Sephora

Stores & Services
Find a Sephora

Happening at Sephora

View all

Services

From makeovers to personalized skincare consultations

Free Classes

Get inspired, play with products & learn new skills

cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Post in Beauty Confidential
|

2018 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD

*updated 11/25/18*

The 2019 thread is now available here

Spoiler

 

Hey all!  For the last few years the lovely @lnum has hosted this thread to help us stay motivated on our no-buys and low-buys. In an effort to keep her work alive, here is the 2018 edition.

 

The purpose of this thread (from lnum):

 

This thread is a support system for all of us who are trying to maintain a budget and keep our beauty spending limited. Post here when you have a weak moment, post here to hold yourself accountable, post here when you just need someone to talk to, post here when you have advice for all of us, and post here when you make mistakes but also make gains! Many of us post here to keep track of our monthly purchases. Anything you need to say, we are all here for each other. There's no judgement here.

 

 

Feel free to share your goals, items that tempt you, missteps (we don't believe in failures), and any successes.  Above all else, encourage and support one another.

 

Here's the OP from 2017 as well as the link for those interested: 

Spoiler
lnum wrote:

Welcome to Year 3!

 

My motto for this thread is that I strongly believe, even on a budget, you can have the things you want that make you happy without feeling like you're limiting yourself. 

 

This thread is a support system for all of us who are trying to maintain a budget and keep our beauty spending limited. Post here when you have a weak moment, post here to hold yourself accountable, post here when you just need someone to talk to, post here when you have advice for all of us, and post here when you make mistakes but also make gains! Many of us post here to keep track of our monthly purchases. Anything you need to say, we are all here for each other. There's no judgement here.

 

I am so excited to spend another year with you all. If it wasn't for the first two years of this thread, I would never have been able to cut down my beauty spending. My goal for this year is to maintain low spending on beauty, and cut down my clothing purchases. I will be funneling that money into traveling, which is what I have done in the past and it's a great goal that truly motivates me. 

 

I'm still so proud of everyone for making it through 2015 and 2016, limiting ourselves in the beauty product area in order to improve our lives in other areas. We all did great and here's to another year of learning and saving!

Here is a link to the 2015 thread: http://community.sephora.com/t5/VIB-ROUGE/2015-The-No-Buy-Low-Buy-Budget-Buy-Accountability-and-Supp...

 

2016 thread: 

http://community.sephora.com/t5/VIB/2016-The-NO-BUY-LOW-BUY-BUDGET-BUY-ACCOUNTABILITY-AND-SUPPORT/td...

 2017 thread: https://community.sephora.com/t5/VIB/2017-THE-NO-BUY-LOW-BUY-BUDGET-BUY-ACCOUNTABILITY-AND-SUPPORT/m...

 

Interested in Some Challenges to Help You Use Your Stash?  Check Out These Threads:

 

Spoiler

 

💜💜💜

Hey @BohoBeauty1313 don't beat urself up, I can definitel...

Hey @BohoBeauty1313 don't beat urself up, I can definitely relate with reasons 1,2,3&5 ( thank my lucky stars not #4) Makeup shopping is suppose to be fun, rewarding & therapeutic but yea sometimes us makeup enthusiasts may over indulge a quite bit but no worries baby steps. Setting little mini makeup restrictions goals for myself has really been helpful ( like I'm on a no makeup buying till March restriction) & keep checking out this thread for inspiration. Ur not alone we're all in this together 💞

Re: Hey @BohoBeauty1313 don't beat urself up, I can definitel...

Thank you so much. I wasn’t sure anyone would reply because it was such a long message and I was/am worried people might think I’m crazy to buy makeup for some of the reasons I do. I also just enjoy creating new looks and perfecting different techniques. It’s an art form and sense of self expression for me as well but unfortunately I know I buy mostly to try to make myself feel better and because of what I’ve been through I’ve been coping with a lot of ups & downs. Trauma seemed to help trigger buying makeup. I know how weird that sounds but it’s true. It’s like a coping mechanism for me too. I did promise my sister I wasn’t going to buy anything else until my credit card was paid off but that promise has failed numerous times already. For example I fell in love with a small indie brand, Smolder Cosmetics, out of LA and my 1st order was a smaller one for like $65 but I just loved their products so much that I now own EVERY SINGLE ITEM on their site. Even shades I may never use simply because I wanted the whole collection and it’s sooooo pretty 😍 not to mention they have this promo code that seems to NEVER expire so far anyway, OMG15 so I’m always getting 15% off when I buy from them.  Even Tarte right now has an offer they sent me of 25% off my entire purchase which I can combine with my tarte rewards points and get an additional 20% off on top of the 25%. So in my mind I’m not wanting to miss out on those deals as the 25% one they sent expires March 1st. Too Faced seriously screwed up my pre Christmas order and so they gave me 2 offers - one for 50% off sale items and one for 25% off site wide excluding the brand new arrivals... I can go on because I have a gift card to UD too right now and 3 $20 kickback dollars off my purchases too. So you can see those make the temptation even greater, especially when I’m having a bad day. At the moment there is not much I want on UD because I own about 90% of what is on their site so I’m trying to hold off on using the gift card and kickbacks until something comes out that I really want instead of buying backups of things I own already. I have even tried deleting the apps and emails from all the company’s that email me almost daily. I have opted out of text notices from almost all of them except Tarte because I’m so hooked on them for some reason. 

Anyway, I think I need to devise a plan and try my best to stick to it. I don’t think huge goals work for me, like promises I won’t buy anything until my card is paid off or close to it. Maybe something smaller? Any suggestions? I’m certainly open to suggestions. I love makeup. It’s how I relax and have my me time, but buying more doesn’t mean I can’t still have that. So idk I need short term goals I guess. I still think I sound silly or pathetic. It was very humbling and even a bit embarrassed to leave my post and seek out others who understand. So I really appreciate that you took time to reply. Thank you kindly. 🤗 

Re: Hey @BohoBeauty1313 don't beat urself up, I can definitel...

@Susubee, I'm always trying to find ways to spend less (even if it is buying something I want but making sure that I use a coupon), but I'm also willing to cheer people on if they buy things IF their credit cards are paid off and it makes them happy.  If you're putting things on a credit card that isn't paid off, you should definitely take a break and we'll be here to support you.  Having a balance on a credit card creates a lot of stress that you don't need, and will make you more unhappy and liable to buy new things.

 

All of your tricks are good.  If you have a really hard time stopping spending, the main thing I would do is have an automatic bill-pay take half of what you ordinarily spend in makeup every month and direct it over the minimum or your credit card payment.  For example, say your minimum credit card payment each month is $100, and you ordinarily spend $300 each month on makeup, the automatic bill pay payment each month should be $100+$150 = $250, and then you can only spend $150 on makeup.  The goal of course  is to go on an entire no-buy eventually, but this baby step will help you forward.  Kind of like the trick where people pay off the credit card with the smallest balance first, rather than the highest interest rate, just so that feeling of accomplishment will keep you going.

 

Good luck and I hope we can help!

Re: Hey @BohoBeauty1313 don't beat urself up, I can definitel...

Those sale emails are the worst. Sales and gwp. Argh. 

A few things that have helped me are:

* Equate the price of what you're about to impulse buy to something else. $25 lipstick? That's dinner out. $75 palette? That's two weeks of groceries or one month of dog food and treats. 

* Put stuff in your cart but don't check out. Chances are, you'll go look again the next day (when there's a completely different sale email) and take most of those things back out of the cart. 

* Join a project pan and start collecting 'empties' to post; if you're focused on using what you have, new stuff is less appealing Bc it'll interfere. 

* No regretting past purchases. No guilt. That's the past. You can only change future spending choices, so approach each one thinking about whether you will regret that purchase later or still feel good about it. 

* Post here when you DONT buy something. It's rewarding for you right now to purchase; find ways to get positive feedback for not making a purchase. 

* Set limits. Whether it be time (no X for N days) or money (only $Y this month) or number of purchases (Only on purchase per week/month or only from certain stores or if certain discount criteria are met.)

* If it makes it easier, figure out what you CAN spend per month and keep that separate somehow - PayPal, gift cards, prepaid debit, cash - and only buy things from that pool. 

* Make rules you can keep, and stick to them. It's actually kindof liberating to look at a sale email or a new release and feel absolutely no pressure to buy or not to buy because you've already made that decision on a larger scale. 

Re: Hey @BohoBeauty1313 don't beat urself up, I can definitel...

Came up with a couple more:

* Join some of the "challenge" threads. They'll also help redirect your focus to using your collection instead of building it. 

* You mentioned you have duplicates of a lot of items. Maybe go through and make sure that nothing is nearing expiration. Then think about whether you will actually be able to use your working item and you backup before either expire. If the answer is no (and it's not part of a looking-only collection), you might consider either gifting or selling unused product.

Re: Hey @BohoBeauty1313 don't beat urself up, I can definitel...

You have taken the first step in overcoming the problem by telling other people what you are going through in your struggle to stop spending. It's hard, but it can be done. It might be helpful to check out the Spenders Anonymous website. It's a 12 step program, and those work for some people and not for others, but they do have a list of strategies that might be helpful for you. 

You can do it! Would it be helpful to set up a savings account that you deposit the cost of a lipstick, or an eyeshadow palette in to when you are just about to buy something?Perhaps seeing that balance grow would give you some positive feedback that would help you keep to your goal. Good luck!

Re: 2018 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD

I have failed miserably for February.  I made Rouge.  I do always spend a lot this time of year because of conference stress (three weeks to go with that so I know my shame isn’t over).  Not feeling so great about this but i’m Trying to get back into the low buying.  

RE: Re: 2018 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD

It’s ok, @heartsmyface. One more trip and I make Rouge too. We work hard to enjoy our time at home.

Re: 2018 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD

@heartsmyface, I know what stress buying is like.  Just aim for the future!  I've purchased a lot at Sephora already this year as shown in the monthly haul threads but I think I'm stocked up - I'm going to try to hold off on the Huda and Viseart palettes that I want until April (An entire no-buy month - I will see how it goes!)

Re: 2018 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD

5 days into my Lenten No-buy, and I want this gwp, So.Much. 

Someone tell me I don't need $19.50 worth of cotton balls!😩😂

Spoiler
IMG_8005.PNG

 

 

@Susubee this one almost got me too. I have a long list o...

@Susubee this one almost got me too. I have a long list of things on my cart, NONE of which I need. Thank you to all the ladies that responded because I was so close to placing an order and it is really just for the bag...which I already have a million of! This GWP will not get me! Stay strong!

Re: @Susubee this one almost got me too. I have a long list o...

We've got this, @Lazybeautybeast!ButomgthepurplebagissoprettyButomgthepurplebagissopretty

 

 

 

Re: 2018 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD

What about the gwp is tempting you so much?  Is there a certain product you’re wanting to try or is it just that it’s “free”? @Susubee

Re: 2018 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD

I honestly think it's the darned bag 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️  I have a serious bag hoarding problem. Theyget me every time. And this one also comes in lilac. 💜 That and the fact that I've been wanting to try their eye primer. (Emphasis on Want vs Need.) I do, however, need cotton pads. I've almost finished with the horrible ones from my project pan. What I do not need is $20 worth of cotton pads. 🙄  

 

Thanks for talking me down, everyone. At some point it will get easier! (On the bright side, I've reached zen state about watching everyone else go crazy over TF Festival Collection since all pressure is off me trying to decide to/to not buy.)

Re: 2018 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD

@Susubee You don't need it, it's all Ulta-branded makeup and will annoy you later!

Re: 2018 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD

Don't have a fear of missing out, @Susubee!  Something just as good will be offered at Ulta after Lent!

Re: 2018 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD

do you want it because you're actually interested in the items in the gwp or because it is a gwp?

Re: 2018 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD

How many of those products do you really need or love? Ulta seems to have a lot of great GWP, so hold out for one when you are closer to running out of cotton balls @Susubee!

Re: 2018 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD

Thanks @Aaliaa 😊.

Re: 2018 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD

One thing that helps me is watching "Will I buy it"  or "products im not going to buy" videos on youtube! Specifically samantha march's ones..I just found her about a week ago and she does a very good job of vocalizing why she doesn't need particular products. It's something about listening to someone else's reasoning that makes it easier for me to think that way too! I'm really trying to shop my stash more this year. However, I do still really like to just go walk around sephora once a week (I find it relaxing is that weird).

Re: 2018 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD

Yes, Anti Hauls are the best.  Once Kimberly Clarke started the Anti Haul trend we were sharing each new edition as motivation which seemed to help a lot.  

1 Reply
testing