Thrifty Witchin'

Here are some of my best thrifty witchy tips.

Call what you need to you.
I needed an altar for an important ritual and someone left it outside the house I was staying at. Call what you need it will come. 

Don't buy expensive candles. If you do then recycle the wax into either spell candles or fire starters, and tapers. 

Coloured candles. Crayons are your friends. You can melt a whole one and dip or roll it in the coloured wax or just drip a little down the sides. You can even add powdered herbs and oils at this point.

Collect and dry thorns from hawthorn and blackthorn to use as pins and to inscribe on candles. 

Thrift stores, flea markets, car boot sales are your friend but always put out the call first. 

Flower wholesalers are full of amazing and weird things. 

Make and trade. If you can't make, trade a skill you do have to someone who does (do a reading, a therapeutic massage, feed people) in trade for something you need. Almost all of my expensive items came to me that way. 

See the potential in the grimy and broken. Polish, time and love can turn something awful into a gem. 

Grow what you need, recognize it in hedgerows, brown (fallow land) and parks (cheap Collins flower guides always turn up in charity shops too). 

Buy in bulk. If you can do so as a group or coven so much the better. Expensive stuff like frankincense, essential oils, candles, crystals can be MUCH cheaper if you all chip in, £10/$15. If you can use wholesalers so much the better. 

Take a class. A geology class will help you find rocks and gems. A sewing class can help you make altar clothes and robes. Woodcraft, for bowls, candle holders, pentacles.

Have deep pockets in your coat to collect things you find. Pebbles, flowers, horse hair on fences, wool the same, animal bones, shells and string.

A decent pocket knife kept in a zip lock bag is a good investment. Not only does the bag stop the knife from going rusty it won't mess up your handbag/purse.

Ethnic Supermarkets. Charcoal blocks from pagan suppliers are often extremely expensive, but the self lighting kind are exactly the same as the ones used for hookah or shisha pipes. You can by these by the box for the same price as you can for a roll. Also if you keep your charcoal in a watertight/air tight container they last much longer and light much better.
Herbs, spices and oils are also much cheaper and you can get things like Gum Arabic at a fraction of the price. You may need to swot up on the Latin names so you know what you are getting though.
Pestles and mortars are again much cheaper and of a higher quality than from many pagan suppliers. As are pots, pans and things to use as cauldrons.

Make it yourself.