Jason, the best advice I can give is about basics. When wiring a circuit, let's say receptacles, here's a good way to save steps, material, and time. When pulling a run between boxes, pull toward the box you're wiring instead of away. Here's what I mean:
Start with the last box on the circuit. Feed the wire from the next-to-last box to the last box, strip the end, put it in the box. Notice you haven't cut the wire yet. If you need more slack, like keeping the wire out of pinches, it's there; if you have extra, it's still attached to the roll.
Now start stapling your way back to the wire roll at the next-to-last box, except no staples on the next-to-last stud yet. Now you can hold the wire against the stud and cut the length for the in-box wire. Strip and insert into the box, but again, don't staple yet.
Now, take the wire to the box before this one, feed the wire to the box you just inserted the wire into, strip the end, insert into the box, and now staple both this wire and the previous one, and make up the EGC. Again, notice the new wire is still attached to the roll.
Continue stapling back towards the roll, adjusting slack as you need to, and again don't staple on the stud where the wire roll is, but cut the wire to length and strip it. Do this back toward the panel, and even with the home run itself, with the roll at the panel.
This also works well with lighting boxes and other outlets. If you're pulling from a switch to a ceiling box, recessed can, etc., feed the wire from the switch to the ceiling box, strip and make up the ground and any other wires you can now, while you're on the ladder.
This is an especially great method for looping recessed cans. Starting with the last can on the line, pull the wire toward it, not away from it, make up the connections and close the box, then start stapling toward the previous can, cut and strip the wire, but don't drive that last staple yet.
Now feed the new wire from the can before this one, strip the end, insert both wires into the J-box, make up the connections, staple both wires, and staple your way back towards the roll again, repeating the same steps.
Except for trimming the panel, you'll see that the only waste wire you should have for the whole house will be the trimmed EGC's. Of course, where you need pigtails, such as switches and such, you'll need extra black and bare wires, so a little waste is unavoidable.
The worst thing I've seen guys do is pull wires from box to box, cut the ends, and hope that they left enough slack for stapling. If they're short, they have to re-pull the run and hope to use the wire elsewhere; if they cut it long, it's just wasted money.
The guy who cares about how much time the job takes (me, the business owner), how much the materials cost (me again), and how many mistakes are made (still me) is the one who will benefit the most from using this method.
