I wire backwards. I also have just about zero waste. Allow me to explain:
Let's say I'm wiring a receptacle circuit run. I've installed my boxes and drilled my holes; let's say I'm going overhead, and let's start with the last box.
I run the NM from the previous box, through the holes, to the last box, leaving a bit of slack at each turn. (I haven't cut the wire from the roll yet.) I'll strip and hook the wire, put it into the box, and staple.
I staple my way from here back towards the next-to-last box, adjusting the length as I go, until I get to the top-plate hole. I now cut the wire to suit this box, strip and hook the wires (except the ground) and let it just hang for now.
Now, I take the roll the the next box and feed it through the holes to the box I just cut and stripped at. I strip and hook the wires (except the ground again) and twist the two grounds gently together.
I cut one ground short (for the greenie), and then poke all four insulated wires and the 1-1/2 ground wires into the box through one KO. Now I staple both wires up the stud, and then staple my way toward the roll again.
Notice the only waste I have is the half of ground I trim. I never just run all the wire segments and cut them. If one is a hair too short, it becomes pigtail stock (unless I can use it somewhere else).
If one is too long, the excess might or might not be suitable for pigtails. I prefer leaving the wire I'm working on attached to the roll as long as I can, not cut it off as soon as I can.
The same method works for, say, a group of recessed lights. If I'm going to work on the last can, I feed the wire toward it from the previous box, not away from it so I have to cut the wire to get an end.
If I did that, I'd have two unlanded ends which haven't been stapled, and I might have either too much slack or not enough, both of which are wasteful. The best part: it's faster, too.
To me, a foot-long hunk of wire is more valuable while it's still part of the roll than after it's been cut off. Let the carpet guys be the one who try to sell remnants.
[This message has been edited by Larry Fine (edited 08-12-2006).]
