what's a budget? ahem.

I'd been doing so well sticking to my stash. But then something happened and I HAD to buy some Noro from eBay. I'm blaming the weather.

I've come up with the perfect plan-I'm going to open a yarn/craft store! That way, it's like, I'll have the world's biggest stash, so big, I won't miss it when someone buys something! HA!

this idea will have to wait until I win the lottery however..... boo......

My method to control myself is ... disgust. I recently moved, and when I saw how much yarn I owned, I felt pretty ashamed at my ever growing yarn lust. Also, I keep a list of yarn and planned projects - so on good days, I can be "oh, I have 6 projects lined up, maybe I can shop for yarn after finishing one or two projects.." I'm not sure this works, I just try!

the project list is a good idea. i wish i could only shop for yarn when i have a specific project in mind! that's why ebay is so evil - the yarn is here today, gone tomorrow, so you think, well, i'd better buy it today.

i'd love to set a specific amount of cash aside each month for yarn, but the local yarn stores in NYC have higher prices and fewer brands and colourways than online stores. maybe this is the best way to limit myself though. i suppose if a store carries a particular brand they can order a different color or type for you...

any other ideas from the recovering yarnaholics out there?

Fellow law student and knitter here. I never had to budget for yarn until I started law school and went thousands of dollars into debt. The key for me is to set a budget and stick to it, come hell or high water. If something is too expensive and exceeds my budget for the week or month, then I don't buy it. If I have money that "rolls over" from the previous month's budget that allows me to buy something more expensive this month, then I go for it. It's hard to stick to a plan like this when there's something on sale and you don't know how long the sale will last, but when that happens you just have to look at your stash and force yourself not to buy more when you already have plenty of yarn for plenty of projects.

Another thing I've done is to get rid of all my bookmarks for yarn sale websites. That's not to say that I don't still check these websites and drool over beautiful yarn, but it takes a lot more effort to get to the site if it's not bookmarked. So I check a lot less often and that makes me tempt myself less.

The only thing that keeps me on my current yarn budget is the lack of space. If I see yarn (or pretty much anything) that I want, I simply ask myself where in my cramped apartment I would store the stuff. Since the answer is almost always "Nowhere," I stop looking. eBay is a big reason why I don't have any storage space at the moment.:) I try not to go there anymore.

Ugh, as a fellow law student, I can totally appreciate the conundrum. My theory is to buy on sale when I can now, so I can pay my loans later! I also try to keep my planned projects to a reasonable amount-- say 10 or so.

i took a picture of all my yarn, could barely fit it on my kiten countertop ~ that did it for me.

for now at least.

oh and i took a picture of all my knitting accessories, books, mags, you name it. that helped too, i think.

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