Kenner, the name of a defunct toy company and the name we use to describe the Blythes of the year 1972. Now a show of hands, how many people want a Kenner? It’s probably many people in the Blythe community. Myself? Well, I didn’t really “get” it until I saw a Kenner in person and then heard that soft little pip that they have. Then I realized how badly screwed I was in terms of not getting a Kenner, it just turned into want mode.

Photo by me/chelleshocks, Kenners belong to Rebecca/Squirrel Junkie.

So I decided to start saving up for a Kenner. My Kenner funds come from tax credit cheques that I get from the Canadian federal government for a) not making a whole lot of money and b) being a poor student and also from all of the overtime that I’m earning from my full-time summer job. But that is just one method of saving for a pricey doll. I do it this way because I don’t budget for having overtime because I never know when there’s not going to be surplus of work available to me, and I don’t budget for my tax credit cheques because I don’t remember when they come (even though there is technically a schedule). So money that I don’t take into account when budgeting for school and other life’s expenses equals dolly funds.

Some other methods for saving up for a Kenner or another expensive Blythe or just something else that you want:

• Craft and then sell. Take a set amount of money to invest into supplies and then craft something to sell. Always invest some of the money you make into more craft supplies but then save a portion for your fund. Bonus points if you’re making something awesome for Blythe.
• Sell your old textbooks. My sister can’t be the only person who’s holding onto textbooks since she graduated from university 9 years ago! It was money spent and then just kind of stayed there. It’s like having cash hanging out on the shelf, just collecting dust. She recently sold many of her textbooks (all older editions, newer ones have since been published) and earned some money to put towards her furniture fund (she really needs to get a couch).
• Start couponing (just don’t go crazy) and whatever money you save and would have otherwise had spent gets saved. Please don’t go out and buy a bunch of things that you don’t need, you’re not saving money by doing that. But just go and use coupons on things that you would need and then set aside the money you’ve saved for that Kenner (or Darling Diva, or Art Attack, or Parco…)
• Closet clean out! Do your dolls never wear those dresses anymore? Maybe no one in your dolly family actually wears pants. And those shoes, does anyone wear those boots? If you have a lot of doll clothes that are still in good condition that you no longer want/need/use, it’d be a good idea to do a closet clean out. That way you’d be freeing up space (not necessarily for more doll clothes or shoes!) and getting some of the money that you’d already spent in the dolly community back for your next big purchase!

What are your favourite methods of saving for a new doll or more sundries? Please share below in the comments about how you save for a new doll!