Teachers have many words that cause them to cringe; standardized tests, after school meetings, and budgets. While some are part of the job, there's a way to beat the last one. Try some of these budget saving tips for your classroom; whether it's your budget you're watching or your district's budget.
What do you fill the boards with? Forget the expensive kits for sale at teacher stores. Instead, make a collage of photos you take in your classroom throughout the year. Pull the pages from a yearly wall calendar and paste the school year months across the board as a long term project planner. For a fun feel, create a school spirit collage with pennants, a t-shirt, and other school store paraphernalia.
When posters get ragged, don't throw them away. Instead, cut out the key images and create a new collage poster. Try cutting the edges away with a paper cutter to make a smaller poster or frame it to remedy the edges.
Look in the aisles for decorations like yardsticks, measuring tape, and house numbers for a math classroom. Add a cheap metal mailbox by your door for exit slips or to distribute bell-ringers. Be creative, and think cheap. There's usually an economy version available that works perfectly for the classroom.
I don't know if other states do this, but I discovered something great in small-town Nebraska, of all places.
The library system for these towns has a die-cutting machine, which is loaned out to different libraries. I've been going up there every few days, and have made darling cut-outs perfect for decorating and bulletin boards.
So ask your library, because you never know what sort of resources they can find for you!