No Buy, Project Pan, Project Use It Up January 2019

[EdithS2 426]

Happy New Year, 2019!🕛

Excited to begin a second year of No Buy. Products I will be starting with:

• Baylis & Harding bath and body gift set (two body washes and a lotion, jojoba, silk, and almond scent - one of my wonderful Christmas gifts.
• Gilchrist & Soames conditioning shampoo mini, another one of my beautiful Christmas gifts.
• Maybelline "The Falsies Push Up Drama" mascara from past Target Beauty Box.
• Yves Rocher Sensitive Vegetal mini face cream. I have five face cream minis left to use up. 

Financial goal: I am already two months ahead on my plan to pay off five credit cards in 2019. On my plan I want to make four extra payments on the fourth credit card by the end of June at the latest. After the four extra payments, it will be gone by the end of the year with just the minimum monthly payment. The first three credit cards are already set to be gone by the end of the year with the minimum payment. Credit card five will get six extra payments in the second half of the year to be paid off. 

I reread my diary from my January 2018 No Buy. I had such a wonderful month. I was using up all sorts of beautiful samples, and watched lots of films on Netflix. It was so nice to relax and not be preoccupied with shopping all the time. I made super fast progress on debt payments. I got Netflix again for a free month, so I am hoping to have a little rest, enjoy using my gorgeous products, and watch lots of films before my free month runs out and I cancel my Netflix. It would be good to keep getting ahead on my debt payment plan too. 

[I was doing seasonal No Buy goals in the second half of 2018, but the time periods were too long. Also when I was doing my empties, I had trouble remembering all of the details about the products I had been using a few months before. So I have decided to do monthly projects in 2019.]

[Nitya 16]

I love this!! Love how you have your financial goals set down clearly too! I don't (yet), but I think I can start out by committing to not buy cosmetics for a month, and put anything, even fifty euros aside instead. 

Is it okay if I list my deathrow items here as well?

-my body lotion

-two bottles of fragrance with a little left in them, any two

-two travel size Q10 moisturizers

-two travel size hand creams

-a pot of lipstick reincarnated as dyi lipbalm

-one cold cream

-one tube of hydrating face mask

-at least one mascara. I need to reevaluate which one is causing me irritation so one tube should also be binnned. 

-one tinted moisturizer

-lush's lipscrub

-two nearly empty tubes of Blistex

 

That's quite a list of products I didn't really need anyway so a little tiring to think about using up, but it'll be nice to see them gone. 

Edited January 3 by Nitya

[EdithS2 426]

3 hours ago, Nitya said:

I love this!! Love how you have your financial goals set down clearly too! I don't (yet), but I think I can start out by committing to not buy cosmetics for a month, and put anything, even fifty euros aside instead. 

Is it okay if I list my deathrow items here as well?

-my body lotion

-two bottles of fragrance with a little left in them, any two

-two travel size Q10 moisturizers

-two travel size hand creams

-a pot of lipstick reincarnated as dyi lipbalm

-one cold cream

-one tube of hydrating face mask

-at least one mascara. I need to reevaluate which one is causing me irritation so one tube should also be binnned. 

-one tinted moisturizer

-lush's lipscrub

-two nearly empty tubes of Blistex

 

That's quite a list of products I didn't really need anyway so a little tiring to think about using up, but it'll be nice to see them gone. 

I love your list and plan. It inspires me to use a few more things. Your list is so well organized, and I love the idea of a lipstick reincarnated as a lip balm! 

[Nitya 16]

9 hours ago, EdithS2 said:

I love your list and plan. It inspires me to use a few more things. Your list is so well organized, and I love the idea of a lipstick reincarnated as a lip balm! 

I mix my lipsticks with calendula salve (another one soon to be on the deathrow), the shade becomes acceptable when toned down, plus it's hydrating. I fear I'll never use up my lipsticks otherwise. 

It's an inspiring thread, I keep thinking of random household items that have overstayed their welcome too! (Vitamin c powder, near empty squeeze tubes of honey, coriander- I mean, that's a brightening detox mask begging to happen lol)

 

[EdithS2 426]

Weekend of No Buy! I did a little shopping for a lamp, because one of the lamps in my bedroom broke. I got a ten dollar, not elegant, but cute little desk lamp, and the base has little organizer compartments. I thought I could organize little cosmetic items with it. Bonus makeup organizer with needed lamp, that's good. I went to the park and saw a cardinal up close. He was so beautiful. I'm going to treat myself to using my Christmas present Baylis and Harding Body Wash. 

Also, I made my January payments on credit cards one, two, three and five already. Got to see about getting myself some chai and croissants. 

Edited January 6 by EdithS2

[EdithS2 426]

I got my new lamp. I found this lamp on WalMart.com for about ten dollars. It is called the Your Zone Organizer Lamp. It has a rotating organizer compartment on the bottom, which I am using for the small samples I am working on. It has room for mini creams, small pencils, perfume vials, etc. It also has a plug for phone charging. It came with a light bulb as well. I am so excited with the small purchase. When I began my No Buy a year ago, I thought I would be finished with my samples and minis by now, and that I'd be getting Birchbox or Sisley Beauty Bag again, but that's not the case. It's good though, as that's less money I need to spend. 

 

 

 

Edited January 10 by EdithS2

[EdithS2 426]

No Buy Program Guide 

I love watching No Buy/Project pan videos on YouTube. These are my favorite videos at the moment. 

Hannah Louise Poston - Miss Poston is a professional writer (MFA), and also a Tango dancer, teacher, and costume designer. In 2018, she completed a No Buy Year with wonderful content. This Renaissance woman has inspired many, and now there are tons of "No Buy Year 2019" videos all over YouTube, all giving credit to Hannah. She is even getting us back into going to the library and reading books. Since she has completed her No Buy Year, she is moving on to My Beauty Budget. She now has a plan in which she has a set amount for spending for each month. She does love Sephora, and glamorous clothes and makeup. Miss Poston stated that the beauty budget may be harder than a black and white replacements only No Buy. On January 6, she posted MY FIRST SHOPPING TRIP AFTER THE NO-BUY YEAR (STORYTIME). This is not the typical YouTube haul video that will make you want to go on a shopping binge. It is a delightful, funny, and insightful story about the work and thought needed to shop in a disciplined way. It actually made me glad I am still on a No Buy - it is easier!

Now as I have said, there are so many people starting a No Buy for 2019 on YouTube, that I cannot keep up. But one delightful vlog from a new No Buy has made me happy this week: Serein Wu posted WTF?! I SPENT OVER $2,000 MY FIRST WEEK OF A NO BUY YEAR on January 6. Now don't worry: the $2,000 was for insurance and business expenses, so this was not a big haul that will trigger you. Serein vlogs about many aspects of a No Buy. She begins with beauty. She has clear glowing skin and natural makeup, and is finishing up some great skin care products. She has just started using fabric cotton rounds - I need to try those. She moves on to food, tracking what she is spending at the grocery store - I am weak in that area. Serein also lists the things she felt like buying, but said no to. What is really nice about this vlog is that it is cute seeing her having fun with her husband, laughing about her No Buy. 

If you guys like this post I will do this regularly, finding YouTube videos to inspire you. It will always be loving and positive.

Edited January 12 by EdithS2

[EdithS2 426]

I'm feeling tempted to get backups of my necessities too early! The only things I need to replace from time to time are shampoo, deodorant, and cotton rounds. Only one backup is allowed - no back stock! 

Shampoo - While innocently looking for food coupons, I came across a Suave Rose Oil Infusion Volumizing Shampoo. It's for me - I love rose. I want to buy it so badly, but still need to finish the shampoo mini I got for Christmas, and half a bottle of Garnier Maple Remedy Shampoo. It's a dupe for Matrix Oil Wonders Volume Rose. 

Cotton Pads - I have three packs of A0A Studio Pure Cotton Rounds (Shop Miss A) coming in the mail. Now normally it would be against the rules to get three packs at one time, but the packs only have 40 count, so I rationalized that three packs of 40 are equivalent to one standard sized pack. I love the A0A cotton, and it is one dollar a pack. It is a dupe for the Japanese cotton. Now, however, I am dying to buy a nice big pack of fabric cotton pads with a pretty little laundry bag to go with them. I am tired of buying cotton pads all the time. I went onto Etsy and fell and love with handmade versions in so many beautiful fabrics. I saw a little set of three that had a Matryoshka doll print (seller is SaritaBaby from Canada). That is for me. I adore Matryoshka dolls. I almost bought them, but I said no because it is against the rules, since I do not need them yet. If I cannot be faithful in small things, how can I trust myself to be faithful in bigger things? 

I do have a little set of three fabric pads already that I bought a few years ago, from a wonderful French lady named MadameSylvine. She has a YouTube channel under this name. The pads have microbfiber cloth on one side, and various Liberty print fabrics on the other side. They are sublime. I keep them like treasures in the little paper bag they came in, and have only used them a few times. They are in the too pretty to use category. I use them once in a while as a special treat, to apply toner to my perfectly clean face. I am afraid of staining them with mascara and makeup. They are machine washable, but what if the makeup pigments won't come out?

You can see MadameSylvine's video about her Liberty print cotton pads on YouTube, though her store seems to be inactive at the moment. Making fabric cotton pads would be a fun hobby or little business to have. I heard about MadameSylvine from a French speaking beauty vlogger called Esthétique SAB. I found Esthétique SAB looking for Yves Rocher videos. I also learned about Shop Miss A from Esthétique SAB. She led me to buying many pretty things. 

Esthétique SAB's video about the fabric cotton pads: Revue Cotons démaquillants Lavables, August 8, 2015. I feel too lazy to wash the pads by hand every time, as Esthétique SAB demonstrates in her video. I want to be able to machine wash them with my regular laundry. 

MadameSylvine's video: Mes Créations #01, September 27, 2013. She also has some No Buy videos! 

Deodorant - I am using up a deodorant I don't like, and have a backup on hand. I want to buy some Avon deodorants next. Avon hit the jackpot - they got the wonderful vlogger from the You Tube channel That Galloway Girl as a representative. I loved her video Show & Tell - Avon Perfumes, Body Sprays & Body Lotion, from December 22, 2018. She compares the Avon scents to several expensive designer scents. For example Imari is not an exact dupe or a copy of Shalimar, but has the feel of Shalimar, and Rare Gold has the feel of J'Adore by Dior. They are in similar fragrance families, such as Oriental. Since I'm not allowed to buy perfumes, I could buy Avon deodorants, which are allowed, instead. 

The lovely creations of MadameSylvine. I feel like ironing them, even though I never iron, and my iron is buried in the back of the dark depths of my closet! 

 

 

Edited January 14 by EdithS2

[Nitya 16]

I can't believe the no buy community is so large and still managed to pass me by! I want to spend my next day off checking out those vlogs! 

 

I also love the lamp with storage idea! I think that's a good way to limit oneself in the amount of products. With a certain number of slots, it seems helpful in not accumulating more than needed for a daily routine! 

[EdithS2 426]

I've finished my Yves Rocher Sensitive Vegetal mini cream, and I have moved on to a mini glass bottle of The Ghost Oil from Poetic Blend (October 2017 Petit Vour box).

One of the great things about the No Buy/Project Use It Up is that it has freed me from my compulsive decluttering. Compulsive decluttering is a real thing that is recognized as a mental health issue. It is a compulsive need to get rid of things and throw things away, in an excessive manner. This is an attempt to control anxiety and other emotions. So many beautiful cosmetics ended up in my garbage pail, not old, well used things, but pretty things I loved and wanted. The compulsive decluttering arose from two primary emotional states, as far as I can tell.

The first was unhappiness with my face and hair and appearance. I would try a product once or twice, then look in the mirror and feel disappointed. I felt I did not look any better. So I would throw away the pretty new items and go and look for something else. Now, I never look in the mirror and pick on myself. Instead, I look at my little jars and bottles and see how close they are to being used up. That is the goal now. It has taken the pressure off of using them and looking for a certain result on my face. Once an item is fully used, I know I have done the best I could with my looks, and that is all I can do. And I enjoy the pretty items. If I do see my face and think it looks bad, I just kindly tell myself I am tired from stress or work. In the past, I never gave the pretty lotions and makeup a chance. It takes time for lotions to work, and experimentation to learn to apply a particular makeup product to one's specific facial structure. 

The second emotion that drove my compulsive decluttering was anxiety about money, about spending, frustration with wanting more than I could afford. I wanted to control all that, and I felt that by getting rid of the things I could make the anxiety and want go away. I would feel better for a bit after throwing things out, but it never solved my problems. I would go out and buy more the next day. Instead, now I use up all my things up instead of buying new, and I have the anxiety, guilt, and compulsive shopping under control.

I threw away so many pretty things, and I regret it so much. I wasted things and money, and hurt myself really badly. I could have enjoyed so much more, saved so much money, been so much happier. The last time I decluttered was in 2017, before I began this No Buy, and it means so much to me. 

**I should clarify that the cosmetics thrown away were new, expensive, and nice. I'm not talking about throwing away old, expired, broken things, or things I was allergic to. And it was not just a matter of a few things; it was just about all my things, for years and years, decades. I would buy nice things, use them one or twice, throw them away, and buy more. I hurt myself so much. I am so glad this is gone now. 

 

Edited Saturday at 01:21 PM by EdithS2

[EdithS2 426]

Last February, I was looking forward to going to a special ABBA tribute concert. I grew up with ABBA as a teen - I liked to dream that I was Agnetha. I had all of the albums. On the morning of the show, we woke up to find a pipe in the kitchen had broken overnight, and it was absolutely miserable. We are just now getting over the trauma. I was so unhappy and disappointed - of course I missed the show. But the ABBA group returned to my area yesterday (they are from Sweden), and I got to go! The show was magnificent! "Agnetha" was like an angel in the lights with a long gold shimmering cape. She had all of the choreography and mannerisms down pat. "Anni-Frid" had the bubbly personality and sang a song in Swedish. "Benny" played the piano brilliantly, and "Björn" played a great guitar solo. 

The lesson from the universe is, that if I can't have things I want due to some adversity - or my No Buy - they will come to me if I am patient. After all, one of my favorite ABBA songs is I've Been Waiting for You. 

Edited yesterday at 12:21 PM by EdithS2