Stitch from Stash May Update

Month: May
Spent: $0.00
Earn: $0.00

It's time for another Stitch from Stash update, check out Mel's Blog for details. This month I managed a zero spend on cross stitch supplies, which I am very pleased with. However I must admit that my personal budget did implode this month.

Here is some of what I finished up this month:

Floral Cross Stitch Ornament - Bright Blooms - The World of Cross Stitching 179

Somebunny to Love Finish - DMC Creative - Free Somebunny to Love Chart.

As some of you know I have been trying different techniques to attempt to get a better handle on my personal budget and to stop accumulating large amounts of "stuff". So far I have made a number of changes which have helped me to save more and created a less stressful financial environment for myself.

My plan was to keep my unnecessary purchases as low as possible for the year. This month I did make a big purchase that I hadn't intended to make. I decided to invest in a tablet PC. While it was a large expense I approached the purchase using some of my new budget skills. I decided on a maximum spend I was willing to make, then I did lots of research and found the best tablet with the features I wanted within that price.

I am so glad that I spent the time doing the research and am extremely happy with my choice. This does mean that I need to make a huge effort not to make any more unnecessary purchases for the rest of the year.

I have also decided that I will not be joining the SFS group for the second half of the year. I feel I have managed to get my craft spending under a certain amount of control and as the spaces are limited, I will leave it for someone else to take my place.

Stitch from Stash - Craft Budget April

Month: April
Spent: $15.00
Earn: $0.00


Today's post is going to be a fairly short one. If you are unsure as to what Stitch from Stash is check out Mel's Blog for details. I did spend some money this month on restocking a few of my DMC colours that I was running low on. Even though I haven't kept to a zero spend every month so far I am really happy with how little I have spent on cross stitch supplies. This has led to an increase in stitching pieces from my stash, which is a great feeling.

I did manage to finish a few smalls this month and will do a post on these soon, but I will add them into my earned budget next month. I have also decided to do my personal budget experiment posts separately, so my trial with using a weekly menu to reduce grocery and takeout costs will be up soon as well.

I am currently in the process of making some changes to my blog, layout, structure and content. I hope you can all stick with me for a little while longer. Hopefully I will have new and better posts coming up very soon.

Stitch From Stash and The Budget Experiment Part 2

Month: March
Spent: $5.25
Earn: $8.00

This month I unfortunately didn't manage a zero spend. A very good friend of mine expressed an interest in learning to cross stitch, so I offered to teach her. I decided to pick up one to two supplies I didn't have in my stash to suit the chosen project.

However I did manage to earn some funds for a couple of finishes from my stash that I made. I have only taken earned funds for two of the three finishes, as the Lickle Ted project was one I had started before January and as it is small I decided to just leave it out.

Here are my projects for March:

Sweet Treats - Cupcake of the Month - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 192

Swirly Sheep - Christy Schmitz - http://www.just-crossstitch.com/featured_pattern.php

Lickle Ted - Christmas Stitch Kit - The World of Cross Stitching

HAED - Bridge of Wings

I also started a new mini project, a free Somebunny to Love design from DMC. I just thought it was so cute. The chart can be found here: DMC Somebunny to Love Free Chart

Somebunny to Love - DMC Free Chart -
 http://www.dmccreative.co.uk/Inspiration/Projects/Cross-Stitch-Inspiration/Dmc-SBTL.aspx?technique=cross+stitched

My attempts at controlling my spending are on going and I am continuing to try new techniques. I am still using the reward system, if you missed that post you can read it here: Stitch from stash and the Experiment to Spend Less. This is continuing to assist me in cutting much of my unnecessary spending. The last few weeks haven't seen much added to the reward jar, as I have needed to purchase some supplies for a craft class I am taking.

The new technique I have added this month is a food budget. I know that probably sounds incredibly obvious to many of you but I have never really paid much attention to a food budget. In the past I often used my credit card to buy groceries and as such would often overspend. Now I have allowed myself a certain amount, which I withdraw in cash on payday. This amount must be sufficient to cover grocery costs for the week. Any money left over at the end of the week goes toward the budget limit for the following one.

I have forbidden myself from using the credit card for grocery shops. This is working well for me so far and has led to smaller grocery bills and less food waste.

I would love to hear any thoughts you have on my new attempt to curtail my spending in the comments section.

Stitch From Stash and The Experiment to Spend Less

Month: February
Spent: $0.00
Earned: $0.00

Most of my stitching progress this month is from late January and early February. However my budget is going well, with my second no spend month. This year I have started a budget plan and will be trying various techniques to curb my spending in all areas of my life.

Lickle Ted - Christmas Stitch Kit - The World of Cross Stitching

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

Dimensions Gold - Elegance of the Orient

HAED - Bridge of Wings

Lavender & Lace - Celtic Spring

The first technique I have tested is a reward system. Each week that I manage to make no unnecessary purchases I add a small amount to a fund jar. This will go towards a large treat at the end of the year.  I had to ensure that the reward was neither too big nor too small. Too big and I would find it difficult to find it in my regular budget, too small and it wouldn't feel worth it.

The first lesson I have learned with this technique is never reward yourself in advance. If you decided to give yourself a reward of €5/$5/£5, whatever your currency is, but you reach the end of the week and find that you only have a 10, don't use that for this and next week's goal. Little compromises with myself, like this, is how these attempts at change have collapsed in the past. As soon as I compromise once, it makes it difficult not to do so again.

I am finding this a useful way to keep myself on track. I do have to be very clear about what is an unnecessary spend, for this exercise it is anything I do not need to survive. Here is an example of an unnecessary spend I made recently is, my phone has been crashing apps and become intolerably slow. I decided I would replace it as I use it regularly. Although my old phone was not able to perform the functions I needed to an acceptable standard, it still functioned. Therefore I considered the purchase of the new one as unnecessary and missed out on my reward. As a new phone is a large expense, I debated whether I would forgo my reward for a few weeks, however I decided against such a harsh measure, as it was only a matter of time before my old handset needed replacing.

Do you have any tips or tricks you use to help you stop spending? Please let me know in the comments below. I would be interested in trying them out.

First 2015 Stitch from Stash - Craft Budgeting

Welcome to my first Stitch from Stash report of 2015.

Month: January
Spent: $0.00

Earned: $2.00 for the 1500 stitches on Bridge.

This month I worked on Elegance of the Orient and Bridge of Wings. I did not make any new starts from stash.

HAED - Bridge of Wings

Dimensions Gold - Elegance of the Orient

My budget plans for this year are to make as few unnecessary purchases as possible and see how much I can save. Rather than getting bogged down with a year goal I am just going to try for week by week. The idea is that at the beginning of each week I make the decision to not make any unnecessary purchases. This includes craft supplies, books, games, bath products etc. and is just for that current week. I will probably build a reward system in there for when I am successful maybe by putting aside a small amount of money for an end of year splash out on something I have wanted for a while but was too expensive.

The idea behind this is that over the last number of years I have accumulated a very large amount of entertainment items, either books, craft stuff etc. now I want to actually start using these items rather just purchasing more to be added to the pile. I am allowing myself to purchase any supplies that I absolutely need for a particular project but it has to be for something I already have such as a pattern.

I am delighted to have started off the year with a zero cross stitching spend and am hoping to have the same next month. I might even have added on some more earned funds to my budget.

Next up will be a Homemade Goodies Foodie post.
 

Last SFS of 2014

Well here we are at thhe last SFS check in for 2014. I have also joined in for 2015 and am hoping to cut my spending and stitch from stash even more next year.

This month I did make use of the Love Thy Thread exemption provided and purchased a few charts that I had been wanting for a long time.

Other than the the exemption charts I managed a zero spend this month, so Yay.

Amount Spent: $0.00

New Starts from Stash: None

WIPs or UFOs worked on: HAED - QS Clara, Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179 

Final total: Budget total $300, total spend: $82.06. As far as I remember the only exemption I made use of was the Love Thy Thread one, which was a total of $53.99.

Now onto the pictures, I actually have Somebunny progress to show!!

HAED - QS Clara

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

See you for next years Stitch From Stash

SFS November

Hey all, sorry I haven't posted in a while, been busy here. I almost forgot to post my SFS report for this month, so here it is.

Amount Spent:$18.81

New Starts from Stash: Lickle Ted Christmas Stitch Kit

WIPs or UFOs worked on: Trick or Treat - Barb Cooley, Plum Pudding NeedleArt - Just Cross Stitch Halloween Edition 2013, Dimensions Gold - Elegance of the Orient.

I managed one day of stitching recently when my mojo made a brief reappearance. I decided to work on Elegance as that and Celtic Spring were the projects calling to me.

Dimensions Gold - Elegance of the Orient

Dimensions Gold - Elegance of the Orient

Trick or Treat - Barb Cooley, Plum Pudding NeedleArt - Just Cross Stitch Halloween Edition 2013

Lickle Ted Christmas Stitch Kit

Apologies for not having any listings on my Ebay at the moment. I will be relisting at the start of next month, as the fees are too costly for me otherwise, so do check that out if you are interested.

October SFS

Well it's time for a Stitch from Stash update. I have another zero spend month, which I am very happy about. As it has been mini month that's been mostly what I have worked on, with a little on the bunnies at the beginning of the month.

I also realised that I hadn't given you an update on Autumn this month. There has been no progress but it was remiss of me not to post anyway, so my apologies.

Amount Spent: $0.00

New Starts from Stash: Snowflake - Just Cross Stitch Ornament ED 2011 - SamSarah Design Studios, Margaret Sherry Mouse Card Kit, Trick or Treat - Barb Cooley, Plum Pudding NeedleArt - Just Cross Stitch Halloween Edition 2013

WIPs or UFOs worked on: Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179.

And now for the pictures:

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

Snowflake - Just Cross Stitch Ornament ED 2011 - SamSarah Design Studios

Margaret Sherry Mouse Card Kit

Trick or Treat - Barb Cooley, Plum Pudding NeedleArt - Just Cross Stitch Halloween Edition 2013

Hoping to have Halloween finished soon and I might squeeze in another mini before the end of the month if I am lucky.

SFS August

It's SFS time again. This month I actually had a very easy time of avoiding spending any money on stash as I had all my cards cancelled due to the theft of my bag!

Amount Spent: $0.00

New Starts from Stash: Blossoming Spring - The Ultimate Forest Friends Collection - Sheila Hudson

WIPs or UFOs worked on: Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179 & Dimensions Gold - Elegance of the Orient.

Piccies:

Blossoming Spring - The Ultimate Forest Friends Collection - Sheila Hudson

Dimensions Gold - Elegance of the Orient.

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

My stitching has been a bit slow of late so not a huge amount of progress this month but not too bad :) Hope everyone had a great SFS.

July SFS

Well here we are again, it is stitch from stash time.  If you want to know more just head over to Epic Stitching. Thankfully Mel has give a bit extra time this month to submit which is great because I am behind.

Here is my SFS report:

Currently I have a cumulative budget of $175-$16.79 = $158.51

Amount Spent: $46.46, which leaves $112.05

New Starts from Stash: Bright Blooms - The World of Cross Stitching 179, Witch's Pantry - Plum Pudding Needle Art - Just Cross Stitch Oct 2012, Swirly Sheep - Christy Schmitz - http://www.just-crossstitch.com/featured_pattern.php, Boofle Christmas Card Chart - The World of Cross Stitching, Mario and Yoshi - Pull the Other Thread (From The Small Room on ETSY)

WIPs or UFOs worked on: HAED Autumn & Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179 

 

Here is what I worked on:

 

HAED Autumn

Bright Blooms - The World of Cross Stitching 179

Witch's Pantry - Plum Pudding Needle Art - Just Cross Stitch Oct 2012

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

Swirly Sheep - Christy Schmitz - http://www.just-crossstitch.com/featured_pattern.php

Mario and Yoshi - Pull the Other Thread (From The Small Room on ETSY)

Boofle Christmas Card Chart - Freebie from The World of Cross Stitch

 This month I purchased the threads to stitch Boofle and another mini, the Halloween Ornament download edition of Just Cross Stitch and two Lavender and Lace charts I have wanted for years which were on sale at Willow Fabrics! Thanks to 'Jo who can't think of a clever nickname' who mentioned this sale in her SFS report.

 

Lavender & Lace - Fairy Godmother

Lavender & Lace - Lady Clare

June SFS

I, like many others, can not believe it is the end of June already! This month really did just seem to fly past. Hope everyone is enjoying whichever season you are currently in :)

Anyway onto the interesting stuff. It is Stitch From Stash time again, the explanation for this is really all in the name but if you want to know more just head over to Epic Stitching.

So how did I do in SFS this month:

Amount Spent: $0.00

New Starts from Stash: Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

WIPs or UFOs worked on: Dimensions Gold Elegance of the Orient, HAED QS Clara & HAED Autumn.

I did purchase a RAK for another stitcher and I am not sure if that counts toward my budget. If anyone knows, could they tell me and I can add it into next months budget instead, if that is ok with everyone. It was under the $25 limit.

Some piccies:

I also did a couple of finishes, which I will add piccies of here as well, although they have already appeared on my blog.

May SFS Report

It's that time again, my Stitch from Stash report. I worked on a few pieces this month, including managing to finish Majestic Peacock. However I have already posted pics of this piece so I won't post them again. If you would like to see Majestic Peacock in all its glory have a look under my finishes tab at the top or at my YOTA post for this month.

So how did I do in SFS this month:

Amount Spent: $11.80

New Starts from Stash: None

WIPs or UFOs worked on: Dimensions Gold Majestic Peacock, Dimensions Gold Elegance of the Orient, HAED QS Clara & HAED Autumn.

Some piccies:

Dimensions Gold - Elegance of the Orient

HAED - Autumn

HAED - QS Clara

My promise at the start of the year was that I would work on two large projects from my WIP's and one mini project. Well I did manage to work away on Autumn and actually managed a page finish, which I am so happy about but it is swiftly becoming apparent that Autumn will be a long slog. It is a huge chart and quite challenging. I missed working on another HAED chart so I pulled out Clara for a little while and finished up the feather in her hat. I want to try and get the last of this top row of pages done as there is very little left in them to do.

Now to show what I spent my money on this month. I have been looking for this for ages and just by chance came across it the other week, it was the last one in the store so I snapped it up!

Stash

Hope everyone had a good SFS this month :)

Stitch from Stash April

It's Stitch from Stash time again being held by Mel over at Epic Stitching. Unfortunately this month I don't have a zero spend. I bought the first of the New Age Cross Stitch Digital Magazine so my spend this month was $4.99. Still I think that was pretty good. In the interest of full disclosure though I will admit that I stashed in a few of my other crafts, I bought some stuffing for finishes, a set of crochet hooks and some House Mouse unmounted stamps.

Here is how I did:

Amount Spent: $4.99

New Starts from Stash: None

WIPs or UFOs worked on: Dimensions Gold Majestic Peacock & HAED Autumn.

Some piccies:

 

As some of you will already know I am waiting for replacement thread to finish Peacock. However this month I haven't been doing much stitching. I have completed a few finishes. Here are the piccies:

I have mostly been knitting and learning how to spin yarn with a drop spindle. I will post my progress on those in my next update.