I am forever watching everywhere I go for anything that I could use in my quilting hobby. We are also on fixed income and feel it more every week.

Old cotton shirts from Goodwill to quilt - 100% cotton.

Go to quilt guild. Offer to bake a dozen or two cookies in exchange for a scrap bag.

Jo Anns 50% off coupons. I use em for everything...especially bulk batting.

I was making stuffed dolls for 3rd world countries for a church project and I asked everyone for the scrap batting....3 years later, I'm still recieving "scrap" batting that is lots of times big enough for baby blankets and lots of large pieces that I can whip stitch together to make it big enough for quilts. I whip stitch close together stitches and then run it on the machine with a zig zag stitch. It works great and I've saved a ton of money on batting.

I forgot to say, our family stopped eating out 5 years ago. We eat out when grandma and grandpa come 3x per year. For our family of 4, even with McD's, that will cost $16-$20. That will buy a lot of fabric. I would rather buy that. It really becomes a special treat if my DH and I go on a date and split a sandwich at Panera.

I haven't finished reading all the posts, but had to comment on this.

THIS IS SO TRUE. Almost everyone has a "fixed income" in that you get a paycheck every week or month and you can usually predict what it is. People that work in sales would probably have a different paycheck each time, but most people have a fixed income.

So, I think the question you mean is how to cut your monthly expenses so there is something left over to spend on quilting. That is a whole different ball game. I thought of the website www.getrichslowly.com which I've enjoyed a lot. There are lots of good articles about living on what you have, and attitudes towards money, etc.

There are tons of different great suggestions here, but I'd also like to add that when it is time for your birthday or Christmas (or mother's day), ask for fabric, quilting books (give specific titles), or gift cards to certain stores that interest you to the people who are most likely to buy you presents. Don't ask for restaurant gift cards, etc.

Also, just let people around you know that you would be willing to use up their old fabric. :)

AND, some of the charity quilts provide the quilt kits for you--just sign up and you can sew with their fabric. Great deal for people who have no funds to buy fabric for charity quilts.

I've made many charity quilts and when the organization provides the material for the quilt, it's ONLY for the quilt top. They ask that you provide the backing and batting so that can be an unexpected expense if a person is doing charity quilts for the first time.

The Mid Valley Quilt Guild in Salem, Oregon does this also. Also for group projects and/or charity quilts frequently the guild has fabric donated to them for that purpose.

make friends with a teacher and use Joann's coupons - teachers get a 15% discount.

My husband and I both work, but we are on a very strict budget trying to get completely debt free. It is hard for me when I see so many beautiful quilts on here that I want to make. I buy my stuff in stages. I started a new quilt top in January. It was finished about 4 wks later Last week I had a few extra dollars for batting. I am now waiting until next payday to buy the batting. I will take me 6 months to finish this quilt due to budgeting.I don't have a stash built up so If I want to try even a small project I still have to buy all the supplies.

My mother loves to shop!! She is on a fixed income. So she goes to Flea Markets and some people sell new clothes for 25 cents. Mom checks the fabric content and brings me 100% cotton. Some are designer clothes. Fabric is fabulous too.
She also goes to garage sales and mentions that I quilt for charity and some folks just give her huge bags of fabric. I am blessed.