February No/Low-Buy 2014

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Oh, you guys. January was a crash and burn for me, but I think it was because I didn't have a plan going in, and only realized I needed one about halfway through. This is my birthday month, and I am planning one splurge at Sephora, and I am keeping my sub boxes this month. But after Feb I am cancelling all but one of them. /cry. I know it sounds pathetic, but I really did have to sit down and weigh the pros and cons of the ones I have before I could decide on the one I could keep. 

I was reading something the other day about treating your monthly savings contributions like a bill you have to pay, and that really helped my perspective on the goals I have. I would rather be able to finally save enough for a down payment on a house than have that eyeliner. Cause seriously, how many eye liners do you need? I want them all... But I don't need them. I'll just keep repeating that until I believe it :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
Quote: Originally Posted by Jeaniney /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  I'm in for my low buy again, staying strong until April. Other than swaps and Birchbox, I only spent $35 on beauty stuff this month, including a sub I decided I don't really *need.*  I cancelled that sub and am hoping to not buy ANY beauty products this month at all. 

I'm also holding true to my commitment to be on a "low buy" in all areas of life.  I did some projections and if I stick to my budgets I'll be able to pay off all my student loans by 2016 and have a nice looking down payment for a better house by 2020.  Now THAT is motivating.
WHOO! Those are my two goals exactly! I have been thinking of setting up some spreadsheets to track my savings goals, that way I am getting more hands on with my money that just tracking it with something like Mint. I think that would be a real motivator for me, to physically move those numbers around every month and know I am getting closer to being student debt free... Only to turn around and take on the biggest debt of my life by buying a house!

 
Quote: Originally Posted by goldendarter /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  Oh, you guys. January was a crash and burn for me, but I think it was because I didn't have a plan going in, and only realized I needed one about halfway through. This is my birthday month, and I am planning one splurge at Sephora, and I am keeping my sub boxes this month. But after Feb I am cancelling all but one of them. /cry. I know it sounds pathetic, but I really did have to sit down and weigh the pros and cons of the ones I have before I could decide on the one I could keep. 

I was reading something the other day about treating your monthly savings contributions like a bill you have to pay, and that really helped my perspective on the goals I have. I would rather be able to finally save enough for a down payment on a house than have that eyeliner. Cause seriously, how many eye liners do you need? I want them all... But I don't need them. I'll just keep repeating that until I believe it :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

I was always told to "pay yourself first." No matter what, after my first paycheck of the month I put the same amount of money in my savings account. I pay my student loan payment at the end of the month (I always massively overpay so I'll get it paid off in 2 years instead of 10), so if money is REALLY tight I will take the difference out of my student loan payment instead of my savings. 

I also highly recommend using Mint, which puts everything into perspective 100%. I'm a data junkie so the "trends" view is amazing to me!

 
Quote: Originally Posted by hindsighting /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  I have Peony and Blush Suede and it's my absolute favorite. I'm forcing myself not to use it right now because I have a few half empty bottles of other things, but I want to wear it every day.
I had been curious to try the range by Jo Malone for AGES - so I was excited when I got this little sample. I am not a huge fan of large collections of perfume, but have been wanting to find that "signature scent" or scents. one for spring, one for summer, one for winter. I really like diptyque's 34 for summer, still undecided on how I feel about chloe by chloe for winter, but I have a feeling this jo malone one will be my spring signature scent. 

 
I failed horribly in January so February I plan a complete no buy on everything (except food).

 
February will be an extreme low-buy for me.  I am allowed to buy a tube of Pixie Epoxy.  That's it.  I don't think I'll run out of anything this month, and I certainly don't need to buy anything.  I'm also going to try to finish the last 10mL or so of a full bottle of perfume that I've had for way too long.  As much as I love perfume, I need to use up more before buying any new.

 
Did good in January, February is gonna be a little tough for me because it is my husband's birthday this month. That being said I plan on only spending money on him and my 1 birchbox sub. I am trying to get my Credit card all paid off before I put anymore on it. Plus we are gonna buy a new house soon so I want to be able to have money to buy pretty things for the new house. 

Goals:

-Don't buy excess things for the kids

-Don't eat out

-Don't buy any new books until you read the ones you have

GOOD LUCK EVERYBODY!

 
I am continuing my extreme life low buy. I am allowed

-The 3 sub boxes I am already subscribed to, no additions.

- Food from the grocery store, and to eat out 10 times or less (this is what I failed on last month but it's a short month, I can do it!)

- Other 'essentials' like utilities, rent, cable and internet, toilet paper, tampons, razors, food for the cats, necessary medical bills... 

-The Sherlock limited edition tin if geek chic cosmetics re-releases it as a Valentine's/birthday present to myself

-I can go see Frozen in the theaters because I think I've wanted to see  it long enough that it can be justified, even though I usually think it's a waste to see movie in the theaters...

and that's it.... we'll see how I do.

 
My plan for February is to try to make it another no buy month like January (excluding sub boxes).  My goal for the year is actually a low buy: 1 high end and 1 drugstore item per month but if I don't buy items during a particular month, I can roll-over my purchases.

So my rules for myself are:

1) Low buy as above for makeup but try for another no buy month.

2) My three sub boxes are ok.  I actually only pay for 2 per month since I bought a year of Birchbox in either Oct or Nov.

3) No buy for shower gels, soaps, and lotions so I can reduce the stash that I have already.

4) I can replace things that run out if I have no other items in that category.  For example, I only have 2 foundations, so I figure I'll be buying foundation sometime this year.

5) Right now I have no rules for fragrance.  Although I love fragrance, I'm picky so I don't tend to overbuy it.

6) I can buy something makeup related that doesn't count towards my allowance with my $10 in CVS extra bucks that expire in late Feb.  I'm wanting one of the new Maybelline nude lipsticks if they ever show up in one of my local CVSs.

 
Ok for January I spent more then I should have but less then I would have if I wasn't posting here. I bought 2 body washes that were 2.99 each at tjmaxx, dove deep conditioner, laura gellar foundation and blush, and.... I caved after I read a blog review about wet n wilds foundation. It was buy one get one half off so I also got the matching powder. My goal for this month is to spend less then $25 on beauty related items. I don't REALLY need anything but I don't really spend money in other areas so this is my entertainment budget I suppose? Also- I want to spend less money on fast food. It's hard because my job has me traveling and I'm on the road inbetween appointments and I have to use the restroom and I feel awkward not getting at least a drink

 
My goals for the month: No buy on everything but essentials. Continue using up all my stash. Tomorrow is sample Saturday. I try to get out multiple foils and deluxe samples and use them up. List out one if my boxes of nail polish and put it on my spreadsheet. I'm fighting a cold right now so I don't feel doing anything but drinking hot tea and watching movies on the couch.

 
Well I may have fallen off the wagon 2x in January (every other week really lol) but I hope that I can keep the no-buy momentum going from the end of January into February. I plan on returning a LOT of stuff that I have impulse bought in the last few months as many of them were things I came to regret, if not outright loathe. With that influx of refunds I will be receiving I only plan to make three purchases and put the rest into savings. One purchase will be a wine colored lip liner (MAC Vino, most likely) as I do not own anything like that and have quite a few wine colors that I love to wear but take me forever to apply because I spend so much time cleaning up my application :( /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> I know the lip liner will make life easier in that respect. The other purchases will be cleansing oil as that is my primary method of makeup removal, and another tube of my HG lip balm. 

I will continue to not buy:

-Eyeshadow

-Lipstick (Big one for me. I just cut my stash in half. I don't want to add anything else.)

-Blush (Again, I did some purging in this area. I refuse to add new clutter.)

-Foundation/powder/mascara/eyeliner (I will probably need some more in a month but I'm good to go otherwise.)

I'm going to be getting new glasses this month and I really don't have the money to spare on makeup that's going to take forever and an age to finish. 

Extending my no buy into other life domains--I really want to cut down on my grocery shopping. I spend a pretty penny in this area on a weekly basis and know that I could do better. 

I'm very nervous about this month's no-buy because as I said in another thread, February is brutal and I find myself going into turbo-hauling mode during this month. I hope to turn my energy elsewhere this month so that I'm too distracted to be desperate for a makeup fix!

 
@loftmane It seems like you've done a really great job de-stashing recently, and you know what items you don't necessarily need, so I bet you can do awesome this month :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />
 
After a so-so January...goals for February: 1. Keep on with the no more eyeshadow rule. Doing well in that so far! 2. Keep up with the Monday Club to help de-stash, use stuff up, and toss stuff I truly don't like/ can't use 3. NO MORE SKINCARE (*with the exception of a bottle of purity made simple because I'm almost out). I sorta subbed skin care for makeup buying last month and now I'm overwhelmed. 4. Use up some freaking samples. Toooo many in my stash. Use at least 2 a week. 5. STOP. GOING. OUT. TO. EAT. This is a huge issue because work is stressing me out and I hate cooking. The last thing I want to do is cook when I get home. Made a pact with the husband to try and make it until valentines day with no eating out! Now to stick with it...we'd save so much money. 6. Keep going on project pan for my ammo palette. Sin is so close I can feel it, now to work down the other 2 a bit. 7. No drugstore makeup 8. No bath and body works orders ALLOWED FOR THE MONTH: 1. The aforementioned face wash 2. one bottle of perfume and one bottle of cologne for the husband during sephoras points bonus. 3. One concealer purchase because I currently have nothing that works how I want it to.

 
February Rules:

I'm allowed to buy:

           -lipbalm: I'm almost out of mine.

           -BB Cream or Foundation: Again, almost out of mine.

Not allowed:

     -Eyeshadow

     -Blush

     -Lipstick and gloss

 
In January I saw so many things I wanted but only bought essentials! I reorganized my stash and it is helping A LOT. Like I put a gloss and lipstick that I want to use up in my purse so whenever I am out and my lipstick has worn off I'm forced to use those. It is actually working! And I see my two half-used foundations sitting at the top of my organizer every day which helps keep me in check when I'm coveting the latest BB cream. Reorganizing also helps me see everything I own better, which makes it all easier to rotate because I get ideas from seeing it and also I'm not overwhelmed by the clutter. I'm not setting hard-and-fast rules for February but I'm happy with the past month so I will use that as motivation to keep it up this month.

 
I'm on a makeup/skincare no-buy through March.  I bought nothing in January, so that was good.  My wish list is growing, but hopefully everything will be available April 1st so I can buy one or two items from it.  There is zero risk of me running out of anything, plus I have my subscription boxes to tide me over (Birchbox, Eco-Emi, Julep, Le Metier de Beaute), so I really don't feel deprived.  January was a good month overall, as I was disciplined in eating/exercising/not buying.  Yeah me!

 
For February I am not allowed to buy any makeup, nail polish or skin care. This is my last month of 2 birchboxes then I'm back down to one (which is prepaid through September). I ordered the Feb popsugar box so between that and the birchboxes I will have some new things to play with. If I really really want something I can use my ulta gift card from xmas (I also have points accumulated) but if I can wait I want to save it for my birthday month in April because I will set a limited beauty budget for myself that month. Not beauty related but I also need to get back on a regular work out schedule. Have been slacking the last couple months and noticed a lot of my pants getting tighter lol. Oh yeah and no clothes purchases allowed this month either. It's a short month, I can do this! :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> Edited to add no perfume, lotion and other bath/body products to list of things I cannot buy this month!

 
I'll at least try a low buy this month. Also, continue selling stuff on eBay. For January, I sold a total of 35 items for a total of $560! I get less than this though, cause eBay takes 10%, then paypal ~6% i think, plus shipping expense, but it's still a lot. Right now I have $260 worth of stuff listed, which I'll keep adding to in the next few days. I just have so much already! No makeup purchases, and no body butters and shower gels! I bought so much bath and body stuff lately that I'm now swamped with them (and I started with 0 shower gels and used to completely use up my body moisturizer before buying a replacement..sigh..) I'm still very tempted with perfume purchases though. I'll ask my bf if he can get me the Prada Candy for valentine's :p /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> (i'm also stalking dior j'adore and gucci flora on eBay and everywhere else) I have a gift card in sephora and i'm allowed to use that. But I think most importantly, spend less time thinking about my next purchases! 

Oh, also, maybe BUY SOME CLOTHES! I literally rotate through 8 shirts that i regularly wear to work/school. i HATE clothes shopping though. it feels like work to me :|

 
I did really well in January until the very end of the month. I didn't really buy any non-giftcard makeup items aside from my Ipsy and Blush box, which I planned to keep. At the end of the month, however, I bought the half price Pop Sugar box, 3 Birchbox subs (so many points), and 2 Memeboxes. For February, I cancelled Ipsy and will most likely cancel all 3 Birchboxes (or at least 2) and Pop Sugar after this month. I am still going to keep Blush until I can convince myself I don't need it, and I will probably allow myself to buy another Memebox if I like the 2 I already bought. 

My main goal for February is to start selling my excess makeup and continue organizing/purging items I have in my house. I was able to donate 5 bags of clothes after working on organizing my closet in January. Some of the clothes were my Mom's clothes. She passed away in 2011, and it's been really hard to give up her things, but I honestly wasn't ever going to wear a lot of it, and I have plenty of her possessions that are actually meaningful. 

I also will continue to try to use up makeup/skincare items I have. I actually used up a lot of stuff in January. 

 

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