That has been my motto for a very long time. Why buy it if you can make it?

A few weeks ago I was in a teachers supply store (one of many I visit) and as usual, about fell over from the prices they want for some items.

I wanted to create a science box. Basically a tool box with science type items. To buy one?? The one I really really wanted ? Sit down, it is around $340.

So, I now have for $11 a rubber made type tool box. Same size, although I still need to mount the periodic table in the lid as theirs was....

Magnet set? The one I really wanted that came with objects to pick up and objects that cant be picked up (for comparison) was $19. (was also the same as the one in the kit that I wasn't about to buy)

I bought 2 large paddle magnets for $2 each.

I then went to the hardware store and bought a handfull of large 3 inch washers for 75 cents.

That puts me up to $15.75

Magnifing glasses at the teacher store are $5.99 each.

$1 store they are $1 (duh, that was a gimmie wasn't it??)

Now I have spent $16.75

Hubby raided the trash at work, and brought home lead wire of copper and fiber optic, connectors, conduction plates of copper, zinc, titanim, stainless steel .... his work won't use scraps if they are below a certain size, and they trash them, so that was all free.

Speciman bottles--FREE--from Grandpa's old medicine bottles. Most are amber colored, but a few are clear.

Petri dishes--in the kit they were prefilled, which ment they were dated. I found some sterle empty ones on ebay and we will either make our own augar or buy the powered to mix it as we need it--don't have to worry about it going out of date.

We already have microscopes, (but do need new bulbs, which I forgot to get). A retired science teacher gave me 1600 slides--about half are prepared and the other half are not--so that should set us for.....life?

I need to hit the dollar store again, as I forgot about tweezers and I'd like to add another couple flashlights.

We already have tons of other science stuff that won't go into the kit, such as posters, body models, books, bug kits, weather instruments (in fact we have an indoor and outdoor weather station), rock and mineral samples (lesson learned here, store on bottom shelf, they bowed my top one!!)We also have test tubes and a burner already.

Anymore ideas what to put in it?? I forgot what was in the one I really really wanted, may have to make a trip back to look at it again.

Oh--it had litmis paper, which I got at Hobby Lobby a week before for much much less--in fact we have already used a good part of it.

Now, if I was one of those impulse buyers...well, glad I'm not!!!