I’ve had my Cricut Explore Air 2 for a couple of years now and when people see that I have one, they always ask if I use my Cricut enough to justify the price. The answer for me is, YES! That may not be the answer for everyone, though. I wanted to break it down to see if you will use a Cricut machine enough to justify the price for you.
This is a sponsored post written on behalf of Cricut but all opinons are my own. This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I will earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Will I Use My Cricut Enough to Justify the Price?
What Type of Cricut Machine do you Really Need?
Cricut machines are not cheap, they are an investment. To get the most bang for your buck, you need to figure out which machine is right for you. What exactly do you want to make with it?
You can pretty much make anything with a Cricut: paper products, apparel, jewelry, leather goods, decor, etc. but certain machines are better equipped to make certain products.
Here is a breakdown of their machines:
- Cricut Joy: Works for simple and easy projects like cutting and writing. Priced around $180.
- Cricut Explore Air 2: (most popular machine) Is great for cutting, writing, and scoring for a wide range of DIY projects. Is compatible with over 100 materials. Priced around $250
- Cricut Maker: For professional DIY projects. It can cut, write, score, engrave, and more! Is compatible with over 300 different materials. Priced around $400.
I personally love the Cricut Explore Air 2. I think you get the most bang for your buck. Unless you want to engrave metal jewelry or leather, I would stick with the Explore Air 2. Otherwise, you will want the Cricut Maker.
I also suggest buying a machine bundle to really save in the long run. With the bundles, you get the machine that you want as well as tools and materials to get started right away. They usually have great sales on these where you can get the bundle for almost the retail price of the machine by itself!
How Often Will you Use it?
To really justify the cost of your Cricut machine, you have to be honest with yourself about how often you are going to use it. I think if you use it once or twice a month, you can easily justify the cost.
If you feel intimidated or are wondering what all you can make with specific Cricut machines, just check out Youtube tutorials. They will walk you through how to make pretty much anything step by step so you can see just how easy it is to use.
I have personally made items for my daughter’s bedroom and my son’s nursery. I’ve made coasters and mugs as gifts as well as personalized apparel for my kids.
Buying all of the items that I made with my Cricut would have cost me more than what I paid for my Explore Air 2.
Cricut Can Help Save on Big Events
I love using my Cricut to help cut down on the cost of big events that we have. I can use it to make decor and invitations for all of my kids’ birthday parties (once we start having them again). You can easily spend over $200 at a party supply store for just one party on things that you can make yourself.
This is especially true for party themes that may be harder to find and not as common. You can make banners, games, decorate plain plates and cups that you find at the dollar store. You can even make your own party favors. Jazz up some shirts, travel cups, mirrors, hats, sunglasses, etc. for people to take home.
Not only can you save on birthday parties, you can do this for graduation parties, baby and bridal showers, etc. Let’s not forget about actual weddings. You can spend hundreds of dollars just on invitations alone. Or you can make your own gorgeous invitations at a fraction of the cost.
You can Make Money Selling Homemade Crafts
I did a whole entire post about how you can make money with your Cricut. Just look on Amazon and Etsy to get a feel for what people charge and see if that may be something you are interested in pursuing. It is very easy to justify the price of your Cricut if you are going to use it to start a small business or side hustle.
How Much Would you Spend on Items you can Make?
When you ask yourself, “will I use my Cricut enough to justify the price?” it is going to come down to how much you use it and how much you would have spent on the items you made if you were to buy them.
Search Etsy to see what personalized items are going for. I have found so many home decor items and cute holiday shirts that are way over my budget, but I can easily make something very similar (if not exactly the same) with my Cricut.
I have saved probably 5 times what my Cricut Explore Air 2 cost me just on holiday gifts alone. It’s also real easy for kids to help make gifts for the grandparents, it makes them that much more special.
You can make teacher gifts with the personalized class roster. Organize your home with cute labels that you can make yourself. I’ve made custom canvas prints for our living room when I couldn’t find one that I liked that was already made.
As you can see with just these few examples, I have definitely been able to justify the price of my Cricut. I think most people will be able to. They last for years and are really great quality items. As long as you use it, you should have no problem justifying the cost of your Cricut machine.
