November 2014 No/Low buy Support Thread (and cookies!)

[TooMuchElectric]

My November recap belongs in one of the Haul threads, not a no/low buy thread.

 

[goldendarter]

My November recap belongs in one of the Haul threads, not a no/low buy thread.

Oh my goodness, same here. Black Friday/Cyber Monday killed me. Granted, most of the damage was gifts, but I made a few purchases for myself as well. I kinda knew that would happen... At least I had received an early Xmas gift of cash which offset most of it.

 

[eastofthesun]

I just read this and I have to say I'm really glad you wrote it. It *really* hit home with me. I've added my own ramble on the topic below.

Spoiler

I also struggle with pretty awful anxiety and a little above average depression. I take medication for it, but it still exists in my life and hinders me in many ways. Retail therapy is how I deal with it too, that and a few other unhealthy things, such as not going to sleep, and waffling majorly because I can't make a decision, also picking at my cuticles (eek). 

But, I notice that when I have everything organized in my bedroom/office/bathroom/wherever I'm spending the most time, I feel like I can relax and move on and actually make decisions and get work done or get peace.

So I think this minimalist lifestyle is going to be extremely important to my wellbeing in the near and far future.

I've actually talked to my therapist about the shopping too, but she's really a bit too practical sometimes for my crazy mind, and she'll just tell me to make a budget. It's a little more difficult than that! So I'm glad to know about the minimalist lifestyle being a good umm... you know, thing to try to practice.

I also have appreciated the 'sunken cost fallacy' discussion that has happened in this forum lately. It really put a name to what I've been thinking about- and I know it would help my Mom and Dad too-....

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks, and it's good to know I'm not totally alone in my shopping habits.

In other news, I've done all my shopping for myself this month. I had wanted to keep it at a maximum of $250... let's see how I did:

Spoiler

Sephora 1. $13.70 (gift, 20% off)

Sephora 2. $53.93 (20% off)

Sephora 3. $53.93 (20% off)

Sephora 4. (in store) $147.19 (20% off)

Sephora 5. (in store) $0 (had store credit from returns + 20% off)

Total: $268.00

Not too bad, just $18.80 over! I consider this a success if I can keep to my no-buy the rest of this month...

Spoiler

Except if one of the black friday/$off/advent deals are useful, then I can get one of those with my $10 giftcard.

I'm kind of proud of myself for not making extra purchases to get one of the

Spoiler

deluxe sample giftbag at Sephora.

That's one of the things I was really looking forward to, but none of them really called my name, so it made it easy to just use the 20% off code. 

Now to just go on a no-buy until January!

I forgot to check myself for the rest of the month of November!

Ok, so like I said, I had a set goal for my spending this month, and it was really pretty high because I wanted to take advantage of all the deals (VIB 20% off sale, Black Friday, Deluxe sample bags, Cyber Monday, etc.)

So, As I stated above, I spent $268 in the VIB 20% off sale.

But I also spent money at Sephora over Black Friday, though it was mostly for gifts.

I made 3 purchases ($26, $40, $22) for a total of: $89.00. One of the items I purchased ($10) was the FAB black friday kit, of which I love the ultra repair cream, and will get use out of the cleanser as well.

So, for November, my personal spending totals to $268+$10 (the only $ out of the black friday spending that was on myself)= $278 (Or $28 over my goal). Still not terrible.

Now, I'm supposed to be on a no-buy for December, but I've kind of given myself a few passes on planned purchases, so I'm being kind of tricky. I think I need to really do that 100 day no-buy next year.