December 2014 Low-Buy/No-Buy: Hugs, Commiseration, Confessional, and Holiday Snacks!

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Psstttt @@eastofthesun, we need a new thread ;) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />
Ask and ye shall receive! ;) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Welcome, Friends, to the December Low-Buy/No-Buy Support Thread!!!!

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We know that this can be one of the hardest months to resist spending- not just for ourselves, but for others as well.

There are lots of temptations- sales, the need to find the perfect gift, getting caught up in the spirit (which isn't a bad thing in itself), and then there are decorations, food, drink, parties, etc.

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Let's try to keep a clear head while spending this month!

Go forth and share your goals for the month, and have a few holiday treats here while we commiserate together!

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Also, check out my tags for this thread up at the top- help me think of some other funny ones we can use!

 
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For myself, I told myself that this would be a no-buy month, except for using the $ off card from Sephora. So, for myself, that's sorted. But I still want to get gifts for others, and I'd like to have a budget in mind!

I'm good on wrapping paper, I believe. I already got the small gifts to give to acquaintances. I just need to get my cards ready to send out, to get the bigger gifts for my closer relatives and loved ones, and to ship out the ones that need shipping. Oh, and then to wrap them.

We'll see how everything goes on that front, but my personal spending will be kept at $50 to Sephora, using my $20 off card that should be coming in the mail, so $30 really. And that's it. No more of anything until  January, when I will allow myself some purchases for my birthday month.

 
My first official no-buy!  I have three exceptions:

  • $50 at Sephora on replacements to use the VIBR card.  NOT for anything new, so if I don't run out of anything I currently use by the time the promo ends, TS
  • Getting my eyebrows tweezed at a Brow Bar if I meet my mid-month personal goal
  • Groceries and refills on household necessities like meat for the cats
Excluded from the no-buy are gifts for others that I can't fill from my stash, i.e. gifts for my husband, father-in-law, and relatives in foreign lands to which I cannot ship.

Oh, argh, and I own zero gift presentation gubbins like baskets and wrapping paper so I suppose I need to exclude that.

 
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Yay new thread!

I did really well for most of October/November (I didn't buy any cosmetics for about 6 weeks) and then last week I made a few orders. Some were replacements and gifts, and other things were natural, nontoxic, cruelty free brands I've been wanting to try. In addition to cutting down the size of my collection I'm also trying to move in a more positive direction in terms of the companies I support. I spent quite a bit but I did make a list and stuck to it, and I plan on downsizing my collection again when everything gets here.

I'm pretty much set on gift wrapping since I just got all the supplies for that last week and after I pick up a couple more gifts I'll be done my Christmas shopping. I don't really decorate too much so that's not going to be an issue. I could use a couple clothing items for myself like a new scarf/hat/gloves set, some boot cuffs or longer socks, and maybe a nice warm plaid button up shirt.

So here are my rules.

1. No more cosmetics orders for the rest of the year. I really want to be strict with myself on this one! I've been eyeing a Pacifica tinted lip balm set at the grocery store so I'll allow myself to purchase that but that's it.

2. I am allowed to purchase the above mentioned clothing items but nothing extra.

3. When the BPTP releases their Yule collection I can get decants of those.

4. I can get some new teas because I've mostly used up the ones I have.

Other than that, I'm going to try to keep it to groceries and regular expenses. January I'm going to try and set more ambitious goals but for now I'm going to let myself enjoy my time off without having to keep too strictly to anything.

Good luck everyone!!

 
So November wasn't really bad at all. During the last week, I did end up spending $100 on clothes, but they were all neutral coloured long sleeved shirts & sweaters, and some business-type pants. I had no winter-friendly clothes, most of my shirts were short sleeved or tank tops, so that is not a fail at all in my books. Plus I had a 20% off discount where I work. I only purchased one make-up item not on sale (Mac Cyber lipstick) and two products 50% off (so two for the price of one, Twilight Lip Venom that I've literally wanted for 5 or so years, since it came out.) I did buy a few skin care items from CVS, but I needed sunscreen. 

I've been really good about not buying any eye-shadows, which are seriously the worst offenders, especially because I can never bother to put any on. 

I managed to minimalise my hair products. I never do my hair. I wash it, air dry it, leave it down or braid it or put it up into a ponytail. I used to love doing hair, but over the years I've lost interest. I used to have dozens of all different products. I still had a few products, but now I'm, down to four. A detangler (but the nozzle broke, so I might pick up a $1 spray bottle and pour it into there), a leave-in conditioning spray, a dry shampoo, and a dry conditioner from the time I had Birchbox for two short months. When that's done, I'll only have three products. When the dry shampoo is done, I'll most likely switch over to using corn starch. I'm really happy with how I've managed to bring that down to so little. I had a heat-protectant spray, and I made myself keep it for so long for in case I wanted to straighten or curl my hair. But for the once or twice a year I do decide to heat style my hair, I'll borrow something from my hair stylist sister. 

So I'm going to continue trying to use things up while I continue saving my money and only spending when I absolutely need to. 

I don't need to worry about the upcoming holidays too much. I have no friends so I won't be doing any type of gift exchanges lmfao. 

 
I resisted the urge to take advantage of Cyber Monday deals today. I visited four sites and put stuff in my cart, but then just closed the windows, realizing that I had more than enough moisturizer, eye cream, hair product, and lipstick to last me for the next half year. =)

 
I resisted the urge to take advantage of Cyber Monday deals today. I visited four sites and put stuff in my cart, but then just closed the windows, realizing that I had more than enough moisturizer, eye cream, hair product, and lipstick to last me for the next half year. =)
Yay for you resisting the temptation! But isn't it always fun to load the cart, admire them and then leave them behind? =PPP

 
I resisted the urge to take advantage of Cyber Monday deals today. I visited four sites and put stuff in my cart, but then just closed the windows, realizing that I had more than enough moisturizer, eye cream, hair product, and lipstick to last me for the next half year. =)
Great job! I also resisted Cyber Monday! I had loaded up a cart at both Sephora and Catbird jewelry. I was really ready to pull the trigger, but somehow talked myself out of it. YEAH!!!

Yay for you resisting the temptation! But isn't it always fun to load the cart, admire them and then leave them behind? =PPP
It is pretty fun, but can also be dangerous. But it's hard to tell, because sometimes it really helps just seeing it in the cart and then seeing the cost, and comparing the value of the two. Then you kind of imagine owning them, where you'd put them, how often you'd use them, how they'd fit in with your routine, and I think that helps a lot.

I did one bad thing so far: I had been reading some thread- don't remember if it was the Black Friday thread or what....- but I kind of got enabled on this purchase at Bath and Body Works yesterday because of it. (SPOILER ALERT BELOW)

I have been really loving my 3-wick candles from B&BW for making my room not smell like catfood, and I found someone else posted that on Dec. 12, there are $8 3-wick candles, normally $22. AND on top of that there are coupons going out that are $10 off $20.

So basically, yesterday I went to B&BW, bought a $4.50 tiny jar candle, which I realized now is a horrible, horrible price, just to get the coupon so that I could get 4 3-wick candles for the price of 1 normally.

Bad decision. So I can stop now, or continue with the deal and that coupon. But I feel like I'll continue because like I said it really helps my room smell fresh- I have to share my room with my cat and all his cat supplies, so it helps to not have it smelling like his gross food.

Other than that I'm good this month. I have that planned purchase at Sephora

using my $20 off $50 gift card
and I already planned what I'm getting, which will be useful, not superfluous. YAY!

One last thing... I'm probably going to Victoria's Secret at some point around the 5th of December because I got one of those

secret rewards cards that you find out whether it's for $10, 20, 50, or 500 and I'm excited to see what mine is for!!!
Worst case scenario I buy a pair of panties for $0.50, because I don't need anything.

So my spending (not counting food, gas, bills, healthcare, vet) is all planned for this month.

What I need to do now is:

1. Take care of any remaining Christmas presents, wrapping, and shipping. Same for Christmas cards, but I already have those.

and

2. Make my goals for the new year. I have to decide if I want to go for an alternating no-buy/low-buy per month, or if I want to join in on the 100-day no-buy challenge. I really want to do the no-buy challenge, actually, so I hope I can get the guts to do it. I have a $17 store credit for Sephora, so maybe I'll just buy myself a small present under $25 for my birthday there (January), use the credit, and get my birthday present for $8 total.

Sounds good to me but I need to do more planning!

I'll take my other Christmas present planning chatter into the Holiday thread and leave this area just for my personal superfluous spending. ;) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Hope everyone is doing well so far!  :sunshine:

----

So far in December I've spent:

$4.50 for retail cost (B&BW)

I plan to spend this December:

$35 OOP for $55 value (Sephora)

$22 OOP for $88 value (B&BW)

$0.50 OOP for $10.50 value (VS)

$X on Christmas presents, shipping

 
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 Aside from groceries as needed, I will only buy Momma and DH their Christmas Gifts, DH wants new cargo pants and a couple of shirts, Momma wants nightgowns and a surprise.

  I intend to spend nothing else ( postage for Secret Santa and CS not included). I skipped Black Friday/Cyber Monday this year, I did Secret Santa with all the pre-BF sales.

  I need to train my no-buy muscles for my 100 Day No Buy Challenge on Jan 1st!

 
GDI.

I made an amazon order to get (allowed) shipping and wrapping supplies and 'forgot' I already had a $20 package of pH testing strips in my shopping cart from the weekend.  I say 'forgot' in quotes because last night I had a mental conversation with myself, asking "if I accidentally buy something, does it still count against my no-buy?" and I'm clearly testing the boundaries of the no-buy.

Welp!  Someone's not getting a Brow Bar appointment.

 
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2. Make my goals for the new year. I have to decide if I want to go for an alternating no-buy/low-buy per month, or if I want to join in on the 100-day no-buy challenge. I really want to do the no-buy challenge, actually, so I hope I can get the guts to do it. I have a $17 store credit for Sephora, so maybe I'll just buy myself a small present under $25 for my birthday there (January), use the credit, and get my birthday present for $8 total.
Ok, so I just re-evaluated November, and it seems I really need to go for this 100 day no-buy challenge. So I'm going to commit! I'm thinking accountability partners through PM might be cool for this one, in addition to checking in at the thread.

 Aside from groceries as needed, I will only buy Momma and DH their Christmas Gifts, DH wants new cargo pants and a couple of shirts, Momma wants nightgowns and a surprise.

  I intend to spend nothing else ( postage for Secret Santa and CS not included). I skipped Black Friday/Cyber Monday this year, I did Secret Santa with all the pre-BF sales.

  I need to train my no-buy muscles for my 100 Day No Buy Challenge on Jan 1st!
Good for you, Kristine! I need to flex my muscles for that too!

GDI.

I made an amazon order to get (allowed) shipping and wrapping supplies and 'forgot' I already had a $20 package of pH testing strips in my shopping cart from the weekend.  I say 'forgot' in quotes because last night I had a mental conversation with myself, asking "if I accidentally buy something, does it still count against my no-buy?" and I'm clearly testing the boundaries of the no-buy.

Welp!  Someone's not getting a Brow Bar appointment.
I hate when I trick myself. It's the worst! I can be really sneaky. I really have to watch out for myself. You can see me doing a bit of this in the November thread as well. And here a bit too. Hahaha.

 
I'm doing a conscious low buy for this month. I did pretty well last month. I got a few things in BF/CM sales but nothing too crazy. I also have purchased most of my Christmas gifts and will be shopping my stash to put together a few stocking stuffers. I also have a decent amount of Kohl's cash which I am going to use to finish up the rest of my Christmas shopping.

I will use my $20 VIB card at Sephora, but I will be sticking to replacement items. I want to get myself geared up for the 100 day no buy as well.

I have a couple of Secret Santa gifts coming in soon, so I think that will tide me over in terms of wanting new things.

I will allow myself a decent purchase during the Lush Boxing Day sale.

 
So jumping in...November I made purchases, and I'm not very proud of myself ;-; the makeup exchange on instagram totally caught up with me. HOWEVER! I paid it all off and my current slate is clean. The goal is to keep it that way for the rest of 2015. No purchases and start to live a bit more frugally, so I will be plotting on ways to start reducing our debt by finding ways to save (so no eating out, reworking my wardrobe and mending/fixing what can be saved so that I don't need to make more purchases, looking at the real value of keeping cable since we never watch tv....etc). 

This December is, of course, a total no-buy. I took yesterday to my eyeshadow and blush stash, which are the worst offenders because I always want more even if I don't need more, and rearranged them in a way to where they are always visible for me. Hopefully this will keep the temptation away as I will see how many options I DO have on a daily basis, plus getting creative with incorporating them with my project pan/project finish it items. I truly won't need eyeshadow, blush, or highlighters for years and years yet, and I don't even wear overly complex eyeshadow looks most of the time... usually a lid color, crease shade, and eyeliner...so realistically, I do not NEED 6 different shades of purple, 30 different shades of brown, and a gazillion neutrals. My lids are small and there's only so much product I need daily lol.

 
Okay, I just used my $20 sephora gift card for an order, and I shall join in no buy this month. I was doing my low buy well August-October, but then Nov was a disaster in my standard-- I have backups of skincare and bodycare now. 

My goal for this month is to do no buy on makeup/skincare/bodycare except a Nutrogena handcream that is much needed for winter. I may allow myself under $40 clothes shopping during after Christmas sales.

I will use this month as a recovery month since November was a big spendy month.  Oh and no starbucks for me till next year.

 
I'm doing a conscious low buy for this month. I did pretty well last month. I got a few things in BF/CM sales but nothing too crazy. I also have purchased most of my Christmas gifts and will be shopping my stash to put together a few stocking stuffers. I also have a decent amount of Kohl's cash which I am going to use to finish up the rest of my Christmas shopping.

I will use my $20 VIB card at Sephora, but I will be sticking to replacement items. I want to get myself geared up for the 100 day no buy as well.

I have a couple of Secret Santa gifts coming in soon, so I think that will tide me over in terms of wanting new things.

I will allow myself a decent purchase during the Lush Boxing Day sale.
This is almost my exact approach to the month! Not doing a strict no buy like I'll be doing starting Jan 2015, but I want to keep spending down after thoroughly enjoying myself over BF/Cyber Monday. I'll let myself use my Sephora card, let myself buy some candles at a certain sale, and probably enjoy Lush Boxing Day. Other than that I'll be trying to be good!

 
Oh, December, you cold money-sucker you!

Nothing for me!  I'm doing an indie exchange, I've already bought everything, so all I have to do is ship it.

Try to emphasize to myself (AND MY KIDS!) that we're doing more experiences than gifts this year - we're meeting my mom & stepdad in Gatlinburg the weekend before Christmas! We do have several gifts for them, so they still have stuff to unwrap, but the amount of *stuff* in our house is unreal.  One of my New Year's goals is de-cluttering!

I do need to buy hubby a few things, trying to be very conscious to get things that 1) He will actually use and 2) He wants, and would be excited to unwrap!  Wish me luck!

 
Small changes make me happy and help me stay motivated. Normally when I get paid, I'm like "hmm what did I need to buy??"

I got paid today for working election day in November, and I saw it in my bank account, and I didn't even think about buying anything. 

It's pretty insignificant, but I'm proud of this. 

 
I've been failing horribly lately because of all the holiday sets and Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals, but that's mostly behind me now. I manage to do reasonably well most of the year, and then all the holiday sets get me. Limited edition stuff really is my weakness. With permanent items, I tell myself that it's not going away anytime soon, and I can get it later, so I keep putting off purchasing things that I want. But with limited edition, I panic and decide that I need everything, even though I really don't.

My goal for this month is to do a low buy. I have a couple planned purchases, including using my $20 Sephora gift card, but other than that, I'm going to try to avoid spending. In particular, I want to resist the after holiday clearance sales. I already have all the limited edition holiday items I want, and just because it's on sale doesn't mean I should buy it.

 
I'm on track so far. I just made my Sephora purchase. I resisted any holiday sets and bought BeautyBlender cleaner, eye makeup remover, and eyeshadow primer. Super practical. I was also able to get one of those season set bags since I didn't make a purchase previously and picked out samples which I plan on using as part of a stocking stuffer I'm putting together for my sister.

I also used my Kohl's cash and got about $200 in gifts for about $6.00 out of pocket after sales. Not too shabby!

 
Well, on the bright side, one of the items I was planning to buy is sold out, so I guess I'll be saving some money.

Urban Decay's Vice LTD palette went on sale at 1am PST, and for some reason, I mistakenly read it as 1pm PST, so I wasn't up, and by the time I woke up, it had sold out.
 

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