More about convention soon, but first ......

A comment about Money!
I know, money is a dirty little subject, but I think it isn’t chatted about enough. People who have it are guilty about it, and people with almost enough want to keep their mouths shut and people without much at all don’t want to be shunned. Well, I am in there with the whole group and not the group with piles of it. I knew that going to this convention would place me with ladies (and gentlemen) with far more disposable income than I could imagine. But that did not stop me from going. First it was close enough to drive, and the gas was cheaper than an airplane flight. I checked the room rates, the parking rates, the food rates, and the local taxes, and calculated that it would cost me about a thousand dollars to pay for the room. (I choked, too.) Then I knew I would want to spend about a thousand dollars, at least. That sounds like a lot, but you can spend a thousand dollars really fast at a convention, if you don’t have some rules. Those I am getting to in a minute.
I saved for this convention for TWO, count them, TWO years. I had the money, cash in hand for this trip. I didn’t inherit it; I worked for it and saved the money. Twenty dollars here, fifty dollars there, and I said no to myself several times for things I really wanted to buy. That money went into the fund. You can do it too! I have an acquaintance who loves to go to the guild school every year. (She treats it like a Christmas club account, every month 1/12 of the cost.) (www.IGMA.org). You should pay yourself like you would pay a bill.
Now for some rules to make your money go farther:

1. Focus your intent – This convention shopping was focused on fabric. I knew I wanted larger pieces to make clothes for my Ultimate Fashion ®. She is 12” tall and to make a dress with a train, I don’t need more than ½ yard of fabric. She has Green eyes, so I wanted the fabric to have green or some color that works well with green. That would restrict me.
2. Plan your shopping time – I knew I had workshops, meetings, seminars, luncheons and times I was meeting with friends. The showrooms were open only so many hours and one was at another venue. So my shopping time was limited to when a show was open and when I was free. I scheduled shopping into my schedule.
3. Don’t carry all your money with you each time you shop. If it is early, you don’t want to spend it all in one place, and if you don’t have enough, you can leave a deposit and go get the balance.
4. Swing around the showroom once or twice. If it is “to die for” buy it, but if there are more choices it will still be there. If it is not, it wasn’t meant to be. (Remember these are ways to be budget minded, not cruel.) Perhaps I am more disciplined. Remember I worked hard to save this money.
5. Well, there is no five. I would love to have a five, but sometimes, you just have to have some fun and forget the rules. You’ll know when that is.

Now we know, I bought green fabrics and trims and items that go well with greens. I bought them in lots that did not exceed ½ yard and I only shopped for about 4 or 5 hours the entire week. But I did break the rules (Number 5) and bought a whole yard of the dreamiest blue I have ever seen, and a wonderful pink jacquard. Am I nuts, maybe, but I don’t regret a single purchase since I got home. Did I go over my budget, YES I DID! I will tell you more about that coming up.
Kathi
La Petite Belle Patterns
http://www.minipatterns.com