My fabric buying rules

I don't buy fabric full price. I can't. I'm unemployed, fresh out of school, applying to any job I can find that fits my skill set. Some people might consider buying fabric a little irresponsible at this point in my life. I consider it my link with sanity. Literally, on some days sewing and playing with fabric is the only thing keeping me from getting very upset with my job search.

So I have a couple fabric buying guidelines [keep in mind that I do 95% of my buying online]:

I will only buy if it's on sale or I have a coupon. Obviously, this leads to some sadness. I wanted some Echo SO bad when it came out, but of course it's been flying off the shelves and there probably won't be any left to go on sale.

Also, my coupons have to be good. So saying I can have $5 or $10 off a $100 purchase just doesn't work for me. Unfortunately. I can't afford to buy that much fabric at once. So I'd rather have a "20% off your total purchase" coupon. 

I also try to take advantage of free shipping when possible!

The one exception I have to my fabric buying rules is that if I am already purchasing sale items at a shop, sometimes I will throw in something I really want that's not on sale. Shhh, don't tell my budget. I don't do it often, just every once in a while!

I got this stack from Wondrous Wovens after I saw someone else's fabric laid out on Flickr. She had gotten the gray Front Row print from Silent Cinema and I immediately went to look because those are my favorite prints. The gray was sold out, but I got these other 3 colors for $3.95 a yard each and then I got the Across the Pond print for $5 a yard. So even though I had to pay shipping it still made this a cheap purchase!

I bought this stack yesterday at Joann's. I buy all my Kona white there, and stock up on solids if they have a good selection that week. It's closer than the one modern[ish] LQS I have around here. Anyways, Konas are 25% off this week, plus they're running a military special for President's Day that gives ID holders an extra 20% off, including sale items. That brought the solids to about $4.80 a yard. I got that purple linen blend to use for a SchoolhouseTunic [already 30%] off for $5.60 a yard, and the turquoise twill for a dress for $7.27 a yard after all the discounts.

So I don't know if I'm just nosy parker, but I always want to know how people buy fabric, which is why I decided to write this post. Yes, I'd love to have a big fabric stash. Yes, there are some fabrics that I won't be able to buy. But sometimes I'm glad that I probably only have 20 yards of fabric on hand around here. I'm afraid I'd be overwhelmed to have enough fabric to run my own shop just out of my stash. I don't even think I like that many prints out there to do that!

So do you have rules for buying fabric? Do you buy on a budget, on a whim, on your emotional mood that day? Do you wish your stash was larger or smaller?