@@lovepink I think that your recommitment to fitness is really inspiring! I'm trying to do better too- somewhat to lose some weight that I gained really fast this summer, and somewhat just to get more healthy. I've been so stagnant and eating too much junk lately. I am really close to joining a gym, but I'm not put over the edge yet. We'll see how things go as the no-buy goes on. I may need to join it to help me resist shopping, hehe!
Thanks! I kind of already did this with another member of the no buy. They had posted in the used it up thread (or some other thread lol) that they loved x product but it was expensive and they are on a no buy. I realized I had that item in a foil, so I PM'ed them and offered to send it. I used cute stationary and just wrote on the envelope to hand cancel it and it cost me 1 stamp! It takes me FOREVER to use up a book of 20 stamps and I have left over stamps from Christmas cards. I had a weird in between number of cards like 33 so one was not enough and 2 was two many!
Day 16! Woo hoo! Happy Friday all and to those who get a 3 day weekend yay!
Have seen a few things that have caught my eye so I have added them to a wish list but other than that so far so good! I did not make it to the gym today because I spent 6+ hours with a client helping them move and I am mentally and physically exhausted! Doing laundry and reading MUT to pass the time.
Excited for my hair appt tomorrow, 3 day weekend and sleeping in! Am also going to look at cycling shoes this weekend and husband wants to look at running shoes. He had to go see a podiatrist for foot issues and now he has some recommendations so he wants to explore them lol.
I am also proud of myself for trying a new (unopened) product, decided it was not for me (Color was ick, texture was gross, consistency disgusting) and am going to trash it! Feel better knowing there is one less product in my beauty inventory! Still burning through my foils and was so mad I forgot to put on moisturizer last night and perfume this AM! I was like "That could have been 2 more empties!" lol
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Stay strong, we can do this!
Today I noticed one of my favourite makeup brands is having a sale. I looked around. Nothing interested me or impressed me. So now I'm left feeling good about my decision to not buy anything. Besides I know I don't need any more makeup - not even a little bit!
I did end up buying something today, but it was allowed according to my rules.
Shampoo. I really don't have a whole lot of shampoo samples (if I get bored with my regular bottle, I pull out a sample to try, which happens a lot). And I got a really good deal, I paid 29 cents for a liter sized bottle.
I also got my storage boxes today, and they are a lot bigger than I thought they were, but that's more than okay, because I wanted something big to store all of my different colors of yarn. And if they are too big, I can just tape in a cardboard divider. But the FedEx truck got stuck in the mud at my house when it went to drop off the box. I wasn't home, but my Dad and brother were, so they had to help get him unstuck. I work on filing them probably on Sun.
I did end up buying something today, but it was allowed according to my rules.
Shampoo. I really don't have a whole lot of shampoo samples (if I get bored with my regular bottle, I pull out a sample to try, which happens a lot). And I got a really good deal, I paid 29 cents for a liter sized bottle.
I also got my storage boxes today, and they are a lot bigger than I thought they were, but that's more than okay, because I wanted something big to store all of my different colors of yarn. And if they are too big, I can just tape in a cardboard divider. But the FedEx truck got stuck in the mud at my house when it went to drop off the box. I wasn't home, but my Dad and brother were, so they had to help get him unstuck. I work on filing them probably on Sun.
I know right! I'll put details in a spoiler so that I'm less likely to enable someone.
I got it from Ulta, with their $12.99 liter saie. So I used a $3.50 off of $10 coupon, and I had a e-gift card still that I got from their CS, since they messed up on one of my orders (missing samples, of course!), and it was worth $10. At first the cashier thought I needed a $1 more of product to use it, but I explained to her that it's a gift card, not a coupon, a gift card can be used in any denomination and it can be used to cover tax. So all told, it was $9.49, plus tax, which brought it up to $10.29. With the gift card, I was spending a whole arm and leg /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />
And I learned how to do spoiler tags today /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />
I finally did my makeup today, and I had some perfumes I hadn't tried yet, so 7 new products today! I decided to make a spreadsheet with all 100 days on it, with columns for each of my goals. I figure as long as I can put something under one of the columns for each day, I'm doing well! For instance, I have columns for organization, new products used, empties, throw away/give away, etc. So far, I have at least one thing for everyday, so success!
I feel good on the no buy at this point. Looking back, January 1 was the most difficult day. Since then, I am thankful that it has gone well for me.
My willpower was put to the test yesterday when I had to go to the mall with a family member. I had to go to Ulta, or I would have been so bored for an hour. I am not interested in clothes (and want to stay that way), there are no book, movie, or music stores in the mall any longer, and I had just eaten dinner. I saw some new things I wanted, but I just kept repeating my new mantra:
You can have it in April, you can have it in April .....
And it worked.
I did no buys with ladies on a different forum in 2007 and 2008. It was fun and each time I managed to stick with it perfectly from January 1 until May. In each of the two years I broke down in May and bought something. I then felt discouraged and gave up and went back to my old way.
The rule for that no buy was too difficult: we were not going to buy anything until we had used everything we had. For example, no new lipstick until all lipsticks in the collection were totally used up. With this goal, there was no end in sight. It could take years. But April 10 is not far at all.
I was glad the things I was drawn to were drugstore items, not high end. maybe I will collect coupons in preparation for April.
One trick I learned: when stuck in the mall while on a no buy, I often buy myself a bowl of Pho. Certain malls have the Pholicious stand in the food court, which sell the Pho, a big bowl of Vietnamese rice noodle soup. It takes me forever to eat the huge bowl of Pho, so I have no time to look at shops. And it is not too expensive. The Pho is soothing for me too.
@@EdithS2 if I tried to do a no-buy til I used up my stash I'd go INSANE. That's just impossible! Unless you have one *signature* look and you only use those products, that would not be a good goal! I absolutely understand why you went back to your old ways!
I'm so glad this 100-day no-buy is more about getting our heads clear and "resetting" our spending habits. It feels like there's a greater purpose than simply not buying stuff. For me, it's been about making my a house into a home where I love spending time. It's about looking at *why* I buy everything I do and making a conscious decision to not buy more. My first line of defense is "I can't buy that, because of the no-buy", but then I'm able to reason through why I wanted it in the first place. And 90% of the time, I want to buy something because I'm stressed, or bored, or trying to avoid thinking about something else. And then I go make myself clean stuff instead!
I admire everyone who is doing this no-buy, whatever your reason. Using up your stash? Awesome! Trying to save money? Go you! We all have our reasons, and we're doing a great job of supporting each other. Happy Day 17!
THAT IS AN AMAZING IDEA!!! I LOVE IT!!! I'd totally love to send you ladies some letters or foils in the mail. Cute notes or cards or magazine clippings! It'd be awesome! We could start a list of people who are interested and then share addresses through PMs so they aren't out in the public. I love the idea of a traveling journal as well! Wow!
Yes, that sounds awesome! I don't have any foils, and trying to use up a billion full-size products at once gets depressing when there's no progress. A thing I have lots of, though, is art supplies I need to use up as I'm not majoring in art anymore! I could paint everyone encouragement cards! <3
Also, I'm a February baby, meant to be January! Sorry for the confusion <3
Ok so I've done good but spent a little money. We know 4 people who recently had babies and I needed a baby shower gift. With all my kohls stacking for a major baby sale I spent $70 on everything I needed. The gifts would have easily cost me well over $250 if I was randomly running in other stores for the same items.
I also ordered a popsugar box, they offered me a 50 off code. I struggled with the decision since I would have normally waited to buy anything I needed. The box was $20 but my hg face cream is $30 and was in the box. Buying the box really came down to two additional factors 1) I'm about 3/4 through mine with only a travel size in my stash. 2) the deciding factor was my 8yo son is starting to break out and he has used that cream after swim over this past week and his skin looks much better. So now 2 of us are using it in this house.
I also think I might keep the sub for a month but I'm still thinking that decision through. I may cxl and take a chance I can get another discount code.
Doing good today, no purchases in 17 days. I've got to learn to stay away from the indie threads though. They will be my downfall. The only goal I've not done well with is using the hand products everyday, so that goal is going to have to carry on into the next segment.
@@numbersmom I think as long as you cancel it for the next month you'll be fine. I find those boxes overpriced at $40 (personally, I know many others that really like it!). But getting the cream at 1/3 off AND the rest of the items with your current stash level sounds like a great compromise!
I really need to work on going through my lotion stash. I used to put on lotion every night and my skin was doing great! (Winter usually dries me out) Without a normal bedtime for the last three and a half weeks I haven't had time. This week we are introducing a bedtime routine so I am re-committing myself to lotion. Soft skin here I come!
Anyone with a large stash feeling the tyranny of choice yet? If you're not sure what this is, it's just another name for the paradox of choice or the concept that though humans crave choice, more options do not necessarily make us happier, because we begin fretting over a decision. So for example, someone with a choice between 3 items isn't always any less happy than someone who has 10 items to choose from, likely because they have to spend less time considering each option. I've become quite acquainted with that idea lately.
As I'm trying to work through and rotate things in my stash, I'm finding it increasingly hard to choose what to wear in the mornings. For instance, I might want to wear a favorite blush but then I look at some of my other blushes that haven't been opened in months and think I should wear them. So I look in my blush drawer and then the fretting begins. I should grab for X item but I really don't feel like wearing it but then maybe I should wear this other item because the color's only in season for another month or so and I don't want it to go to waste and and and...so I then waste a good 15 minutes just staring at things instead of getting ready. It's stressful! My stash is overwhelming that instead of just getting rid of something I don't feel great about I hold on to it. Then I spend my time thinking about how I should use the product and once I finally do wear it I'm reminded again of why I'm not particularly fond of it.
So I decided to research the KonMari method of tidying. Marie Kondo's a Japanese organizing guru and her whole idea for keeping anything is that it has to bring you joy. Having it in your possession brings you happiness, well, as much as an inanimate object can. So I did that with my makeup. I decided to choose 5 products from each category: blush, lipstick and eyeshadow that bring me unmitigated joy to wear. There are quite a few products I love in my stash but I chose my forced-to-live-on-a-desert-island-with-only-these-products all-stars. I'm only going to use these products for a month. At that point I'll reassess my usage, and swap out anything that I've grown tired of with something different. It's sort of like the Monday club but instead I choose to use the things I love instead of things that I feel obligated to wear. I think I need to just be reminded of how much I like to wear makeup by returning to old favorites instead of feeling that niggling feeling that I have to wear something I haven't worn in a while.
On a happy note, the Konmari method helped me purge a lipstick I'd been holding onto. If an item doesn't bring you joy, she tells you to thank it for teaching you something and then get rid of it. I thanked my NARS Walkyrie velvet matte pencil for teaching me that I don't look good in very browned out red/pinks and then I sent it on its merry way. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />
Anyone with a large stash feeling the tyranny of choice yet? If you're not sure what this is, it's just another name for the paradox of choice or the concept that though humans crave choice, more options do not necessarily make us happier, because we begin fretting over a decision. So for example, someone with a choice between 3 items isn't always any less happy than someone who has 10 items to choose from, likely because they have to spend less time considering each option. I've become quite acquainted with that idea lately.
As I'm trying to work through and rotate things in my stash, I'm finding it increasingly hard to choose what to wear in the mornings. For instance, I might want to wear a favorite blush but then I look at some of my other blushes that haven't been opened in months and think I should wear them. So I look in my blush drawer and then the fretting begins. I should grab for X item but I really don't feel like wearing it but then maybe I should wear this other item because the color's only in season for another month or so and I don't want it to go to waste and and and...so I then waste a good 15 minutes just staring at things instead of getting ready. It's stressful! My stash is overwhelming that instead of just getting rid of something I don't feel great about I hold on to it. Then I spend my time thinking about how I should use the product and once I finally do wear it I'm reminded again of why I'm not particularly fond of it.
I came to the same realization a couple years ago and gradually downsized to just my favorites. I don't regret a thing! When I bring new things in, I let go of what I'm not using as much anymore. If my stash gets too big, I do a major declutter. I'm way more satisfied with what I have now, even though it's much less. Everything is something I love to use often. It's amazing what a difference it makes.
1. Be proactive, not reactive to the stress I feel when dealing with my sister. I want to put together a pampering kit for myself and use it instead of wanting to shop. I'm thinking of face mask, body scrub, hair mask etc.
2. Try another blush. This is hard for me because of the rosacea, but with makeup on etc. I look too pale in pictures without blush. My rosacea is now mild and barely noticeable so it is time to get over my aversion to blush.
3. Inventory my stuff!!! I forgot to do it the first time.
4. Paint my nails once.
5. Go through my subs and decide which ones to cancel and which ones to keep.
6. Exercise!
7. Go through the items in the hallway closet and reorganize it. I need to create a place to put my items that I am using because my bedroom is cold. It is uncomfortable putting on cold lotion at night /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />
8. I gathered up my foils and placed them on my dresser. I want to use them up in the next 10 days.
9. Learn how to use a Beauty Blender. I received one with a BB sub.
10. Learn how to use body oils. I don't know if it is in addition to body butters or in place of body butters. I have 2 full-size ones from subs that I need to use.
I decided to look at my goals and see where I am at. I flunked number 1 big time. I need to do 7 and 9. I'm slow at inventory. I'm at 156 items and need to add in a couple sub boxes, extra hair items, nail polishes, soap, and the few items in the bathroom. I hope to be done tomorrow. Everything else is done or going well.
I decided to look at my goals and see where I am at. I flunked number 1 big time. I need to do 7 and 9. I'm slow at inventory. I'm at 156 items and need to add in a couple sub boxes, extra hair items, nail polishes, soap, and the few items in the bathroom. I hope to be done tomorrow. Everything else is done or going well.
Don't be hard on yourself! Your number 1 is a big goal. From everything you've posted, there's quite a history with your sister, with ongoing issues. Instead of setting it as a weekly / 10-day goal, I think it might be more manageable to think of it in terms of an on-going, long-term goal. Not achieving this goal in a set time doesn't mean you've flunked, but are still training your body and mind to respond to a traumatic and stressful situation in a different way.
I decided to look at my goals and see where I am at. I flunked number 1 big time. I need to do 7 and 9. I'm slow at inventory. I'm at 156 items and need to add in a couple sub boxes, extra hair items, nail polishes, soap, and the few items in the bathroom. I hope to be done tomorrow. Everything else is done or going well.
Beauty blender is great and really intuitive. There isn't even really much of a learning curve /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> You should pull it out tomorrow and see how it goes!
I decided to look at my goals and see where I am at. I flunked number 1 big time. I need to do 7 and 9. I'm slow at inventory. I'm at 156 items and need to add in a couple sub boxes, extra hair items, nail polishes, soap, and the few items in the bathroom. I hope to be done tomorrow. Everything else is done or going well.
I think I need to look back and see if I'm on track, seems like forever ago I set them. Don't feel like you flunked its more of a new way to make choices. My suggestion would be to take 10 deep breaths whenever you feel challenged by a situation you're faced with. By doing this you may see an answer more clearly. For example if I feel challenged and I pick up my phone and start scrolling through shopping apps I try to take a few deep breaths and then the urge to buy goes away and I am looking for fun or pick something altogether different to do.
I finally did my makeup today, and I had some perfumes I hadn't tried yet, so 7 new products today! I decided to make a spreadsheet with all 100 days on it, with columns for each of my goals. I figure as long as I can put something under one of the columns for each day, I'm doing well! For instance, I have columns for organization, new products used, empties, throw away/give away, etc. So far, I have at least one thing for everyday, so success!
Marie Kondo's a Japanese organizing guru and her whole idea for keeping anything is that it has to bring you joy. Having it in your possession brings you happiness, well, as much as an inanimate object can.
Wow, I need to check this lady out. That's kind of my.... dream. I dream of only having what I need and what I love. I don't want stuff that I may use some day, or that I just like the idea of. I want any thing in my life to be something I truly love and need.
This is very smart! I really need to consider this on some of my life goals- I feel like I fail, but it's really just a very long-term goal. Thanks for the reminder!
I'm so glad this 100-day no-buy is more about getting our heads clear and "resetting" our spending habits. It feels like there's a greater purpose than simply not buying stuff.
Totally agree. This is so much more than a no-buy!!!!
----
Ok, for my update:
I painted my fingernails today. Yay!
I took a shower today using up lots of things, including a face scrub and a conditioner.
I've been really adding to my style inspiration notebook, which is helping me see my own style, and kind of develop it better.
I need to clean my makeup brushes and disinfect my eyeshadow palette.
Also: Today I didn't do so well. I went to Sephora with my Mom to get her birthday present, and I played around with makeup but didn't buy anything, nor was I tempted. So awesome for that! But then I took my Mom to TJMaxx to get her favorite socks and some organizational supplies for her birthday, and while we were there I had a LOT of temptations (see in the spoiler.) I even succumbed to one, and thus have kind of failed/fallen off the wagon. I see a few options: 1. Return the item. 2. Sell something on Ebay to offset the money spent. 3. Not buy the eye brush I was going to get for myself for a birthday treat at Sephora.
I think I'll decide what to do tomorrow.
TJMaxx temptations:
Haribo Gummy Bears $9.99 - didn't buy
Walkers mini shorbread rounds $2.99- bought
Multi-flavored hard candies for work $?- didn't buy
Lavanila perfume rollerball in blackberry $6.99- bought.
Ole Henriksen eye lift gel $?- didn't buy
Glam Glo eye set $29- didn't buy
That's 6 temptations I encountered, 2 of which I didn't resist. I spent $10. I could have, it's not like I needed those cookies or that pefume rollerball, but I love shortbread cookies. And the perfume brand is one of my favorite brands right now- their vanilla perfume is my signature scent, and a chance to try blackberry which has been discontinued I think, for $6.99 instead of the usual $19.99, well, I just couldn't resist it. I wasn't strong enough. I don't feel good about it. I didn't want to tell you all.... I wanted to keep it a shame secret. But I decided it's better out in the open and to be honest.
So I shamefully have to change my signature from last beauty item purchased: December 21, 2014, to January 17, 2015. I also don't get the $10 reward this week. UNLESS I return it. So.... maybe I should just return it!!! Ahhhh!!!! The right answer is that I should return it. Then I can check back and if it's still there in on April 10th, I can get it then. I don't like the feeling of failing, more than I don't like the idea of not having it at that price. And now that it's here with me in my house, the shiny newness is already wearing off. So..... I think I'll return it. I'll keep you updated!
/emoticons/
