Talk me down.

**Early Bird** · 03-07-2006, 08:52 PM

I have plenty of yarn.

I could knit from now till the end of summer. I like knitting socks [although I'm a beginner], but I also have yarn for hats and scarves.

I have 3 pairs of socks on the needles. (That's as it should be: 1 in the family room; 1 in the living room; 1 in my tote bag. In fact, I should put 1 in the car too.)

I have enough sock yarn for 1 pair of socks for DH; 1 pair of socks for me; and 4 pair of socks for the kids. The kids' sock yarn is high-end yarn that I got on a great sale.

But ....

I WANT to buy more of the high-end sock yarn.
It's not on sale.
I have enough allowance to get it.

Every day, I check the site and daydream about yarn.

Should I just get some and maybe quit wasting my time?

Talk me down, folks.

**inneedofhope** · 03-07-2006, 08:58 PM

Wait for the sale!!!!!!!

**madhen** · 03-07-2006, 09:04 PM

We covet that which we see. Stop checking the website until you get your projects done. Then, if you still find yourself thinking you just can't live without it, check it out again. I suspect that once you pull yourself away from drooling over it for a few days, you'll give that little yarn obsessed spot in your brain a chance to relax and think of other things. :-) (And trust me, I'm a fool for high-end yarn!)

**cspp04** · 03-07-2006, 09:15 PM

i agree with madhen's advice. i am living proof that going out and buy yarn whenever the 'need' arises is not a good strategy. a) i have trouble completing projects....b) i have a stash of yarn that must be used, that was once designated for projects that i have lost track of.....c) i am currently trying to decrease my stash. i told myself that i am not allowed to purchase any more yarn until my current stash has been decreased by 50%. i've been working at that for the last three weeks!! i've made a backpack, two purses, two coin purses, in the midst of crocheting a halter top for my daughter......and the list goes on. the point is, i purchased the yarns at a time when i found the other projects i was working on stagnant. i would have found more satisfaction after having completed what i bought it all for, then having it sit in a rubbermaid bin, which i am not trying to empty!! so work at your current projects and then buy yarn for another one.

guest7 · 03-07-2006, 09:27 PM

"Good things come to those who wait"
"Patience is a virtue"
"though shalt not covet"

Wait for the sale!!

**Early Bird** · 03-07-2006, 09:41 PM

You're NONE of you enablers!

My great worry is that prices will go up ... and I'll regret not having bought it now.

Ridiculous, eh?

**madhen** · 03-07-2006, 10:03 PM

Yes.

guest7 · 03-07-2006, 10:12 PM

sale price will always be better

**homesteadmamma** · 03-08-2006, 09:52 AM

Why can we not splurge on something we truly enjoy when we are frugal?

I'm not going to talk you down, I'm going to tell you to go for it. You enjoy knitting - GO FOR IT. You have the allowance to do it, you are frugal in other areas - so I'd say GO FOR IT.

If you were putting it on a cc, then I'd tell you different. You aren't, so enjoy picking out the colors you want and enjoy using it.

**homesteadmamma** · 03-08-2006, 09:56 AM

Originally posted by Early Bird
You're NONE of you enablers!

My great worry is that prices will go up ... and I'll regret not having bought it now.

Ridiculous, eh?

Personally I don't think it's ridiculous at all. I've regretted not purchasing material when I've found something that I really like. When I've gone back, it was all sold out. Now I don't wait. If I have the cash I purchase some. Do I have lots of UFO's, yes I do. Quilting is my passion. I'm frugal in other areas so that I can purchase material when I want to. The UFO's will get done, in my time and at my leisure.

I think the same thing should be for anything you enjoy doing. Life is too short to "regret" something, especially when you have your allowance to spend on it.

**madhen** · 03-08-2006, 10:29 AM

I have found that by not allowing myself to buy new yarn, and concentrating on trying to use up the yarn I have (and I have a lot!), I have tried out new projects and new combinations that I never would have done if I had just gone out and bought more yarn for another project that I had in mind. (If that makes sense.)

I have a resale permit, and can get yarn at the wholesale price, so if you want to talk temptation, try looking at sample books full of really nice (i.e, retails at $25/skein or more, cashmere, alpaca blends, silk boucle, etc) yarn that you can get for the price of a Walmart skein!

I have truly found that the longer I look at the sample books, the more I feel like I just have to have certain yarns. I tell myself I'm trying to make up my mind by looking at them again and again. I obsess over it, a bit, thinking, "Oh, this yarn would be perfect for this," and "that yarn would work great for that." But if I put the sample book away for about 48 hours, I totally lose that drive of HAVING to buy more yarn.

I would totally agree with homesteadmamma if you were out of yarn. Why deprive yourself of something that brings you joy if you have the money to afford it? But when you are already doing the thing that brings you joy (knitting), then stockpiling yarn you don't really need just because it might not be there down the road just doesn't click with me. That is the excuse most impulse shoppers use, and I know you aren't an impulse shopper! My reasoning would be that if that particular yarn wasn't there, there will always be something that will substitute just as well, and that I might even like better!

I also suspect that you wouldn't have posted for advice to a board called Frugal Village if you had really wanted to hear, "Oh, yeah, go for it! Buy as much yarn as your little heart desires!"

**Darlene** · 03-08-2006, 10:34 AM

I agree with CJ. Not sure where you want to order from but Joanns.com has free shipping on orders of $25 or more.

**homesteadmamma** · 03-08-2006, 11:37 AM

Originally posted by madhen
I would totally agree with homesteadmamma if you were out of yarn. Why deprive yourself of something that brings you joy if you have the money to afford it? But when you are already doing the thing that brings you joy (knitting), then stockpiling yarn you don't really need just because it might not be there down the road just doesn't click with me. That is the excuse most impulse shoppers use, and I know you aren't an impulse shopper! My reasoning would be that if that particular yarn wasn't there, there will always be something that will substitute just as well, and that I might even like better!

I also suspect that you wouldn't have posted for advice to a board called Frugal Village if you had really wanted to hear, "Oh, yeah, go for it! Buy as much yarn as your little heart desires!"

Madhen, just so you know I'm not an impulse shopper. I work hard at being frugal so that I can purchase material, if and when I want it. The same goes for my dh when it comes to his hobby. We don't own cc and pay cash for what we buy.

I also don't understand why one can't say "go for it" just because we are on a board called Frugal Village. What difference does that make? Early Bird works hard at being frugal - I've read most of her posts.

**Early Bird** · 03-08-2006, 12:05 PM

Thanks, everyone.

I guess that, if I didn't already have a 6 month backlog, it would make sense.

But spending money for the remote possibility of saving money at a later time -- probably not wise. After all, I might fall for another type of yarn in a couple months!

I DID need to be talked down. That allowance was burning a hole in my pocket!

**madhen** · 03-08-2006, 12:08 PM

Homesteadmamma,

My apologies if you thought I was accusing you of being an impulse shopper. I was not, nor was I accusing anyone on this list of such a thing. My point was just that the *excuse* of "if I don't get it now it may not be there later" is something an impulse shopper would use, and not one that anyone on this list should be using.

And you can absolutely say "go for it," but again, my point was I don't think Early Bird was really expecting to hear "go for it," but was rather looking for the strength to resist the impulse to run out and buy a bunch of yarn. Especially when you read the subject title she gave it "TALK ME DOWN." It would be like saying in an Overeater's Anonymous group, hey, I am at my desired weight, so how do you all feel about me running out and buying an ice cream sundae? No harm in that, right? I think she would have gotten the same response - discouragement from "straying from the path."

I think the difference it makes is the example it sets to the rest of the people reading who are perhaps not in a position to buy yarn "just because" and who are trying to find the strength to resist such impulses. If we can say, no, you have plenty of yarn and plenty of unfinished projects to go with that yarn, and you don't have to buy everything you want just because you want it, and if a person who has the money can agree publicly and resist the urge, then maybe those people who are tempted to spend that little cash influx when it comes in will remember her strength and be encouraged to also put their money away rather than spending it on something they want in a frivolous way.

I would agree with "go for it" if there was some super special yarn that she would never get again, and it was really important to her to have it, but based on the original post, I felt like she was trying to get support to not give in to that impulse to buy that nice yarn. I think if the former situation applied (super special yarn), she wouldn't have asked for our advice.