April 2014 No/Low-Buy Support, Advice, Free Hugs, and Commiseration

[lioness90]

I went to Target today. I got makeup remover wipes from the beauty section and that's it. They had a lot of makeup on sale.

 

[JuliaGhostx3]

I ran out of nail polish remover, so I picked up a new one at CVS, and I found a new aluminum free deodorant I haven't tried, so I picked one of these up as well. These were permitted by my rules, but I'm still deducting the price from my month budget!

 

[kawaiisofoxy]

So... there went $20 of my $25 splurge budget.  I've had a long, very stressful day.  My 4-year-old was sent home early from preschool with pinkeye.  Thankfully, the doctor got us in right away and called in an Rx for antibiotic eyedrops, but when I went to pick up the Rx, they made me wait for over 20 mins before telling me that they didn't have the drops in stock!  Luckily, I was at a store by the doc's 20 mins away from my house, and the store 5 mins from my house (and thankfully on the way home) had the drops and they had them all packaged and ready by the time I got there. 

What made the whole situation worse is I went ahead and picked up my 6-year-old from school at the same time so I wouldn't be running back and forth, and it seems that was a mistake.  I had to carry his sick, sleepy, whiny 42-lb brother around, and I was just not in the mood to put up with shenanigans.  I had promised him a slushie from Sonic if he could behave while at the doctors and Walmart for the Rx, and he 1) wouldn't listen when I asked him not to touch stuff just in case he was *contaminated* too, and 2) decided his brother had come down with the Black Plague and didn't want to come within 20 feet of us, which is Not Good at a large, crowded store.  He got no slushie.  And therefore, neither did I (and after that craziness, I probably wanted one worse than him!).

So when I saw several spoilers AND a half-off code for the April PopSugar box, I caved.  Thankfully, there's only ONE makeup item, and most of the things are home-oriented.  So not a total loss, but I've told myself that it's my treat for the Afternoon From Hell.  And for my husband walking through the door this afternoon, KNOWING how my afternoon went, and immediately asking me about the housework I did that day.  Let's just say he's lucky to be alive, lol.  

 

ETA with a Note to the Pharmacist:  Sorry for laughing when you told me to have my now whiny and squirmy 4-year-old "rest quietly with his eyes closed" for 10 minutes after giving him eye drops.  He will want to run free after I hold him down in a Vulcan Death Grip to administer the meds. So I was 90% not kidding when I asked for some tranquilizer darts to go along with the eye drops. 

 

[ZeeOmega]

@magicalmom This one's for you: 

 

 

[kawaiiwoofs]

Spent way too much money today. I had an early morning conference call and then I was going to go to Sephora to swatch and see if anything was worthy of getting at 15%. We missed the exit to the mall and stumbled upon the grand opening (or second day?) of a new strip mall here in MKE. I did some damage at Nordstrom Rack and Ulta. Could've been A LOT worse. I don't feel too bad since I did decide on the UD foundation and that was 20% off. I picked up some other stuff and spent $60 here. Nordstrom Rack though I went a little nuts $14 5 piece Stila smudge stick set... Polish... A lot. I think I spent $60 here too. Then Cheesecake Factory for late lunch / early dinner - only $10 thanks to happy hour deals though /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> Overall YIKES. a lot of money to drop at once. But, I was holding a lot more stuff and was able to put things down one by one. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[Jackiee21]

Hi all! I'm joining the no buy thread this month since I did major damage last month! My boyfriend even noticed that my makeup addiction is getting a little out of hand. I promised myself (& my bf) that I would lay low with my makeup purchases.

So far I spent $1.08 on a bare escentuals order and $10.83 on my Ipsy subscription.

I will be using up a $15 Amazon gf to get the Solid Beauty Blender cleanser.

I hope I can survive not buying makeup this month. I actually had a no-buy in January which was successful so I hope April is good to me. 

 

 

[kawaiisofoxy]

Thank you, @ZeeOmega !!!  I may have also indulged in some Dark Chocolate M&M's AND Double Stuf Oreos.... and I'm now nerding out with some Star Trek:  The Next Generation now that my Germ Factory and Human Tornado have finally passed out.  

@usofjessamerica sounds like you scored some amazing deals!  It's good to have a splurge day once in a while!

 

[SaraP]

I really need to stop spending money on makeup! Today my husband came home and said "Wow you look great, did you get a hair cut or is that new makeup?"...Never, ever, ever, does he notice anything!

So what was so different??? I had to rush to get ready because a client wanted to meet me last minute and I only had 15 minutes to pull myself together. I went to my old drugstore stash: foundation, brows, eyeshadow and blush....Great so I look better in my $8 foundation then I do in my $110 hourglass immaculate (2 colors mixed).

 

*just signed up for the popsugar deal....that low buy lasted all of 30 minutes. Next month for sure.

 

[missionista]

I just managed to get over here for the first time since April began...

It's great to read everyone's goals for the month.  Mine are short and sweet:

1) OK to buy makeup remover since I will be done with my current (and only) one this week--drugstore, Neutrogena, so under $10.

2) Money is kind of tight right now, and I still don't know how much of a tax refund I'm getting.  Depending on tax refund, then maybe OK to buy pixie epoxy and colored mascara to replace the one I finally threw out.

3) Continue to use up products, and throw out the things that I can't make work for me.

 

[TooMuchElectric]

My purchases from last month:

• Around $700 on a vacation (passport renewal, flight, hotel, food trinkets). The trip was a bargain overall, but still a sizable chunk of my money, ya know?
• ~$40 Naked 2, a Mac lipstick, and a bunch of random lippies all from a friend
• $42 Julep purchases in swap groups: 15 polishes and one liquid eyeshadow
• $25 Sephora: Tarte maracuja oil and eye cream set, shower gel pod, 2 BI birthday sets, ipad sleeve, philosophy deluxe sample, ten "luxury" samples, and shipping fees
• $44 beauty.com: Paula's Choice BHA liquid, Moisturizer w/retinol, and a trial size vitamin serum booster thing.
• $1.50 Daiso: Konjac sponge
• 10 cents Amazon.com: set of nail dotting tools

All my March purchases were things that I planned to try/buy and just waited until I found a good price. I'm starting to feel bad about Julep purchases because I have more than enough nail polish. It makes me happy, but it's still unnecessary spending.

So far this month:

• $28 Julep gift card worth $75
• $21 Popsugar April box
• $20 BaubleBar necklace

I sort of feel like I shouldn't have spent money on a Julep gift card. On the other hand, it seems responsible because I KNOW I'll spend $75 on Julep eventually. :/

I had decided to spend $15 on the Too Faced blushes at Ulta, and the Popsugar box is only a few $ more to try a Too Faced product that I'm more interested in. And I expect to get a lot of use out of the BaubleBar necklace. I just don't want my spending to get out of control this month...

Upcoming spending challenges:

• All the glorious sales posted in the Enablers thread.
• I have $15 off of $40 at beauty.com. I have no idea what I'd use it on, other than yet another neutral eyeshadow palette that I probably don't need (Bareminerals Power Neutrals).
• 20% off coupon at Ulta. It's easy to ignore this for now, but if there's a bonus points event, I'll want to spend $80 to push me into Platinum level. I'm thinking of getting the Too Faced a la mode palette, a Stila set, some drugstore-brand lipsticks/glosses/stains, or maybe some perfume. It depends what GWPs are available.
• 15% off at Sephora. I hate their rewards program but what if I feel like buying something that Ulta doesn't sell? This is when I should be buying it, even if I don't know what "it" is. Lip Tars? YSL gloss stains?
• BeautyDNA subscription: I want this so bad! I made an account but didn't actually subscribe yet. I'm resisting because I want to see how my skin deals with maracuja oil and Paula's Choice before I spend any more money on new skin products.
• Julep subscription: Since I have that gift card, it should be easy for me to skip this month. But what if the colors/product are amazing?
• Popsugar subscription: Yo, this is an expensive box. I need to just cancel it as soon as I receive my April box. I can always sign up again if future spoilers show something I need.
• I'm sick of all my clothes and jewelry, and basically my wardrobe hasn't been updated in years (or at least it feels that way). I need to go through my closet and get rid of (or mend) the clothes I have before I am allowed to buy anything new.
• I will feel entitled to spend extra money on myself because I'm getting promoted (very small pay increase) and because tax return.

In conclusion, I love making lists.

 

[angienharry]

I added up my subs and I am spending $148 on subs a month plus extra for BB, sephora purchases oh and memebox . So I am visiting this thread. My Rules: NO new subs NO memebox....you have enough skin care for life 50 this month for extras. That will include necessities like deoderant, cotton balls etc. Also cut down subs. I already cut 27$ down by having my 2 grown sons and the hubs start paying for their own dollar shave club. Now maybe I can cut something of mine...lol

 

[jaylilee]

Welcome to all who have joined in here! it's awesome to have some new and returning faces.

So I'm lighting a candle and holding it up with all the other ones who already spent $$$ .... Granted, not my money, but still money. lol. El hubs and brother in law gifted me $20 to go have some fun with (I think they both felt guilty that they've been playing video games almost every night and I get bored fast). So I printed out 2 coupons (revlon had a $1 off any item), skipped over to Walgreens and made a bit of damage. I walked out with 3 lipsticks, a lip gloss, and a bottle of wet n wild black nail polish.

Did I need any of it? nope. So even though it was not my money, I am counting this as a relapse and minor set back on my no-buy because I should have been more aware of the fact that there was no need for any of it. Not only that but two of the lippies ended up being dupes for something I already had. GAH! Revlon sucked me in. I also got the blah's after snow started falling again (we're going to end up totaling about 8 inches of snow...it's freaking April....), and that's when I always become the weakest for finding new shinies to entertain me. I don't feel too bad about the black nail polish, though. Of all colors I had, a nice creamy black was the one thing missing. I have another one that's black but really it's more like...gunmetal with some shiny stuff, and I just wanted a black color. 

Sigh. So here's to promising myself I'll do better the rest of the month. If I keep it at this then my final verdict for the month won't be horrible..I just need to make sure I don't go buying more stuff. 

---

Quote: Originally Posted by SaraP /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  I really need to stop spending money on makeup! Today my husband came home and said "Wow you look great, did you get a hair cut or is that new makeup?"...Never, ever, ever, does he notice anything!

So what was so different??? I had to rush to get ready because a client wanted to meet me last minute and I only had 15 minutes to pull myself together. I went to my old drugstore stash: foundation, brows, eyeshadow and blush....Great so I look better in my $8 foundation then I do in my $110 hourglass immaculate (2 colors mixed).

 

*just signed up for the popsugar deal....that low buy lasted all of 30 minutes. Next month for sure.

LOL! This always seems to happen. I have also noticed that my hubby sometimes will love something on me that is drugstore, but hate something else that I thought looked great because it was high end... In the end I think it doesn't matter how inexpensive something is, if it does the job and it's flattering to boot then that's the cherry on top. I had some hourglass items and returned them all because not only are they SPENDY AS HECK, I hated the way they looked on me. I'm much happier with less expensive items. 

Quote: Originally Posted by Jackiee21 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  Hi all! I'm joining the no buy thread this month since I did major damage last month! My boyfriend even noticed that my makeup addiction is getting a little out of hand. I promised myself (& my bf) that I would lay low with my makeup purchases.

So far I spent $1.08 on a bare escentuals order and $10.83 on my Ipsy subscription.

I will be using up a $15 Amazon gf to get the Solid Beauty Blender cleanser.

I hope I can survive not buying makeup this month. I actually had a no-buy in January which was successful so I hope April is good to me. 

 
Welcome! skip the beauty blender cleanser...baby shampoo works just as well /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> same with free & clear (bottle with pump, white, has blue writing) which you can get from walgreens for a fraction of the cost of the beauty blender cleanser. In all honesty I think the thing's just a big ol' gimmick. Use your $15 for something fun instead.

Quote: Originally Posted by usofjessamerica /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Spent way too much money today.

I had an early morning conference call and then I was going to go to Sephora to swatch and see if anything was worthy of getting at 15%. We missed the exit to the mall and stumbled upon the grand opening (or second day?) of a new strip mall here in MKE. I did some damage at Nordstrom Rack and Ulta. Could've been A LOT worse. I don't feel too bad since I did decide on the UD foundation and that was 20% off. I picked up some other stuff and spent $60 here. Nordstrom Rack though I went a little nuts $14 5 piece Stila smudge stick set... Polish... A lot. I think I spent $60 here too. Then Cheesecake Factory for late lunch / early dinner - only $10 thanks to happy hour deals though

Overall YIKES. a lot of money to drop at once. But, I was holding a lot more stuff and was able to put things down one by one.

Oh miss. Hang in there. nordstrom rack always gets me when they have awesome stuff there... ugh. :C so im avoiding that store like the plague.

Quote: Originally Posted by magicalmom /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  So... there went $20 of my $25 splurge budget.  I've had a long, very stressful day.  My 4-year-old was sent home early from preschool with pinkeye.  Thankfully, the doctor got us in right away and called in an Rx for antibiotic eyedrops, but when I went to pick up the Rx, they made me wait for over 20 mins before telling me that they didn't have the drops in stock!  Luckily, I was at a store by the doc's 20 mins away from my house, and the store 5 mins from my house (and thankfully on the way home) had the drops and they had them all packaged and ready by the time I got there. 

What made the whole situation worse is I went ahead and picked up my 6-year-old from school at the same time so I wouldn't be running back and forth, and it seems that was a mistake.  I had to carry his sick, sleepy, whiny 42-lb brother around, and I was just not in the mood to put up with shenanigans.  I had promised him a slushie from Sonic if he could behave while at the doctors and Walmart for the Rx, and he 1) wouldn't listen when I asked him not to touch stuff just in case he was *contaminated* too, and 2) decided his brother had come down with the Black Plague and didn't want to come within 20 feet of us, which is Not Good at a large, crowded store.  He got no slushie.  And therefore, neither did I (and after that craziness, I probably wanted one worse than him!).

So when I saw several spoilers AND a half-off code for the April PopSugar box, I caved.  Thankfully, there's only ONE makeup item, and most of the things are home-oriented.  So not a total loss, but I've told myself that it's my treat for the Afternoon From Hell.  And for my husband walking through the door this afternoon, KNOWING how my afternoon went, and immediately asking me about the housework I did that day.  Let's just say he's lucky to be alive, lol.  

 

ETA with a Note to the Pharmacist:  Sorry for laughing when you told me to have my now whiny and squirmy 4-year-old "rest quietly with his eyes closed" for 10 minutes after giving him eye drops.  He will want to run free after I hold him down in a Vulcan Death Grip to administer the meds. So I was 90% not kidding when I asked for some tranquilizer darts to go along with the eye drops. 
lol @ the pharmacist note. 

Quote: Originally Posted by lioness90 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  I went to Target today. I got makeup remover wipes from the beauty section and that's it. They had a lot of makeup on sale.
Good for you! skipping the makeup isles at target can be hard. 

 

[kawaiiwoofs]

UUUUGH.  can i rant for just a second?

I spent a good chunk of money on pants at GAP a week or so ago when they had 40% off online. I spent about $70 on two pairs (ok so not too much money...but a lot to me!). I had a pair of black pants that I picked up in store, LOVED, and they fit so well. So I decided to buy a back up pair of black and a blue pair as well. The blue pair does not zip. at all. like I *barely* fit into it. Well, I acutally don't fit into them - they don't zip. The material is also different from the black ones? Like, heavier but in a weird velvety way (or like...the equivalent of a microfiber couch but in pants form when the black ones are definitely more cottony). The black pair is perrrfect though.

I know this rant wasn't make up related BUT as part of my general-life-low-buy, I was in the clear to shop for clothes but for me this meant shopping smarter. I'm pretty disappointed. I could keep the pants until I lose weight but, yikes. They're such a disappointment!

I'll probably pop by the mall to make a return. I'll try *not* to pick anything up from Sephora - especially considering that I was just there yesterday!

 

[kawaiisofoxy]

@usofjessamerica man I hate that!  Women's clothing is hard enough when the sizes vary WILDLY from store to store - but you should at least be able to order 2 of the same type of pants in the same size from the same company and expect them to FIT!!!

Needless to say this has happened to me before.  So annoying.  Definitely return them!  (and then RUN AWAY from Sephora! Haha I know when I return something then I'm like "Well now I have X dollars more!  Ooh, look at the pretties!")

 

[kawaiiwoofs]

@magicalmom ..yeah back to the store the blue ones go! like when you have the options "black" or "blue", wouldn't it be safe to assume that the "blue" is the blue version of the black? I think I'm MOST annoyed by the fact that the fabric is different! back to gap they go!

 

[BSquared]

So I was about to pull the trigger on the popsugar box since it really is a good deal, but I don't need it. The site won't load correctly on my work computer and there's no like...submit or purchase button that I can click. I'm taking this as a sign from the no buy gods that I do not need to buy this!

 

[kawaiiwoofs]

Quote: Originally Posted by BSquared /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  So I was about to pull the trigger on the popsugar box since it really is a good deal, but I don't need it. The site won't load correctly on my work computer and there's no like...submit or purchase button that I can click. I'm taking this as a sign from the no buy gods that I do not need to buy this!
i didn't end up buying it even though i told the enablers thread i would

 I don't actually need any of it and I got scared of accidentally forgetting to NOT cancel.

 

[page5]

Quote: Originally Posted by BSquared /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  So I was about to pull the trigger on the popsugar box since it really is a good deal, but I don't need it. The site won't load correctly on my work computer and there's no like...submit or purchase button that I can click. I'm taking this as a sign from the no buy gods that I do not need to buy this!

I almost caved too but I looked at the palette online and the colors did not interest me. I have plenty of neutrals. Nothing else in the box excited me so an easy pass and I saved $20. Still, a great deal for those who are interested in the contents  

 

[BSquared]

YAY for resisting!!! I am proud of us!

And yeah, I WANTED it, but let's be real, I probably have at least 3 dupes of each color that's in there. The last thing I need is more freaking neutral eyeshadows. Like there's no way I could ever justify it other than "it's pretty, and it's cheap". And that is no excuse! $20 I could spend on something else!!

 

[lioness90]

I brought the PopSugar box....but for my mom's Mother's Day gift. I have WAY too many dupes to justify buying that palette for myself. My mom started getting into makeup and she loves neutrals. Hopefully she's not turned off by the names of the shadows lol