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I have none. I don't keep track of anything - how much money I spend on sewing, how many yards of fabric I buy, how many yards of fabric I sew - nothing...
How about you? What, if anything, do you keep track of? Why do you keep track of it and how do you use those numbers?
10 comments:
Same here. As long as I'm not "breaking the bank", I don't keep track of spending. Life is way too short.
That being said, my life has not always been like this. But as I approach 50, it finally is. I have discovered lots of wiggle room at the end of the paycheck. I Praise God for it, too.
PS. Today is payday.
these friday confessions are fun! i usually track my yardage in/out, items made, and money spent. (i've lost track this year so i gave up for now) anyway, i started doing it because i'd get annoyed at dh buying some computer thing here or weapon thing there, a couple of hundred dollars at a time. then i realized that i probably spent the same amounts, only in smaller increments. the info is purely personal for me, and doesn't really have any bearing on whether or not i buy something. sometimes i take alterations in or custom sewing, and it's fun to see if i've been 'self-supportive' in my passion. i do not have a budget for my sewing.
to track it, i have a section in my sidebar of my blog. when i buy something, i add the yardage and $ spent, when i cut something out i deduct the yardage, when i finish something, i add it to the tally and to the photo album. that is the part i like best -- i've made a special online photo album for each year since 2003 or so of the projects i've made. it's fun to look back.
No accounting practices here, other than occasionally saving receipts. I do not like having a significant stash so I try not to buy more fabric until my stash is low and I've accomplished at least most of my project goals.
Regarding fiber arts, no, I do no accounting whatsoever. I want to enjoy it, and not have to count everything little.
I am amazed at colleagues of mine who produce art garments and can tell you exaclty how many yards of thread (13,562 yards!) or how many Swarovski crystals (671 crystals!) are on their garments. People ask me and I'm like, "Uh, well, let's see, I think I used a couple of spools of thread, and beads, um, not sure. Enough to make it look 'right'." Some people actually track how many hours it took them to make the garment! I have no idea about that either, as I spend 6 months or so percolating every ensemble, so does that count, too? Not sure, I only know approxiamately how many months it took.
I keep track of everything, mainly because I'm an anal retentive control freak!
Actually, I'm not quite that bad, but I do like to keep account of fabric in & out, money spent, # of garments sewn in a year, what fabric/pattern was used for which garment and in some cases, the hours spent on a project.
I have a very (very!) large stash, so instead of digging through closets full of fabric, I can pull up a spreadsheet and determine which pieces of fabric are of sufficient quantity for a project, then go to the closet and neatly extricate the desired piece. No fuss, no muss.
I like knowing how much I spent on fabric because I keep a household budget and I also like having a monetary record in case of a fire (for insurance purposes). Not to mention, it's fun to say that I knocked off that $1200 Burberry coat for $95 - if I didn't track my fabric purchases, I wouldn't have that info.
Also, since I track which fabric was used for each project, 5 years from now when my favourite skirt wears out, I can look up the pattern used and whip up another one. I don't know about you, but I can't remember which pattern was used for every project, so it's nice to have a record for when my brain lets me down!
However, I do tend to draw the line at keeping track of how long a project takes to complete. Occasionally, I have tracked this, but it's pretty rare.
As far as counting the beads or the amount of thread used for a project (a la Summerset's acquaintances), there is no way I'd keep track of that - that's even too OCD for me!
I don't keep track of how much I spend or what I've bought. Though I would like to keep track of how much time I spend on any given project. In particular my cross stitch projects. The only problem is, I either forget to see what time it is when I start or I forget to note what time it was when I stopped, or I'll take several breaks and forget to note how long they were. Then on top of that I get in the flow so that time flies so quickly I can't even estimate how much time has passed.
Even though I'd still like to keep track of how much time I spend, I probably never will. :)
I used to keep track of how much I sew/buy, but it only lasted a few months. Now, I don't keep track of anything either!
I do keep track of my finances (at least, I try to!) It's mainly because since I have income from several different sources, including untaxed self-employed teaching, I have to for tax reasons.
As far as fabric stash goes, I am in the process of taking samples of my fabric and measuring out how much yardage I have of each. But for me, it's more so I can match fabric to patterns or ideas quickly, and have something to match other fabrics or notions to at the store. (I can't tell you how many times I've gotten to a project and discovered I completely forgot to buy zippers and thread!)
Track it!!??? If you track it then you have to own it...no way. LOL!!
On a better note I have cut up all credit cards with the exception of one. I will now be keeping a better eye on finances, but I have to say I still won't be tracking what exactly I spend on anything, except gas for my car and how many miles I can get on a tank of gas.
Sooo....I don't track anything either.
No, not at all!! Why would I want to do that? To scare myself?
Actually I don't budget anything. Perhaps I should...But I play with figures all day (being an accountant) and I don't want to do that in my own time.
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