February 2013 No buy/low buy thread

[deactivateduser232015]

I really want the MAC Archie's Girls red lipstick I saw on temptalia. LOL colour me boring, but I'm such a sucker for classic reds and I'm still looking for my HG long-stay red colour.

Oh well! Other things I'd rather save up for and have. Makeup is actually pretty cheap compared to other things...

 

[mellee]

Originally Posted by Jeaniney /img/forum/go_quote.gif


Wow that is a lot of similarities! I guess that's why we both ended up here! Haha

Also I just wanted everyone to know I found something I wanted on sale (free shipping too!) but then I thought really hard about it and... I talked myself out of it!  There is a different (similar) product I am planning to buy next month and my "great deal" would probably be pushed to the back of my drawer never to be seen again.

Hooray for self control and not taking the "sale" bait! 

I'm kind of in the same boat - really started in August, when I found out BirchBox existed, and shortly thereafter found this forum.  And then went really over-board for a while.

I've tried a low-buy the last couple months, and done well up until about half-way through.  Then gone way off-wagon.  Hoping it'll help that I'm doing the Makeout 2013, and have already bought half my year's allotment.  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />  So this month is no-buy.  I've quit all my boxes, and unsubscribed to all the emails.  I still read here, but I've only been tempted on things I planned to try for a while.

And speaking of Makeout 2013 - just what is it about pinksofoxy that makes her videos so powerful to help the hoardful???

 

[ultajunkie]

I was in Target today and resisted looking anywhere in the cosmetics section. I am quite proud of myself. I am starting a new job in a little over a week and I really want to buy some new clothes but I am trying to resist.

 

[amblingalp]

I've found when I skip on my usual impulse purchases, I enjoy my sub boxes a lot more and get more use out of the samples. So I still have Birchbox and Ipsy but am saving where I can for a trip next month!

 

[lioness90]

Originally Posted by Jeaniney /img/forum/go_quote.gif


Wow that is a lot of similarities! I guess that's why we both ended up here! Haha

Also I just wanted everyone to know I found something I wanted on sale (free shipping too!) but then I thought really hard about it and... I talked myself out of it!  There is a different (similar) product I am planning to buy next month and my "great deal" would probably be pushed to the back of my drawer never to be seen again.

Hooray for self control and not taking the "sale" bait! 

Congrats!! 

 I'm trying to have more self-control and stop over-indulging. 

I guess when I got my first kinda-real job I figured that I should go out and buy whatever I want. Now I'm trying to stop throwing away money that I could spend on other (better) stuff. I'm thinking of doing the "Makeout 2013", if it's not too late...I just found out about it this month. My goal is to save up enough to go to Vegas for a week this summer. I believe that if I stop purchasing cosmetics like a hoarder I can meet this goal. 

 

[ladygrey]

I think I'm going to cancel my Birchbox and Ipsy subscriptions. I do love them, but there is honestly no reason for me to get more and more samples, since I'm already drowning in samples that I haven't used. So, I'm just wasting my money every time I spend money on something I don't really need and is just going to sit around for months and months. It'd be a totally different story if I didn't already have a bunch of stuff and I actually used the products right after I got them. 

I have $50 in points to use in the Birchbox shop, so I think I'm going to go ahead and use those so they're not sitting there tempting me to buy expensive things that I don't really need. Not going to get anything too exciting, just hair barrettes and twistband hair ties-- things I actually use and need. I'll miss getting those little surprises in the mail, but until things are under control in my cabinets, I think I need to take a break from the sub services. 

Baby steps! Bit by bit. 

 

[Alex Crash]

My goal is to not buy anything (except true essentials like cleanser) until April so that I can buy up a storm at IMATS.  I made it all the way through January, two more long months to go... 

 

[diana16]

I was going to sub back to BB once I got paid but I looked at my samples and I have too many, I think I'm going to cancel forever

  and I might do the same for Ipsy. I dont end up using a lot of them, I think being broke has really got to me lol I have been thinking of so many things that I need to cut back on

 

[ladygrey]

Originally Posted by diana16 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I was going to sub back to BB once I got paid but I looked at my samples and I have too many, I think I'm going to cancel forever

  and I might do the same for Ipsy. I dont end up using a lot of them, I think being broke has really got to me lol I have been thinking of so many things that I need to cut back on

I know how you feel about being broke! I'm an unfunded grad student, so I'm living off of student loans and the only extra money I get is from tutoring. I make $11 an hour, and currently, I only have 2 appointments a week, so when I really sat down and thought about it, I realized an entire week of extra pay was going toward a bunch of samples I don't need/use. It really helped put things in perspective. I'd much rather use that money on a tank of gas or a nice dinner out with the hubs. I've decided that if I can make it from now without buying any unneeded beauty stuff until April 1, I'm going to buy the set of Sigma brushes I've been wanting since I have a pretty skimpy, sad little brush collection going on right now. 

 

[javagirl87]

I wonder if people will slowly start canceling their subs when they realize how much stuff they have accumulated lol. Subs are actually the reason I got into makeup, because I thought "hey I like mail, what a cool idea!" and then I got addicted to everything!

I'm having a lot of trouble not wanting to buy things...i'm trying to just keep my mind on other things and hobbies so I can actually curb the desire to get more products. Why can't we just be happy with what we have? lol 

 

[ladygrey]

Originally Posted by javagirl87 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I wonder if people will slowly start canceling their subs when they realize how much stuff they have accumulated lol. Subs are actually the reason I got into makeup, because I thought "hey I like mail, what a cool idea!" and then I got addicted to everything!

I'm having a lot of trouble not wanting to buy things...i'm trying to just keep my mind on other things and hobbies so I can actually curb the desire to get more products. Why can't we just be happy with what we have? lol 

I wouldn't be surprised! I still remember when I first subbed to Birchbox. I could fit all of my samples (including the ones that I got from Sephora and Ulta and elsewhere) in one little Birchbox box. Now it's just ridiculous and out of control. I'll miss getting the surprises in the mail, but hey, maybe I'll resub someday. 

I'm going through the same thing, too. I find myself looking at Ulta, Sephora, and all kinds of other beauty sites putting things in my cart. I haven't hit the 'checkout' button, but it's been really hard to tell myself no. I think it's time for me to shut the computer and walk away! I need to be doing schoolwork or some productive housework anyway. 

 

[javagirl87]

that's exactly how i feel! i'm wasting time LOOKING at things rather than doing work. and i think that was my problem before too, i would just tell myself "well if i just buy something it'll help me concentrate and then i won't have to buy anything or look at these sites for awhile." but then it just started all over again in a few days!

 

[lioness90]

Originally Posted by javagirl87 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

that's exactly how i feel! i'm wasting time LOOKING at things rather than doing work. and i think that was my problem before too, i would just tell myself "well if i just buy something it'll help me concentrate and then i won't have to buy anything or look at these sites for awhile." but then it just started all over again in a few days!

YES! That is me. I have brought things to help me concentrate - bad I know. I decided to do my own Makeout starting last night/today. Surprisingly, I have not even visited Sephora or Ulta's sites today. I usually browse them at least once by noon. I'm so proud of myself! I have even unsubscribed from emails from them.

 

[nishino]

hey, interesting, i actually find it sort of soothing to do online window shopping.  i spend hours browsing for new items and put a bunch of things I like in shopping carts, but (this month and Jan so far) haven't been buying (much).  Especially on Sephora, i like going through the exercise of "putting together" a shopping cart, there's all sorts of strategy involved like getting it up to $50 for free shipping, adding the right codes or 100pt samples, cross-checking prices/discounts at other sites, etc.  it's a weird hobby i guess. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />  I think if I couldn't do that I might go crazy and just hit up my local dept stores and buy random expensive stuff, lol.

I think what makes it possible is I've convinced myself that I truly don't need any more stuff in any category.

However, I'm still falling off the wagon when something I've been wanting for a while (but definitely don't need) goes on sale!

 

[NoInsanity]

I constantly "window shop" online. I get up to thousands and thousands of dollars worth of things that I really, really, really want, then I try to whittle them down to what I really, really NEED. I get down to something reasonable, something actually affordable, and by the time that happens I'm usually so tired of staring at the computer screen that contemplating doing anything else (like actually filling out the order form) is totally incomprehensible. I usually start over whenever I get the urge, and occasionally if I'm not too tired, I think about all of the other things I already have that do the same things as what I'm ordering-the products may be slightly different, or have a different scent or a "bonus" attribute that the one/ones I own currently don't, but ultimately it ends up not being worth the dent-no matter how small-in my bank account.

Once a year, after tax time, I splurge and end up on a small shopping spree (think: $200, during which I buy 95% of my beauty products for the year), and I know where I'm going to get the best deal and what the best products are for the money I spend. While I don't necessarily recommend this method immediately for those on a no-buy, I personally think this method is something to consider-it gives me my "shopping" time regularly, and all those hours spent doing nothing don't seem so wasted because I know that I will eventually own the very best of the products I'm "shopping" for.
 

 

[missionista]

Late to the party, but this month is a no-buy for me.  I think it will be pretty easy, since it is already the 7th, and I haven't bought yet!

I bought a little bit in January, but not as much as I'd expected.  I also got some birthday gifts--I was within 3 months of being out of soap/body wash, and now I've got a year's supply again.

 

[Souly]

I screwed up - damn it! Lbb sent me the wrong headphones & gave me credit. Of course I had to use it

 

[Playedinloops]

I bought something today. Its one of my exceptions for my make out though, as it was a hair oil. I only have half a sample bottle left, and I use SOME kind of oil every day in my hair. Plus, I used birchbox points  and only ended up spending 4 dollars on it. I feel like that was a good use of my bb points, for something I'll use daily, and I won't be causing any more clutter, because I don't have any more left. 

I also don't feel like I got the high I used to get off buying make up/beauty items, which is good. 

 

[deactivateduser232015]

I bought some Lieole skincare stuff today, but it was a spot acne treatment which I have yet to find the western equivalent for (though I did a product survey about if I'd be interested in this kind of product like 6 months back). I guess I don't really consider skin care stuff like that makeup since I have such severe acne and it's been especially bad the last couple of days. I was eyeing some of the other Lioele stuff that was face cremes and other stuff, but I decided to be good. The acne patches are only like $5 for 60 while the cremes were like $20 each.

I did have a really lovely restaurant week lunch though. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> it's good to have many hobbies, but sometimes it's better to channel energy out of one outlet... especially since I'm finally getting around to using some of my makeup I've had sitting around now instead of just hoarding stuff 

 

[LisaF1163]

I spent SO much money over the holidays treating myself to new products with Christmas money.  Now, I have GOT to be on a no-buy, so I'm hopping into this thread for inspiration!   I did purchase a couple of small things this month, but hopefully I can start completely fresh for the upcoming March thread.