I use every last little bit in both the kitchen and my sewing room. I even save the tops and peelings from vegetables and bones from cutting up both chicken and beef and boil them down to make my own stock. I use leftover batting pieces chopped up to use as stuffing in a pet bed or stuffed toy; the larger pieces get sewn together to use in quilts. I learned my "saving" ways from my immigrant Polish grandparents -- they're habits that are second nature, so I don't think I would be able to change.

I'm somewhere inbetween. I sometimes buy fabric because I love it and I can see a future quilt but most of the time I only buy what I need. It's pretty much the same with stocking food. I never got out of habit of preparing a meal for a family and with an empty nest now my husband and I eat and then I freeze the rest. Great for a day when I don't feel like cooking and also great to have on hand when friends and family drop by :-D

Who are we kidding? I love love love buying for my stash! I have all kinds of fabric from wonderful local quilt stores & JoAnn's & Hancocks! Throw in some garage sales and friends that give me fabric and anything in between! I love to stock up on sales from the grocery store when I do the shopping (my dh does sometimes). I use coupons for both where I can. Nothing wrong with this! I have friends who buy only for project at hand and just enough fabric left for a snack size bag. Diffrent personalities means diffrent styles! Whatever works for ya! I love SCRAP QUILTS! They are my favorite and always will be! I try not to waste food, but certainly don't waste scraps. I have a bin I throw my little scraps in and make dog pillows for the humane society! My mom never wasted anything! I am my mom's daughter!

I have a small stash thanks to my garage sale junky daughter and have a small amount of scraps that I keep for charity quilts. I only throw away what is unusable or too small. When it comes to leftovers...I try not to make too much, but I cooked for 6 for so many years, that after my DDs left the house and now down to just the two of us, I have found that I don't know how to cook for just two. Potato salad....I end up with enuf for a crowd....spaghetti....3 days of leftovers. The hubby will eat all the leftovers but not me...ewww!

I buy fabric every chance I get lol...whatever strikes my fancy...I don't have to have a project in mind. As far as food goes, I stock my pantry, freezer, and fridge; go to the grocery store weekly, and have a "left-over night" once or twice a week. I still end up cooking 5-6 nights a week anyway.Beckie

I save my scraps, but never use them! One of these days, I'll sort them out and post them up here for someone to have. I've been buying fabrics with a project in mind, but not all at once. I have a few projects cooking in my head at all times and if I see something that would go with one of them, I pick it up.

I buy with a plan but with all plans,sh...happens. I have a pantry with stored food items that may be out dated by a couple of years and my stash is just as stocked but at least fabric does not spoil. (And it has come in handy in the past for one more color or a quick project just because.)

I'm a 'stocker.' When I see a great deal on something I know can use, I tend to buy multiples e.g. tomato soup, 24 cans. Luckily I have storage space. Now that there are only two of us at home, I no longer can but will still put potatoes and onions 'down cellar.'

During the winter of 1977-78 the only way I got to the grocery was on foot, with a sled for the supplies. Now our nearby store has closed and I don't think I'd want to trudge to the new one. So I lay in the staples, just in case: yeast, flour, canned goods, frozen food, powdered milk, dry beans, rice, etc. and don't forget the t.p.

My so-called stash has more sewing factory cut stacks, project remains, thrift store finds and old jeans than yard goods from the quilt store. I have made quilts with new fabric, purposely selected, but I prefer the thriftier up-cycling.

We don't have left-overs, we have planned-overs and think the pot of green beans or vegetable soup or pot roast & gravy taste better for the reheating.

Well I like my pantry full. I don't plan my meals (it drives hubby crazy). We do eat leftovers. If they want to eat.

I do keep most of my scraps. I might use them later or some day.

I do have a so what small stash. I bought most of it at the thrift store. How can you turn down many yards of fabric for under 5 bucks. Anything I don't like I donate back.

Interesting discussion.
I consider myself a "selective stocker" in most aspects of my life. I am very much bothered by clutter and like neat cupboards and closets, so as a general habit, before I buy or even accept anything for free, I ask myself where would I put it?

That being said, I love the freedom of spontaniousity, that is thinking up of a quilt pattern on a whim and just go into the closet, find fabrics and start cutting and sewing or in case of the kitchen, open fridge and pantry, collect ingredients and start cooking. I hate to interrupt my creative drive with a drive to the store. So I tend to plan things in my sewing room and kitchen, and buy things I know I will use and organize them neatly that I always know what I have and can easily find it. My sewing room and kitchen are my two favorite rooms in the house!

As far as scraps and leftovers, being an obsessive planner, I plan those too, lol, depending on the dish I plan whether we will have leftovers or not, and with a quilt pattern, I plan how to incorporate scraps in quilts as I go. That being said, if things happen and I end up with leftover, I never throw them away, we eat them, and if I have scraps that I don't have plans form I give them away.