Destashing

A couple nights ago, I went through my stash and decided to get rid of all the skeins that didn't inspire me, and could be returned with fairly minimal effort. I pulled 33 skeins, and divided them up to return to JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby, and Big Lots. Many of these were impulse buys, and purchasing was scattered throughout the year. I didn't bother attempting to find receipts...they all would have been out of date anyway.

JoAnn's treated me fairly well. They took a large percentage off the total return value to cover their butts in case I bought something on sale or with a coupon. I was slightly pissed over that, but I guess I can see where they're coming from. That was my biggest return, and it's kind of nice to have a card full of JoAnn's money for the next time I feel like getting new crafty stuffs. I may venture more into their fabric selection, though, as I'm finding myself drawn more to the "fancier" LYS yarns. Those are much more difficult to access, though, which is such a good thing for me.

Hobby Lobby took the yarn back at the lowest sales price within the past 30 days. Again, not the best, but I probably did buy a lot of that crap on sale...and it was indeed crap. All of it was eyelash yarn. Very pretty, very soft, but I'll never use it for a damn thing, and I know it. A person can only make so many catnip mice, and I couldn't face 9 more skeins of that. Again, it's nice to have that store card in my wallet. I've been trying to really cut back on my spending, which can feel really restrictive. Having a little "free money" makes me feel good, even if it's not quite true.

Big Lots, on the other hand, was a total disappointment. They won't take returns past the 30 day mark, and they won't take returns without a receipt. Granted, I only had like $7 worth of yarn to return to them, but that's 7 skeins I'm stuck with finding a use for. I could donate them, and I might if my mood swings that way, but for now I think I'll keep them in a pile for charity knitting. Could be a nice rainy day activity.

I also returned some picture frames to Target last weekend, so I have all kinds of store cards to make me feel like I have extra spending money! Yay destashing=)