipes.com and enter your ingredients to find out what you can make out of them.
• Take advantage of a craving and make a big batch of food to eat off all week. You’ll save on food costs. Try things like hummus, chili, and casseroles.
• Collect coupons and stash them in your wallet next to your credit or debit cards so you don’t forget to use them.

Homemade Gifts/Presents - Birthdays and special occasions can do a number on your budget if you’re not prepared or expecting them. Homemade presents can be great if you find some things that people actually use. Go for functional and personal. A few ideas:

• Sugar or salt body scrubs - Buy some glass jars in bulk (or reuse a food container), sea salt or sugar, almond or grapeseed oil, and one or two essential oils. They take only a few minutes to make using this easy recipe. Salt or sugar scrubs can run $20-$30 a pop in store. Once you buy these supplies, they come out to only a few bucks a piece. You can save your supplies for last-minute presents all year.
• Homemade gift wrap - Wrapping paper can be brutally expensive, so use old magazines to wrap presents in. You’d be surprised at how great a present can look once wrapped in the glossy pages and advertisements from magazines.
• Photographs - Download a picture of a friend’s favorite landmark or cityscape from Flickr or a free stock photography site. Print out the pictures at home or sign up with Kodak Gallery or Snapfish to order some prints. They offer 15-50 free prints for signing up. Find an interesting but affordable frame at Goodwill or The Salvation Army.

Get Free/Discounted Stuff

• Freecycle.com is a non-profit community group where people sell their unwanted stuff for free. You can find anything from chairs to bikes to TV trays.
• Sign up for email newsletters with coupons or samples of your favorite household products on company websites. A few I know of: Dove, Tide, Home Made Simple, Olay, Seventh Generation
• Check out slickdeals.net.  The site posts the very best sales of anything and everything on the web every day. I’m definitely saving this one as a daily bookmark.

Have money-saving crafty ideas of your own? Leave us a comment!