On a tight budget? When times require a little tightening of the budgetary belt, one of the best places to look to cut is in the category of extraneous home entertainment costs. But everyone still wants to keep options available to sit back and relax to some entertainment occasionally. Here are six steps you can take to cut down on your expenses without sacrificing your enjoyment.

Pretty garden pots make any outdoor space that much more lovely, but those little pots can be mighty pricey. That's why I love this type of DIY project; it takes standard (and very affordable) plastic planters and turns them into something wonderful.    

For this installment of "One Design, Two Budgets" I envisioned what might be a dream haven for a young, artistic tween girl.  Oh, perhaps someone like I may have been once upon a time, or how I forsee my girls in just a few short years.  *Tear.* 

Making large-scale prints for your wall can be a very expensive endeavor, but Elsie at A Beautiful Mess discovered a way to blow up her favorite photos (we're talkin' poster size) on the cheap: black and white engineer prints, also known as draft prints or blueprint copies.

Thrift shopping doesn't need to be a last resort. Just ask Macklemore. And you can find way more than a velour jumpsuit at your local resale spot. When you need some new gear to outfit your home office, head to the thrift store (or the online equivalent, Etsy) first to find a bargain on pieces with cool vintage style like this cute little Czechoslovakian rotary phone above...

The gorgeous green swirls of malachite seem like they would be hard to replicate, but Jenny from Little Green Notebook made it work using just a little paint and imagination — with impressive results! Jump below to see the finished project...

Have you heard the news? Tokyo is pretty crowded. And since space is at such a premium, some renters are choosing to live in something called "share houses" in downtown Shibuya. If you are in any way claustrophobic, and don't want to hyperventilate, don't click to see the rest.