February No/Low-Buy 2014

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I'm so happy with myself.  I went to CVS today for a few non-beauty things and I walked through the beauty section to see if the new color tattoos were available yet.  They weren't so I started trying to find something else to buy instead.  Halfway through looking at some things that were ok but not really what I wanted, I realized what I was doing and only bought my other stuff.  In the past I would have bought one or two things just to buy something.  Then in a week or two, I would have wondered why I even bought them.

 
I am joining this thread!  I was cleaning and organizing my makeup last night and I was so overwhelmed and unhappy when I saw how many neglected products I have. Also, Lent is coming up, so this is a perfect way to start fresh.  

We're also in the process of purchasing the home we are currently renting.  I wrote the owner a few months ago and we've been snail-mailing ever since!  I'm glad I took a chance; I can't wait to paint and make it OURS, ya know?

 
Can't believe its the 21 and I still haven't bought anything. I went to Target the other day and they had a lot of clearance of Sonia and Nyx and I just looked and bought nothing. 

 
I found a display of the Maybelline spring LE Color Tattoos that was just missing one shade.  I picked up the one I most wanted and went over to the regular display and found the missing shade.  I compared both to Barely Branded, which has been my default base lately, and...  I decided that Barely Branded is close enough to the two LE shades for my purposes!  Despite a $2 off coupon and the strong likelihood that I could sell them for at least double what I paid if I put them on eBay, both went back on the display.  I'm getting a cream shadow from Starlooks shortly, and I might pick up two or three more from them once I try that one out since I have a discount code coming, but that will be it.  Until I run out of Barely Branded, I will only get cream shadows if I can get them for free like this.  And I'm testing a perfume oil I had been planning on buying a bottle of before it was discontinued next month, and...  I like it, but, eh, I don't like it enough to buy a full bottle.  I think I'm actually going to pass on all of the ones that are being cut after all.  I already own many, many other perfume oils that I rarely use plus many more that I've put up for sale but can't find buyer for.  I should do another eBay culling tomorrow. 

(I did get a haircut today, but I haven't gotten one in four months, almost to the day, so I can't feel guilty about that.)

(And, ooh, speaking of eBay, the high bid on my cheek Kaleidoscope auction suddenly popped up more than fifteen bucks today!  That's almost a bottle of perfume at ECCC!  Yes, any eBay earnings are going to the con.  Any additional funds will roll over to Rose City Comic Con in September.  It's a guilt-free way to budget.  Chances are almost one hundred percent that there will be a special ECCC-only perfume or four, plus I heard that Espionage Cosmetics will probably have a con exclusive item or two, *plus* I'm guessing Sock Dreams will have one as well.  It's going to be a very expensive weekend, but at least I'm *preparing* for it!)

 
This was definitely the week when my no-buy went out the window.  I'm not sure if I will continue it or do a low-buy with a set amount I can spend for March.  Pondering.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by meaganola /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  I found a display of the Maybelline spring LE Color Tattoos that was just missing one shade.  I picked up the one I most wanted and went over to the regular display and found the missing shade.  I compared both to Barely Branded, which has been my default base lately, and...  I decided that Barely Branded is close enough to the two LE shades for my purposes!  Despite a $2 off coupon and the strong likelihood that I could sell them for at least double what I paid if I put them on eBay, both went back on the display.  I'm getting a cream shadow from Starlooks shortly, and I might pick up two or three more from them once I try that one out since I have a discount code coming, but that will be it.  Until I run out of Barely Branded, I will only get cream shadows if I can get them for free like this.  And I'm testing a perfume oil I had been planning on buying a bottle of before it was discontinued next month, and...  I like it, but, eh, I don't like it enough to buy a full bottle.  I think I'm actually going to pass on all of the ones that are being cut after all.  I already own many, many other perfume oils that I rarely use plus many more that I've put up for sale but can't find buyer for.  I should do another eBay culling tomorrow. 

(I did get a haircut today, but I haven't gotten one in four months, almost to the day, so I can't feel guilty about that.)

(And, ooh, speaking of eBay, the high bid on my cheek Kaleidoscope auction suddenly popped up more than fifteen bucks today!  That's almost a bottle of perfume at ECCC!  Yes, any eBay earnings are going to the con.  Any additional funds will roll over to Rose City Comic Con in September.  It's a guilt-free way to budget.  Chances are almost one hundred percent that there will be a special ECCC-only perfume or four, plus I heard that Espionage Cosmetics will probably have a con exclusive item or two, *plus* I'm guessing Sock Dreams will have one as well.  It's going to be a very expensive weekend, but at least I'm *preparing* for it!)
hmmm..I have barely branded and haven't touched it in ages. I love maybelline's cream shadows but am starting to get turned off by the fact that they haven't added those beautiful shades to the permanent collection -- like, the last 3 mattes they had would have been a perfect addition to break up the all-shimmer-all-the-time current permanents. maybe i might write them again. i  remember writing them about having matte shades and having compared possible options to mac painterly, soft ochre and groundwork...and lo' and behold, they came out with that collection shortly after, so who knows, maybe they listened (and hopefully to others as well!).

I might drag barely branded out and use it for this week. finding the motivation to actually use up makeup this week is LOW. LOW LOW LOW.

 
i didn't make any beauty purchase this week! so proud of myself. haha! i'll try hard not to place any order until march 15, when i get paid. 

 
I failed last week by making a $12 beauty.com purchase for their GWP. booo. But I realllly wanted to get the Stila liquid lip in Beso (ok so i've had like 3 of these but either gave them away or lost them..) and I thought Peacock was a really pretty color too. I followed @magicalmom 's suit and got a Claudalie body wash (right? that was you?)

I cancelled the BB sub I got for the month of Feb. I don't meant to attack anyone (and i really hope it doesn't come off this way!) in make up land, but I've always *always* been baffled by people with multiple subs. I can't imagine paying $20-$30 a month on BB plus other subs plus buying things outside of that? I thought I would *love* to have 2 BBs but it was really stressful. I ended up with two similar boxes with products I didn't totally love. I just felt kinda silly spending $20 (real money, not minus points yet) on 10 surprise samples. Sure, the bonus points was awesome but beyond that, its not worth keeping two IMO. I guess I'm not meant to have multiple subs!

Also, I feel like I've mentioned this before, but part of me wants to cancel BB all together. I cashed in about $50-60 worth of points through two orders the other day. I mostly spent it on tea and socks! The nail polishes I *did* buy ended up being a total bust. I might actually return them. I enjoyed the idea of the $10-$15 purchase *if* beauty.com continues to do these awesome GWPs. I feel like it would be more worth my while if I tucked away $10-$15 a month to spend later or to spend on a small order with a GWP. Yanno?

Sorry! I'm a bit rambley today. I just got lotsa feelings.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by usofjessamerica /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Also, I feel like I've mentioned this before, but part of me wants to cancel BB all together. I cashed in about $50-60 worth of points through two orders the other day. I mostly spent it on tea and socks! The nail polishes I *did* buy ended up being a total bust. I might actually return them. I enjoyed the idea of the $10-$15 purchase *if* beauty.com continues to do these awesome GWPs. I feel like it would be more worth my while if I tucked away $10-$15 a month to spend later or to spend on a small order with a GWP. Yanno?
Yeah I am also seriously considering cancelling BB now.  I cashed in $60 of points myself and am swimming in samples and just dunno.  I should probably bite the bullet and cancel... I don't think I'd miss it much really.

 
IT. IS. THE. 24TH!

4 more days to go and February comes to a close! I've done well the last week or so...actually, since my last break down on here (lol) I've actually done really well. Though, perhaps I need to join the monday club again more religiously, because the "choices" in the morning are again starting to get overwhelming.

... gah! 

And I sometimes wonder why I want more makeup, considering I already feel a little overwhelmed with the choices I do have. 

 
This will sound dumb and everyone can make fun of me for it but I feel like I can't cancel since I'm the one who got EVERYONE and their friend to sign up. I'm serious, my boyfriends mom had me explain it to her department and then all the ladies signed up. Whenever I see her co workers they pretty much only talk to me about birchbox. I'd feel like a fraud if I canceled lol. I love the points but it's like throwing money out if I don't end up using the items that they send me. I don't think I could ever bring myself to cancel since the points are what's keeping me going strong. It's a fun conversation piece and it's fun to swap, yes, but I rarely use anything they send so what's the point? I did discover some serious loves - Kusmi tea, Harney and Sons tea, Chauo, soy Joy (lol @ first four being food...), the balm, and Eyeko. Maybe I'll stick around, rack up more points, and decide whether or not to cancel once I'm done with grad school.

Yeah I am also seriously considering cancelling BB now.  I cashed in $60 of points myself and am swimming in samples and just dunno.  I should probably bite the bullet and cancel... I don't think I'd miss it much really.
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Quote: Originally Posted by usofjessamerica /img/forum/go_quote.gif

This will sound dumb and everyone can make fun of me for it but I feel like I can't cancel since I'm the one who got EVERYONE and their friend to sign up. I'm serious, my boyfriends mom had me explain it to her department and then all the ladies signed up. Whenever I see her co workers they pretty much only talk to me about birchbox. I'd feel like a fraud if I canceled lol. I love the points but it's like throwing money out if I don't end up using the items that they send me. I don't think I could ever bring myself to cancel since the points are what's keeping me going strong. It's a fun conversation piece and it's fun to swap, yes, but I rarely use anything they send so what's the point? I did discover some serious loves - Kusmi tea, Harney and Sons tea, Chauo, soy Joy (lol @ first four being food...), the balm, and Eyeko. Maybe I'll stick around, rack up more points, and decide whether or not to cancel once I'm done with grad school.

The points are a REALLY generous and sweet incentive (basically you get $5-6 per month for spending $10 a month) but I need to keep telling myself that it's still not really a good deal if I don't like/use the samples they send me since I am still out $5 a month and then when I cash in points I inevitably spend more than just the point value which adds up slowly. I also did find/get some products and brands I LOVE (Beauty Protector, Whish, nail polish) but if I am totally honest some months I don't even use the samples they send at all and they just lay around or sometimes get traded/sent as gifts.  I also justify it by saying it's "just" $10 a month, which is very little  to me on some level, but that's $120 a year (even counting points AND assuming you would have purchased the things you buy with the points anyway, which to be honest I often would not have it is about $60 a year) which seems less insignificant.

I think I'm gonna bite the bullet and cancel tonight.  I don't need the clutter and I could use $120 more per year for sure.

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

And I sometimes wonder why I want more makeup, considering I already feel a little overwhelmed with the choices I do have. 
After several months of no/low buy I actually have pretty much gotten to a point where I don't really want more, or at least, even when I do, I KNOW I couldn't possibly handle more. 

 
What the heck, I'm going to cancel Graze for a few months too and see if I actually miss it or not. They send me the same snacks over and over and it's getting slightly anticlimactic.

 
"The points are a REALLY generous and sweet incentive (basically you get $5-6 per month for spending $10 a month) but I need to keep telling myself that it's still not really a good deal if I don't like/use the samples they send me since I am still out $5 a month and then when I cash in points I inevitably spend more than just the point value which adds up slowly" THIS. EXACTLY. it's not a good deal if you're not even using any of it!

What the heck, I'm going to cancel Graze for a few months too and see if I actually miss it or not. They send me the same snacks over and over and it's getting slightly anticlimactic.
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I'm so glad I never got roped into food subs. I was so close but I never pulled the trigger. There's no way I would've limited myself do only eating snacks from Graze anywya
 
I went to Walgreens to run an errand this afternoon and didn't buy a single beauty product! This is getting easier!

 
Quote: Originally Posted by tulosai /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  After several months of no/low buy I actually have pretty much gotten to a point where I don't really want more, or at least, even when I do, I KNOW I couldn't possibly handle more. 


Yeah, I am realizing how ridiculous it is to have all this stuff -- not that it makes me want to get RID of any of it, I love wearing all my items, but it certainly is inspiring restraint on me. I mean... it usually takes 6 months (or so?) to finish a single eyeshadow with daily use, and potentially heavy use... I have like 190 shadows. it's really going to take me a lifetime. i need to get better at mixing my colors and finishes to produce unique looks on my eyes instead of buying yet another slightly different shade of brown, taupe, gold or purple. 

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

I went to Walgreens to run an errand this afternoon and didn't buy a single beauty product! This is getting easier!
WAY TO GO! That's like the best feeling. Walgreens is always a lot more dangerous to me than say, Walmart, because they carry so many more things in my area.... omg. 

 
[@]usofjessamerica[/@] yep that was me! Haha I felt so guilty making that order til I got it! The shower gel smells AMAZING. The Beso is freakin awesome. I haven't tried the Peacock liner yet, but it looks so pretty! And then all of the samples! I know I need to get back on track for next month, but my splurge budget might go entirely toward beauty.com GWP orders, lol. And I'm not anywhere near canceling BB, but I've forbidden myself from buying any more makeup with points! I'm limiting myself to home & lifestyle items, and a full size of the Vasanti Brighten Up! once I'm done using samples up. I can at least comfort myself that none of my purchases were of makeup (all makeup was GWP's, which I've decided in my infinite wisdom are free and don't count!) so I'm getting better each month! Which makes this thread totally amazing for me! Who knows how much I'd be spending if I didn't have you ladies talking me down!

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


I know I need to get back on track for next month, but my splurge budget might go entirely toward beauty.com GWP orders, lol.
 
I feel a little dumb but....what does GWP mean?

 

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