February No/Low-Buy 2014

[kawaiisofoxy]

Quote: Originally Posted by jaylilee /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  Quote: Originally Posted by Lulubelle107 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  Exciting!  I'm betting this will help you stay more focused on a no-buy

.
Absolutely! LOL. Since I most definitely can't go around spending money on stuff now. motivation woohoo! we went to see the house yesterday and I am so head over heels for it. I had been in it many times before, since it belongs to my friend's parents and they're moving to warmer climates...well, they have redone all of the heating and cooling for the house, installed brand new bamboo floors which look gorgeous (they're still finishing the trim, actually), the roof was just redone a few years ago, the ginormous deck was all reworked and repainted before winter, all the carpeting has been redone for the upstairs and basement, there's been a lot of extra work that has gone into the house, and i know we'd be moving into it without having any issues for a long time, which is great. It is rare to actually know who the house is coming from when buying realty, and being able to go back to them with questions, so this is fantastic. 


That's so wonderful!  My best wishes for everything (Mortgage application! Negotiating price! Home inspection! The long road to closing! Closing itself!) goes well and smoothly for you!  Do you have a realtor or someone from your mortgage place helping you?  Even though you're buying from someone you know, it's still a good idea to have someone knowledgable about the process itself helping you along the way - I don't know how many times our realtor had to calm us down when something weird would pop up in the paperwork or the home inspection, haha.  We bought our house in Aug of 2012, and that's after starting in June (just on a whim, kind of like you guys!) and finding our house on our first day searching!  It's such a long and stressful process, but so worth it! I get a huge thrill every time I pull into our driveway, and that's after a year and a half of being here!  Good luck!

And I'm also posting to say that I've officially spent my $25 splurge budget for this month! No buying anything for the rest of the month!  Putting my purchase in a spoiler below so as not to tempt people who are not buying anything right now.

Found the Plum District deal for 1/2 off my first Escape Monthly box -  The March box's destination is IRELAND, and my hubby is in luuuuurve with all things Irish.  He has the heritage, and the Irish name, and for $25 instead of $50, I thought it was perfect! He gets the food, I get the beauty/spa products, and we'll share the handmade/cultural items.   And honestly, I'm beginning to wonder if sub boxes in general are seeing a decline in subscribers, I'm seeing a new deal each month for a (fairly) expensive box.  I do think the market is a bit overwhelmed with sub boxes right now, and after seeing several fail last year, including my precious Cravebox, I hope they're not all on a downward trend!  I love my boxes!

 

[page5]

Quote: Originally Posted by jaylilee /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  So...we're buying a house. 

Kind of out of the blue. We weren't going to be even looking until next spring. but now there's a huge possibility that we'll be able to have a house by summer time.

omg...

i'm still processing it all!

good thing I put myself on a no-buy now lol. Cause now I really can't buy anything!

Congrats!

 

[saku]

i canceled my $60 nuxe order. partly because they're taking too slow, and partly because i came back to my senses and realized all the products that i currently have. i'm glad i did! so far so good for this week. i'm getting less and less tempted by buying stuff. 

also, i think i'm gonna buy a new phone, an iphone 5s, from apple. it's expensive! i'm looking at an $800 phone.. it's a loooong story, but it looks like it's my best option right now. i think i'll get a no-contract plan for $40 or so a month. i'm currently paying $90 a month with my 3-year old smartphone that now sucks. it's cdma so i need a new phone if i want to go on this route. i was approved for a 12 month financing on a $1000 apple purchase... ah...i have to decide by the end of the month and cancel my current service. researching for this takes up a lot of time! less time for makeup-looking! LOL

congrats @jaylilee !

 

[meaganola]

I just got confirmation that my favorite perfume company *will* be at Emerald City Comic Con. More things will have to go up on eBay. Fewer things can be purchased. The apartment must be cleaned. The car has to be shoveled out and then go in for an oil change. Only a month and a half to go! Gotta carve a schedule in stone!

 

[Bflopolska]

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

I just got confirmation that my favorite perfume company *will* be at Emerald City Comic Con. More things will have to go up on eBay. Fewer things can be purchased. The apartment must be cleaned. The car has to be shoveled out and then go in for an oil change. Only a month and a half to go! Gotta carve a schedule in stone!
What perfume company does Comic Con??? I'm very intrigued!

 

[meaganola]

What perfume company does Comic Con??? I'm very intrigued!

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. They have received thousands of my dollars. They have lines based on Hellboy, Irredeemable, Grendel, Alice in Wonderland, Neil Gaiman stuff, and much, much more, and most of it is *not* media-based. Many of the comics-related lines are fundraisers for things like the Hero Initiative and CBLDF, and they did a line (based on Klimt paintings, maybe?) that raised money for RAINN a few years ago. They just today finally got confirmation that they have a booth. They frequently do cons all over the country, like San Diego CC, Dragon Con, Chicago, New York, and Bat's Day, which is a sort of goth con that incorporates a day a Disneyland into the festivities, so they may be headed to a city near you, or you can order online! I think I posted some springy fruity floral recs in this very thread. ETA: And Espionage Cosmetics will be there as well. Loose pigment and nail wraps. So many new toys, and that's before I even get to the comics!

 

[jaylilee]

Quote: Originally Posted by magicalmom /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
That's so wonderful!  My best wishes for everything (Mortgage application! Negotiating price! Home inspection! The long road to closing! Closing itself!) goes well and smoothly for you!  Do you have a realtor or someone from your mortgage place helping you?  Even though you're buying from someone you know, it's still a good idea to have someone knowledgable about the process itself helping you along the way - I don't know how many times our realtor had to calm us down when something weird would pop up in the paperwork or the home inspection, haha.  We bought our house in Aug of 2012, and that's after starting in June (just on a whim, kind of like you guys!) and finding our house on our first day searching!  It's such a long and stressful process, but so worth it! I get a huge thrill every time I pull into our driveway, and that's after a year and a half of being here!  Good luck!

And I'm also posting to say that I've officially spent my $25 splurge budget for this month! No buying anything for the rest of the month!  Putting my purchase in a spoiler below so as not to tempt people who are not buying anything right now.

Thank you! Yes, we do. Hubby is a banker, and we'll be going through our bank - he's also a military veteran, so we're going through them for our loan. We were preapproved today and all of our paperwork has been looked over by the bank's mortgage guy (don't know his name lol). because the $$$ is coming from a military/federal source, we will be having another thorough inspection redone to the house, which it passed two months ago but still has to be done. the price is already pretty set, we had already done all the first-buyer classes back in 2009 so other than getting information about our liquidatable assets together last night, all the info we needed was already available (like credit score and credit history) to the bank since we bank through them and he works for them.

The bank and mortgage people are hopeful that the process will be one of the smoother ones. We are starting the process today for the purchasing agreement that has to be approved by both parties, so, fingers crossed, we will be in our own house in about 2 months from now. A lot of things could still go wrong right now but thankfully we're in good hands. 

Quote: Originally Posted by page5 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Congrats!
Wooo thanks!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by saku /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  i canceled my $60 nuxe order. partly because they're taking too slow, and partly because i came back to my senses and realized all the products that i currently have. i'm glad i did! so far so good for this week. i'm getting less and less tempted by buying stuff. 

also, i think i'm gonna buy a new phone, an iphone 5s, from apple. it's expensive! i'm looking at an $800 phone.. it's a loooong story, but it looks like it's my best option right now. i think i'll get a no-contract plan for $40 or so a month. i'm currently paying $90 a month with my 3-year old smartphone that now sucks. it's cdma so i need a new phone if i want to go on this route. i was approved for a 12 month financing on a $1000 apple purchase... ah...i have to decide by the end of the month and cancel my current service. researching for this takes up a lot of time! less time for makeup-looking! LOL

congrats @jaylilee !
Ty lady! also, i have an iphone5, and had looked at the 5s. I would recommend the 5 instead of the 5s because usually the s-series end up being the ones with all the in-between issues between major upgrades from say 4 to 5 and 5 to 6. 

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

I just got confirmation that my favorite perfume company *will* be at Emerald City Comic Con. More things will have to go up on eBay. Fewer things can be purchased. The apartment must be cleaned. The car has to be shoveled out and then go in for an oil change. Only a month and a half to go! Gotta carve a schedule in stone!

That's awesome!!! I'm still debating on what to get...hmmmm. 

 

[saku]

@meaganola  i'm not even into comics, but i feel your excitement! LOL have fun!!

 

[saycrackagain]

You guys, I'm doing so great on my no-buy. I managed to abstain from going on a face mask shopping spree by reminding myself that I'd rather save my money for a good quality mask when I run out of what I have rather than buy a few cheaper masks now. Can't believe how much stuff I'm using up when I'm not opening a million bottles! One tip: my biggest discovery of this no-buy has been Up&Up Witch Hazel at Target. It's the same thing as Dickinson's for 1/6th of the price! My New Year's resolutions were to only buy necessities this year with a focus on skin care and stuff for my house, and a goal to go as natural as possible (within reason) throughout the year. This meets all my goals!

 

[kawaiisofoxy]

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

Thank you! Yes, we do. Hubby is a banker, and we'll be going through our bank - he's also a military veteran, so we're going through them for our loan. We were preapproved today and all of our paperwork has been looked over by the bank's mortgage guy (don't know his name lol). because the $$$ is coming from a military/federal source, we will be having another thorough inspection redone to the house, which it passed two months ago but still has to be done. the price is already pretty set, we had already done all the first-buyer classes back in 2009 so other than getting information about our liquidatable assets together last night, all the info we needed was already available (like credit score and credit history) to the bank since we bank through them and he works for them.

The bank and mortgage people are hopeful that the process will be one of the smoother ones. We are starting the process today for the purchasing agreement that has to be approved by both parties, so, fingers crossed, we will be in our own house in about 2 months from now. A lot of things could still go wrong right now but thankfully we're in good hands. 


Wonderful, sounds like you have this well in hand (and we used USAA's Homebuyer program too, and they are the absolute wonderfullest, it's my own word, but they so are!) and of course it can't hurt that hubby's a banker!  What a great advantage to have!  I'm so happy things are working out for you, and of course please keep us posted!

 

[tulosai]

I am seriously thinking of quitting birchbox.  I just cashed in $60 of points and my 13 month coupon code, and I have so many samples, and I just don't know if it is worth it.  I really like their points system and that it's only $10/month, but with $120 more per year I could take a weekend trip...

And catching up...

Quote:

Originally Posted by magicalmom /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  Well it isn't a makeup success story, but we got our tax return deposited to our account this morning, and immediately took the whole thing and dumped it onto our larger credit card balance. ... I feel really good about it.  Hubby and I even held the mouse together and clicked "send" on the payment...  

   
CONGRATS

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

My issue with "I'll buy it and return it if I change my mind" is the fact that stores and cosmetics companies build the cost of those losses into their prices, so we are eventually paying for those returned items via higher prices.

Agree. To try to say 'well but they build it in so it doesn't matter anyway as some people on this thread essentially tried to do is very hollow to me because if no one returned, or even if it was just VERY rare it would not be built in.  I don't think this is the main thing that drives prices up, but that it is a factor is not deniable to me.

Quote: Originally Posted by kaitlin1209 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I don't really understand how people use something and take it back. You know they have to destroy it and write it as a loss which drives up prices as was mentioned before. I'm not trying to be offensive and I know a lot of people do it, it just seems strange to me.
Honestly, at the risk of also incurring the wrath of people on the thread, I think it is wrong to return something you've used.I didn't even realize until this thread that people do this (and seemingly often) when the product is not defective or unopened- I literally thought people who talked about returning products on this forum meant they were still unopened.  In a world where you actually CAN pretty much sample anything before you buy it (some limited edition palates and indies excepted) I also think it rings hollow to say some people don't have the luxury of sampling before they buy.  You can sample anything at any makeup counter or any sephora anywhere. Many (maybe even most) non-huge companies will send you samples of anything if you email them and ask in a truly nice way. There are even some samples out at most CVS/Walgreens.  If you want to sample literally 90+% of all products out there, there is a way,

Quote: Originally Posted by Sheeeeeelby /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  I haven't done so well this month either. I bought MORE nail polish. 

Haha story of my life...

Quote: Originally Posted by jaylilee /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  So...we're buying a house. 
CONGRATS!!!

 

[saku]

WAAH i just bought an unlocked iphone 5s from the apple website, a tmo sim card, and an iphone case from ebay. i should be all set now. i consider this an investment!

definitely not buying anything now, unless its food. 

 

[loftmane]

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

Agree. To try to say 'well but they build it in so it doesn't matter anyway as some people on this thread essentially tried to do is very hollow to me because if no one returned, or even if it was just VERY rare it would not be built in.  I don't think this is the main thing that drives prices up, but that it is a factor is not deniable to me.

Honestly, at the risk of also incurring the wrath of people on the thread, I think it is wrong to return something you've used.I didn't even realize until this thread that people do this (and seemingly often) when the product is not defective or unopened- I literally thought people who talked about returning products on this forum meant they were still unopened.  In a world where you actually CAN pretty much sample anything before you buy it (some limited edition palates and indies excepted) I also think it rings hollow to say some people don't have the luxury of sampling before they buy.  You can sample anything at any makeup counter or any sephora anywhere. Many (maybe even most) non-huge companies will send you samples of anything if you email them and ask in a truly nice way. There are even some samples out at most CVS/Walgreens.  If you want to sample literally 90+% of all products out there, there is a way,

At the risk of offending you or others on this board I just had to say something because the bolded section is so short-sighted at best and downright naively self-centered at worst. I'm sorry but aside from foundation samples, which I will return to in a moment, it is actually not that easy to sample something enough to be solidly assured that you are purchasing something you will 100% love. Yes, it is easy to try things on but actually sampling them, as in getting to know the product well enough to make an informed purchasing decision, is not as cut and dry as that.

Sampling for me means that you get enough of the product to test out its wear time, how it applies with the tools you own at home, with the products you currently have in your stash and how it reacts with your skin. This cannot always be determined by swatching something in store or trying it on for a few minutes/hours.

Take eyeshadow, for example. Yes, I can swatch it in store at Sephora and put it on my arm to test how the colors look in a saturated way and I can make gross judgments on a shadow's performance based on how it feels on my fingers and how it swatches on the back of my hand but that doesn't tell me how well it blends with my fluffy crease brush, and it's not going to show me that there's fallout when I use my typical eyeshadow brush because I rarely ever get fall-out when I use my fingers. Am I supposed to be stuck with a pricy eyeshadow or palette that stinks because it blends crappily and has fallout because technically it's not defective? And sorry but I'm not comfortable bringing my own expensive brushes to use on these testers that have had people's dirty hands all over them. The disposable eyeshadow wands that the stores provide never really mimic the eyeshadow brushes I use like the MAC 239, etc.What if the product creases after a few hours on the lid despite regular primer use--is that defective to you?

Or take blush. Yes, I can also swatch it in the store. I got a blush a few months back that I returned because when I got the blush home, it did not get picked up on my brush at all. In store using my fingers it applied perfectly but when I got home I would swirl my brush in the box like a mad woman and still I'd get pale shimmer and nothing else on my brush. I returned it because I thought I had a dud and got another one but what do you know the same thing happened again. Again is that something that I should eat the cost of because the way the product was presented in store was much better than its actual performance?

Another example are items with applicators like lip gloss, mascara and even doe foot concealer applicators where trying on the item can be an exercise in contracting bacterial infections. At Sephora and many counters excluding MAC, the applicators are not cut off so that people often apply them somewhere like their hands or worse, their face/lips, and put the wands back inside thereby contaminating the tube. I am not sure where you live but people near me do not use the disposable applicators with any kind of consistency and I've seen numerous people try stuff on their face outright and then put it back on the shelf. Personally, I am not at all comfortable with using products like that in the store because they cannot be sanitized effectively. So if I buy the product and the mascara flakes on me or gives me raccoon eyes before the end of the day or if the lip gloss dries out my lips and makes them peel, I should be stuck with the product and wasted money? Technically the product isn't "defective" but it certainly doesn't work for my skin type.

Which brings me back to foundation. If you're as unlucky as I am to have very sensitive skin then maybe you're sympathetic to this but I have an issue with many foundations breaking me out. I'm not lucky(?) enough to react to foundations after one try and usually need to wear foundation for about a week to so before my skin begins to react to it. The joy of acne is that irritants can actually take up to 2 weeks to be seen since acne can take up to 2 weeks to form in the skin. I rarely, if ever, when getting foundation samples, get more than a day's amount to use, if they even give me one in the first place. Sephora's SAs are kinder but I've gone to Chanel and Dior and have been turned down numerous times because "they don't have any sample cases". When I bring my own I get another set of excuses about how it isn't protocol to give out samples. I now know what my triggers are and avoid products with irritating ingredients to me but I never would have known which products bothered me without trying quite a few and yes, returning ones that broke me out. I never would have learned that information or had the money to go out and try new foundations if I constantly got stuck with foundations that irritated my skin. 

Additionally, store lighting in general is terrifyingly bad. We've all been there where we think a product's color looks one way and then we get into natural lighting and the color is completely different. Again whose fault is that and who should eat the cost? With things like foundation or lipstick, sure you can try those on and go out into the daylight and see if the color is actually what you think it is. But how do you get a sample of eyeshadow to try out in daylight? What brands give you samples aside from the indie pigment companies which, sorry, but disinterest me? Because Chanel has yet to provide me with samples of their eyeshadow palettes. Can that even be done? My mom has sensitive lips that peel for weeks after using certain formulas for 2-3 days in a row. MAC SAs were "not comfortable" with cutting off a bit of a lipstick to let her try some at home so she bought it and had to return because it didn't work out. Again should she be stuck with it because the product didn't work for her? 

I follow numerous blogs so I can get tons and tons of reviews on things before I go to buy them but look, I'm darker skinned than almost all of the bloggers who review products from lines that interest me. Just look for swatches of any Chanel lipgloss. The overwhelming majority of people reviewing them are below the depth range of NC/NW 30. I'm shades darker than that so I'm guess SOL if I want to know what pigmentation is like for my skin tone and lip pigmentation. 

To say that you can "sample" 90+% of products is hogwash to me. You can yes, of course, try things on but to really get to know a product enough to make an informed decision is not as easy as you make it out to be so that number falls dramatically. It's probably more like 20%. On top of that maybe you live in an area and are interested in product lines where samples are freely given no questions asked, but please don't assume that that's the way it goes everywhere.

With all of this said, I'm not saying that gratuitous returns don't happen but I am saying that judging people's returns when you don't know their reasons is awfully rude. I made a huge return of stuff recently that was all crap that had broken me out or had terrible performance over the work day or worked one way in a tester and completely sucked when I got that product home (see: the aforementioned blush). Sorry those reasons don't fall under your your approval. I'm glad that you have certain rules about what makes a return OK in your book and what doesn't, but please don't try to extend that to others when you don't know what their reasoning is for doing it. Maybe I'm very picky about what goes on my face but if I am paying such exorbitant prices for makeup as it is, I want each product to work for me flawlessly. 

Anyway @jaylilee you were right. The recent chatter about this topic does not make people feel welcome and I no longer do here. Good luck no-buyers on this forum but I am going to be looking for no-buy/low-buy support from others elsewhere where I don't feel like there such a creepily judgmental crowd around. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[kawaiisofoxy]

Just going to jump in here and say that I'm fairly sure that the main intent of everyone in here is to express their opinion, not to pass judgment on others.  I will ask that everyone keep our Rule #1 in mind.  Let's also remember that this is a place of support and encouragement.  The decision to return an item (whether used or not) is up to the individual, and we all have our reasons for returning an item (or not).  

So what I'm going to ask that we do is to keep this thread on topic, about No/Low buys and our encouragement of each other to maintain those goals, and not discuss returns.  Of course, if someone would like to make a separate thread about it, you're welcome to, as long as the discussion remains civilized and kind.  As always, let myself or another moderator know if you have any questions!

And just as a reminder, here's Rule #1:

1. Be polite and respect other members and staff. Blatant mean posts will result in banning of user account and/or ip address.

 

[meaganola]

In unrelated news, ooh, one of the companies I was going to spend lots of money on at Comic Con -- Espionage Cosmetics -- is doing an event here in town tomorrow. I will be shifting my planned spend for them from the end of March to tomorrow so I can *go* to the con with appropriate nails, not wait until I can get there and buy them on the first day. Since this is a time-shifted planned purchase that I can use cash for, I don't consider this breaking my low-but.

 

[eastofthesun]

Just wanted to congratulation @jaylilee on her soon-to-be new home! You are going to learn so much going through the house-buying process, and you and your husband are going to literally feel closer and more of a team after having done it. Plus, you'll get to decorate everything and it'll be an AWESOME opportunity for you to weed out things in your life you don't want to take into your new sanctuary. I'm super happy for you, but also kinda jealous that you'll get an upstairs and a basement! So nice! Lots of storage space and room. That's so awesome, girl! Enjoy this journey!

Also want to say to everyone doing well on their no-buy or low-buy this month- CONGRATS! You are so freaking awesome and you should be proud! And we only have one week left of this month, so you can hold on and do it!

And to anyone else in the same boat as me who either slipped up a little or just plain failed (me!) on their no- or low-buys, well, let's not let it spiral us downward. It happened. We can deal with that. Let's just try somehow to figure out a way to keep it from happening again. We can be disciplined and strong. We just have to work at it to achieve it!

------

Personally, a few things that caused me to slip-up this month (I'm listing these hopefully as a tool to help us learn our triggers):

1. A 3x points special at Sephora that ended on a certain date (caused initial purchase)

2. The need for free shipping (added more to my cart than would normally)

3. I somehow convinced myself I needed the initial purchase for an upcoming trip, but honestly, I had other perfumes and I don't even like perfume that much.

4. Later in the month I bought some other stuff from office depot (a letter organizer to hold my palettes, and some pencil-holders to store my double-ended brushes) mainly because I was already going to office depot for some stuff for work, and while I was there, I just added them to my basket.

5. Smaller purchases seemingly being insignificant, especially if they are not planned. But they really add up!!!

6. Pure forgetfulness- I forgot that I meant to cancel ipsy before I got on it, or secretly was worried I'd miss out on a good bag for my first time, plus it's freaking hard to get off the wait list, so I guess I wanted to make sure I stayed on. I think I'll cancel, though because I don't really like much of what I got.

So what can I take from my mistakes this month:

1. Avoid specials/sales, unless I NEED to repurchase something. (Delete those special/sale emails!)

2. Forget about getting free shipping if it requires you to add a bunch of stuff to your car that is more expensive than the shipping itself. Basically get out of the mindset that adding $15 to your car of stuff you don't really *need* is better than paying $6 of shipping.

3. Listen to your gut when it's telling you something- if you don't think you really should make the purchase, then you shouldn't. Don't spend time justifying and weighing pros and cons. Just listen to your gut in that case. Unless, of course, it's urging you to spend, spend, spend, then just make sure you wait 30 days to see if you still want it (WAYYYY easier said than done, especially when said sales and specials are calling your name). This part is just plain hard.

4. Pay attention to those smaller items. Calculate how much of your budget they will add up to before buying.

5. Keep track of your automated finances and your subscriptions! You don't want a big purchase coming in when you don't expect it and haven't prepared for it!

That's all for now.... just want to say I hope I can do better next month. I don't think I'll need to buy anything, but maybe repurchase some AM spf moisturizer and maybe PM moisturizer. Other than that I think I'm good to go for a while!

---

P.S. I'm glad the topic on returns is being closed here. I wouldn't mind talking about it elsewhere as it seems like a hot topic and I want to know more about why people feel the way they do. But I am glad it's over here, it was kind of getting me all riled up in a place where we should support each other.

 

[saku]

Quote:
So what can I take from my mistakes this month:

1. Avoid specials/sales, unless I NEED to repurchase something. (Delete those special/sale emails!)

2. Forget about getting free shipping if it requires you to add a bunch of stuff to your car that is more expensive than the shipping itself. Basically get out of the mindset that adding $15 to your car of stuff you don't really *need* is better than paying $6 of shipping.

3. Listen to your gut when it's telling you something- if you don't think you really should make the purchase, then you shouldn't. Don't spend time justifying and weighing pros and cons. Just listen to your gut in that case. Unless, of course, it's urging you to spend, spend, spend, then just make sure you wait 30 days to see if you still want it (WAYYYY easier said than done, especially when said sales and specials are calling your name). This part is just plain hard.

4. Pay attention to those smaller items. Calculate how much of your budget they will add up to before buying.

5. Keep track of your automated finances and your subscriptions! You don't want a big purchase coming in when you don't expect it and haven't prepared for it!
especially with the beauty.com deals for small purchase, it's hard to resist! but i tried really hard the past few deals, and i made it! it really gets easier the more you do the resisting. 

and also #3, it's so true!! if i really want it, i buy it right away. but if i'm on the fence, usually i'm just scared that i'm gonna be missing out on the deals..and at the end, i don't really need those stuff!

 

[jaylilee]

Thank you everyone who congratulated me! we're now in the process of inspection..... nail biting time begins now!  Though in all seriousness, I hope it all goes smoothly at least.

This has definitely helped cement the mentality of a no buy! especially since even a small out-of-the-ordinary purchase could potentially trip the whole thing and end up ruining our chances of buying a home. 

 

[BSquared]

congrats on the house! How exciting! Is it in the same area you live in now, or are you making a big move?

 

[jaylilee]

Quote: Originally Posted by BSquared /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  congrats on the house! How exciting! Is it in the same area you live in now, or are you making a big move?
same area! about 15-ish minutes away.