August 2014 No Buy/Low Buy Thread - Hugs, Commiseration, and confessional

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Resisted a MAC Haul yesterday (for the Simpsons collection). I had the items in my cart, I was logging into my paypal, and then I just stopped and thought about the fact that I need to fix some things on my car and get a new cell phone soon so this was not allowed! I was proud of myself for stopping myself mid-checkout.

 
jesemiaud said:
I have done better this month than any other attempted no-buy. I purchased some gifts and while I did make an unplanned Sephora purchase (today - ebates are 10%), it was for items I needed to replace such as a beauty blender, nail clippers (clearenced), and base coat. 

Sub wise, I forgot to cancel From the Lab in time, so I need to make sure I do that before Sept (note to self...do it while I'm thinking about it - there, done!). I cancelled one of my birchboxes (and when one of my annual subs is up, I will cancel and go down to one box). I did add Sample Society, but I skipped Julep and cancelled Square Hue. I successfully avoided getting the PopSugar LE Fall box, even though I REALLY wanted it. And to be honest, I only successfully avoided it because it sold out. If someone ends up with buyers remorse and wants to sell their box, I will probably jump at the chance. :D /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />
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How do you think of From the lab? I am very very tempted, i am currently on Popsugar and Glossy (already canceled, August box will be my first and last box (unless i re sub in future) ). I am on low buy, but I am very curious about From the lab box..

 
Jenn10 said:
How do you think of From the lab? I am very very tempted, i am currently on Popsugar and Glossy (already canceled, August box will be my first and last box (unless i re sub in future) ). I am on low buy, but I am very curious about From the lab box..
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Hmmm...I was one of the original subscribers and I've liked nearly every product I've received. I cancelled because I wanted to cut back on stuff. However, in July, they had a best of box that included a face and eye primer that I really liked. I just cancelled again because too much stuff. I can see getting it again in the future when I've used up some of my stash.

 
I'm going to be traveling for work next week, so I'm going to use that as an opportunity to finally use some of my samples that I've had lying around forever. Also, I'll probably be so busy that I won't have time to browse makeup on the internet, so that'll be good for my no buy.

 
My spending this past week has been out of control! BUT, I should be very well-stocked on everything and ready to go on a successful low buy in September and then in October. I have one planned purchase tomorrow for an expected product restock and then it's really time to tighten the reigns. I have lots of new pretties to use up and keep me occupied.

 
I didn't entirely stick to my no buy in August, but I didn't completely go off the rails either. I made one unnecessary purchase at Sephora, I bought a Popsugar box, and I made a completely unnecessary but somewhat planned Ulta purchase during the 10x points. I also used "points" to buy a couple things, but unnecessary fun stuff I don't need is exactly what I save my points for so I feel no guilt about that.

But I also got a lot better at shopping my stash, loving the products I already have, and thinking more about how much use/enjoyment I would get out of a product before I buy it. I'm also slowly but surely working through my samples, especially skincare.

I'm going to do another no-buy in September. If I actually run out of something I can buy it, but I don't foresee that being an issue. And trying to rotate through the items I have is a necessary reality check before holiday sets come out.

 
jesemiaud said:
Hmmm...I was one of the original subscribers and I've liked nearly every product I've received. I cancelled because I wanted to cut back on stuff. However, in July, they had a best of box that included a face and eye primer that I really liked. I just cancelled again because too much stuff. I can see getting it again in the future when I've used up some of my stash.
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Thank you for your kind reply!

I am so so tempted, the only thing that is stopping me is that.... it's not free shipping ;(  I don't know why I just hate paying shipping.. ever. I may sub after I use up most of my skin/body care products. 

 
I know there's one more day, but I'm going to do my August recap tonight.

In August, I bought:

3 pairs of jeans

1 top

1 pair of shoes

4 pair socks

2 bras

1 Birchbox store purchase, which I'm seeing if I can return (AWFUL on me! 
     But I threw away packaging.   Hope they'll still take it back.)

1 tote that replaces computer and lunch bags

1 career book

1 school book (actually rented for $35)

1 Birchbox

1 Sample Society box

1 Memebox (won't arrive until late October/early November)

2 presents for Hubby's birthday (October 3)

ETA ~ and I forgot about the 2 3-wick candles and a candle holder.  I actually got a lot for my money this month!!!

Usually I would have bought all this stuff, but $150+ of it would have come out of our general account and I would have just played with my "allowance" and bought a bunch of things I'd never use.  (I tend to go in hoarding trends, where I suddenly need to buy every book on a topic, or every color of an eyeliner brand, or every movie with a particular actor.  None of that in my list above!)  This month, the only thing I asked for out of the general account is a pillow.  (Mine died.)

I donated 15 pieces of clothes, 8 books, 3 pair shoes.  Threw out the bag being replaced with the tote.  Also pitched a bunch of lipsticks (a few years ago I tried to find the "perfect red" and went wild with NYX. Did you ever notice NYX has some very weird day-glow colors?).  Interestingly, I found them to pitch because over the last month, I actually used every lip color I own!

Considering it's been a stressful month, I don't think I did badly.  My focus in the future is going to be mostly on my allowance money.  Spend it more wisely, and make it enough without asking for a lot out of the general funds.

Now get the heck outa here, August!  It's September's turn!

 
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Annnnnd I thought I was safe this late in the month, but stumbled upon a beauty stuffs sale.  $20 more spent.  (But from my fun-money.)

 
No buy was a fail. I ended up spending total of $50 throughout the month. This is usually what one of my allowances for the month is (I have one each paycheck, and they're $50 each, for a total of $100 a month) so not bad but still, the no-buy was kind of a fail. I fully admit all of the shopping was due to stress, and the stress will not be going down any time soon either, but I will try my best to mitigate that in September.

Sigh.

 
jaylilee said:
No buy was a fail. I ended up spending total of $50 throughout the month. This is usually what one of my allowances for the month is (I have one each paycheck, and they're $50 each, for a total of $100 a month) so not bad but still, the no-buy was kind of a fail. I fully admit all of the shopping was due to stress, and the stress will not be going down any time soon either, but I will try my best to mitigate that in September.

Sigh.
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Failed as well. -_- /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> Moving on....

 
Going over my goals:

magicalmom said:
August is hard because it's my birthday month, and I want to indulge in all the pretties! But, I do need to keep going with my new-found willpower, so when I'm tempted to shop, I'll buy some of the things I actually need.

Things I can/should buy:
-school supplies for the kids -check!
-birthday presents for the kids (one in Aug, one in Sept) -august birthday down, Sept to go!
-shampoo/conditioner for myself (AFTER I use all the foil packets I have. I don't have travel plans for awhile, and they are taking up too much space!) -nowhere even close to finishing samples! Successfully avoided!

Other allowed purchases:
-one Birchbox -check!
-second Birchbox IF I can find a 100 point code - check!
-Ipsy -check, and it was so dismal I cancelled!
-Sample Society (must cancel either SS or Ipsy by the end of the month) - check, and have cancelled SS for Sept too as I didn't like the spoilers.
-One $15 Shiro Cosmetics order (thanks to a gift card from my Midsummer Modmother!) - check!
-I can go to the SiJCP by me to get some waterproof makeup remover and my Birthday gift. If I'm by an Ulta I can get my bday gift BUT honestly not even interested in their mascara. -check on Sephora, didn't go to Ulta!

And that's it! I also need to organize my stash (again). I want to start concentrating on buying indies once I'm off my low-buy, with any "corporate" brand makeup coming from subs and/or Birchbox point purchases. -successfully organized makeup into a tall, narrow 5-drawer organizer (one of the Sterilite kind) that I found at a yard sale for $2!

Good luck ladies!
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Other failures:

- Haus of Gloi order - small order, being held until they do a restock.  It's an indie company, not going to beat myself up.  By the time I'm done, it'll be about a $20 order

- Aromaleigh sample order - because I need eyeshadow like a FREAKIN HOLE IN MY HEAD.  But it was an indie company, and the samples were on sale for $0.50 ea!  I will be giving some of the samples away in a gift exchange coming up, because of all the dumb things, I managed to order some neutral shades.  Still, order total was only $12

- Incoco nail strips, 5 sets at 1/2 price.  I love these things, they will last for a week on me (unlike ANY nail polish ever) and I only ordered cool patterns that I could never replicate instead of solids.  BUT.  $25, not an indie company, this is the one I'm NOT happy with myself about.

Yup, ended up going over-budget by almost $60.  I NEED to remember that even small orders add up.  So from now on, I'm re-instituting my monthly $25 budget.  But instead of being "mad money" for wandering the drugstores and hitting up Ulta, it's going to be for indie company orders, because they're awesome and totally deserving of my money.  Just not ALL of it.

Still, I'm very proud of myself for improvements I've made over the summer.  I'm now not even tempted to go buy makeup/bath/skin stuff at grocery/drugstores, and that was a really hard habit to break.  I'm not tempted to go to Ulta and Sephora anymore, and that was a really hard habit to break.  I'm not tempted by all the GWP's and new releases, and "must have new Urban Decay palette!", and that was REALLY hard to break (oh GWP's... my heart still cries a little).

So failure?  YES.  But also some important realizations and breakthroughs, and for being MY BIRTHDAY MONTH and knowing I went bat-poo insane last year, I still feel really good about this month.  Hopefully you guys are in the Sept thread already!  Let's do this!

 
Kelly Silva said:
Moving, and other big life changes have made me realize I need to stop spending so much. I am allowing myself apartment furniture, and other expenses for that, and my last Ipsy bag, and that's it.
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My only consolation was that my moving date was changed to the end of September instead of the beginning, so furniture and stuff didn't need to be bought just yet.

 
I seem to have actually been successful on a no buy for once! I made one Sephora order early in the month with my gift card, which was allowed, and other than that, I didn't buy any other makeup this month. I was tempted a bunch of times, but each time, I reminded myself that I do not need any more makeup.

 
My no buy was a SUCESS!! Well ok I spent $12 but that is only twelve dollars! I am very proud of myself. I found it so much easier the longer I went. I really started to appreciate how much I had, and it forced me to play with things I have already and use them in different ways.

 
I resisted SOOOOO many purchases this month, and then the Ulta 10x points happened and I slid into a weird mood that could only be fixed with shopping. Fortunately, I couldn't quite justify any purchases (mediocre reviews, backups of things that I'm only halfway through). So even though I felt like a disaster, I only went over by $6. I also received an ebates refund for $23. I'm considering this month a success!
Money spent:

158 Chikuhodo - brushes at 18% off. I'd planned to spend a few hundred on Hakuhodo this fall, but these are comparable and on sale.
38 thrift stores - Jeans
48 Julep - 10 polishes from my HTF/wish list, clean up tool, base coat, five eyeliners that have great reviews that I'm dying to try, and lip primer which was free and turns out to be really great
11 Pumpkin and Poppy - contouring powder, which is now a daily essential.
32 PopSugarMustHave - That scarf. I "need" it.
57 Ulta - 10x points!!!! come on!!! Dipbrow, brow wiz, and two hair brushes. I honestly think it's been 7 years since I bought a new brush.
2 memebox -purple blush that I've been craving. It was either $2 here or spend $20 on an assortment of purple indie blushes.

TOTAL $356 ($333 counting ebates)

I also got a pair of Elizabeth and James sandals from MyHabit using referral credit, and a Baublebar necklace using a gift card. I have credit remaining at both places, and about $50 credit at Hautelook.
 Since I'd normally spend $400, I'm going to put the extra $67 towards loan repayment.

With the exception of PSMH (since I don't know what all is in it yet), all of my purchases this month were products that I am thrilled about, AND they were all great deals.

I'm not sure what to do for September. I realized that if I think I've exceeded my budget, I give up on it completely. But on the other hand, sometimes having a budget feels like I HAVE to spend all that money. The most helpful thing is to decide that I might buy [whatever] eventually, but I'm definitely not buying it today. Then I keep making that same "not today" decision until i don't want it anymore, or I've wanted it for long enough that it's no longer an impulse buy.

I'm going to think about my shopping list, wish list, likely temptations this month, and I'll post my September plan later this week. In the September thread, obvs.

 
Overall I did just okay in August. I spent my 5 item makeup budget. I've been working on using things up. But I did spend my 5 item budget for September last week because I wanted a few things from the new MAC collection and a couple things for Fall. I also purchased a few Fall clothing items to refresh my closet, and a pair of boots. That plus groceries and eating out with friends made things excessive. Despite all that, I definitely feel like I've made progress mentally. I'm really focused on using things up now and not hoarding anymore. September is going to be a pretty strict No Buy for me again since my July one went so well - see you all there!

 
recklesslysober said:
Overall I did just okay in August. I spent my 5 item makeup budget. I've been working on using things up. But I did spend my 5 item budget for September last week because I wanted a few things from the new MAC collection and a couple things for Fall. I also purchased a few Fall clothing items to refresh my closet, and a pair of boots. That plus groceries and eating out with friends made things excessive. Despite all that, I definitely feel like I've made progress mentally. I'm really focused on using things up now and not hoarding anymore. September is going to be a pretty strict No Buy for me again since my July one went so well - see you all there!
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Sounds great! Keep up the good work! I definitely feel the difference in my mental set once I taught myself about low buy/use up concept -- A lot of things don't look tempting any more at the moment :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

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