Need to Start Saving Money

I was a data geek in my former career and a few of those skills carry over to Coffee Time Stitching. In January 2007 I created a spreadsheet to track how much I spend for the items I need to create and another spreadsheet on how many hours I spend creating each day. The sheets are set up to calculate monthly, quarterly and yearly totals and averages. The one stat I like to keep handy is that amount of money spent per every hour of creating. In 2007 I spent $5.64 for every hour creating. In 2008 that number was $3.96. For 2009 it was $4.02. Through April 30 of this year that stat is down to $3.37. The way I look at it, spending less than $4 an hour for my sanity is a great deal!

Anyway, I spent a lot of money in April, the most I've spent in several months. But, what I bought will keep me busy for quite a while. I need to start saving my pennies, nickels and dimes for the Knit and Crochet Show in July. I have one more package arriving later this week from my April spending spree and then I'm done.

Some of my readers may be wondering if I ever play with fabric any more. The answer is yes, but not as often as I have in the past. One of the perks of my job is Employee Double Discount Days. Most of the time I can resist buying anything. This time I couldn't resist and came home with a few pieces of fabric. The truck fabric was a steal at $2.23 per yard. I've been collecting truck and car fabrics for an I Spy quilt for Mr. E and this piece will make a great quilt backing. The flip flop and purse fabrics are new fabrics for the store. I paid $2.79 a yard and bought one yard of each. The green stripe fabric was in the remnant bin and looks great with the flip flops and purses. I think I'm going to make a tote bag with those three fabrics.
Yesterday I found these baskets in the damage pile because each of them lost a handle. They were a steal at 75% off. I'm going to use them for my crochet and embroidery WIPs. I love the bright, cheery fabric on the inside.
On the crochet front I finished a second crochenit block in red. I have two more color combos, one in yellow and one in green, to work up. I hope those colors look as good as these colors do.
What are you up to today?

Sweet P