Lorchrn, I too like Keith's idea & tried it this year with some success. Each year I travel to the US & take quilting classes for 2 weeks from great teachers. Of course there are wonderful vendors & huge temptations to be faced each day! One of my great pals that I room with told me that she puts aside $5.00 a week over the year to spend before we get there & sticks to her budget as she like many of us has very limited funds. I have tried this & now have a tidy sum to spend when I arrive.

Keith, you sound soooo disciplined. The only way I manage not to overspend when I go fabric shopping is by leaving the credit card at home and only taking the cash that I can afford.

I love the idea about the lightbox. I have a small coffeetable with a glass top and just put a light underneath it.

When I was talking to a friend recently and we were discussing the big quilt show that comes up here in the UK in August, she said that she mustn't spend too much because she is saving up for a new sewing machine. Her way of doing it: She'll take a smaller bag than usual to the show and intends to only shop until that bag is full. I can't wait to see if she is going to stick to her noble plan.

Lorchen

Number41 wrote:
My problem with JoAnn's is that when I go to the store, everything's on sale and I can't use my coupons!!! I'm sorry-I hate when that happens!

I've been shopping my stash a lot lately; there's multiple quilts on our beds so I don't have to make such large ones anymore. Wallhangings use a lot less fabric. Also, there are lots of free BOMs around the internet if you want to do more than our 2 here.
eileenkny

Lorchen,
I think you made a happy mistake posting here. Budget considerations are definitely part of the quilting life!
I too buy my notions at a 'big store', though I use Hancock's rather than Joann's simply because it's closer to my house. Like Joann's, Hancock's often runs big sales on notions and offers a 40% coupon on a non-sale item. I recently bought a large cutting mat at 40% off, and I would never buy the rotary blades at full price when I can get them half off at Hancock's.
I do tend to pay full price for fabric at my dealer; however, since I'm so slow (a project takes me a good four or five months to finish) and since I only buy enough fabric for the project, the cost is manageable. What that means for me is that I don't have much of a stash on hand. I do have the leftover fabrics from projects, and as I accrue more & more finished projects, my stash grows! I rarely buy fabric without it being for something specific (though this may be as much because of my personality as because of budget).

I think there was some confusion about my Joann Fabrics coupons comment. If you google "Joann Fabrics Coupons", often you can find a 40% off coupon for a single non sale item. That means a you can get a $40.00 cutting mat for 24 bucks with a coupon. You just have to make multiple trips with multiple coupons. It adds up quick. I never stated that I get my entire order for 40% off. Just wanted to clear that up

Also... JOANN's will give you a discount card for 10 % off everything including sale items ( NOT 40% off coupon). You just have to present your guild card and they give you the discount card. ( it is very similar to a teacher's discount). You may have to ask the store manager for it. Sometimes the staff does not know about it. Savings add up over time !

{Hi Lorchen!}

When I first started 20 years ago I budgeted $20 for fabric each paycheck - every two weeks. I went to a quilt store once a week and spent about $10 each time. At the time, that got me about a yard and a half each visit. I usually bought 4 quarter yards and one half yard. Sometimes it was so frustrating to try to prioritize and only get what I liked (and needed!) absolutely the most...

And I budgeted for one book every three months - that was about how long each project was taking me.

Of course it helped that I was starting to enjoy quilting more than clubbing with friends. That was both an easy and hard trade-off. =)

Lorchen, at some point we all really have most everything we need. I am now retired & continually try to ask myself is this a need or a desire. Mind you I am not always successful!

I too find Amazon has the best prices for books & love their free shipping. When I travel to the USA I go to Joannes as they have great prices for notions (about half the cost of ours in Canada).

This past year I have taken 2 courses from Quilt University, they are relatively cheap & offer terrific support & great ideas for the future. Their students are based across the globe much like the Quilt Show. I love not having to pack up my gear & lugging it to & from a class; instead I pick which day each week I will work & all my gear is at my fingertips.

I am on a tight budget as well. My salary from the USN is farily small and our economy being in the tank certainly doesn't help much. However, my quilting is an addiction and there are some ways I indulge at lower costs....

1. I only buy fabric when it is on sale or at a place I can get it at a much cheaper price. A couple times per year the quilt shops in my area will have 1/2 off sale. That's $5.00/yard!!! When these sales happen I buy ennough to keep me occupied for a while.

2. Notions and tool I only buy from stores that I can get a good cupon for. There is a Joanns Fabric store here that almost always has a 40% off coupon, just got to know where to find them. I haven't bought a single rotary cutter, blade, ruler, or cutting mat at regular price.

3. I also use Amazon.com for books. It is much cheaper than the book store.

4. I try to improvise where ever possible. This one is really pathetic... I didn't have money to go buy supplies for a light box so I took my old desk lamp and put it in a laundry basket and then put a 2'x2' piece of glass on top. Instant Light Box

Maria

Ooops...... just noticed that this whole section of topics should be about quilt shows. Ah well......... I shouldn't rush through all the forums.

I have no idea about budget considerations when organizing a show, but I bet it's all very complex and I'd love to hear about it.

Lorchen

...... that there isn't a deluge of messages under this subjects. Does that mean that all TQS members have tons of $$$$ and don't need to budget? Or does nobody want to be the very first person to post something here?

I definitely have to watch my spending (single mother with just one income that's below the national average, and no rich fairy godmother).

One of the ways that I continue to be able to indulge buying far too many books is by always checking the prices on the net. I'm based in a rural area of the UK, and have found that often Amazon is significantly cheaper than other shops (internet or bricks and mortar) and no charge for shipping.

I have also recently bought a pair of ready-made curtains in a large department store sale. They were significantly cheaper than a comparable fabric would have been by the metre. I intend to use that fabric (slightly heavier than quilting cotton) as lining for tote bags.

So, who has got any tips so that my bank account never slips into the red?!

Lorchen