2019 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD

[ElleElleG]

updated 12/31/19* The 2020 Thread is here 2020 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD

Hey all!  Welcome to Year 5 of the No/Low Buy thread 😲. 

Since 2019 is LITERALLY around the corner so I figured it was time to get this thread started.  The 2018 thread can be located here: https://community.sephora.com/t5/Beauty-Confidential/2018-THE-NO-BUY-LOW-BUY-BUDGET-BUY-ACCOUNTABILI...

For reference here's 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.

The 2017 OP and link:

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...

Challenges to Help You Use Your Stash:

Spoiler

Pan It! 2018 Challenge: https://community.sephora.com/t5/Beauty-Confidential/Pan-It-2018-Challenge/m-p/3604337#M317498

Use Your Foil Samples Challenge: https://community.sephora.com/t5/Beauty-Confidential/Use-Your-Foil-Samples-Challenge-January-2018/m-...

The Perfume Challenge: https://community.sephora.com/t5/Perfume-Posse/The-Perfume-Challenge/m-p/2633976#M18939

Mask of the Week Challenge: https://community.sephora.com/t5/Skincare-Aware/Mask-of-the-Week-Challenge/m-p/3615125#M44343

**are you participating in a challenge that I failed to mention?  if so please let me know I can link it here**

[sephoraaddict918]

I absolutely adore this idea @Carmenatty!! 

[Carmenatty]

Thanks @sephoraaddict918 ☺

[cianni]

@Carmenatty that is such an incredible idea! It’s such an amazing experience to give back to somewhere or someone that was once able to help you❤️

[Carmenatty]

It's always good to give back.you can never forget where you came from or who you truly are.☺

[fieldsofclover]

Welp, just got my 2018 year-end summary email from Sephora 😳😖😬 Definitely ready for this no-buy business 🙊

[eshoe]

When I received that email, I was 🤞🏼 they wouldn’t include $$$ amounts of purchases @fieldsofclover. I haven’t peeked since you mentioned how to do it, and I didn’t want any surprises. Still in the dark about that one, yay😆

[Indy701]

@fieldsofclover I got mine too and was disappointed in myself. I feel maybe they shouldn’t have sent that. 

[infinitebrevity]

I re-rouged this year, but not until November. However, I still spent a fair amount of money on makeup at other sites as well.

This coming year, my goal is to set a limit on makeup purchases and stick to it.

I have been successful on a no-buy for makeup for December, with the exception of a couple purchases on December 15. Compared to previous months, this is a big improvement from at least 4-6 orders per month from Sephora. 

I have slowly been moving away from makeup purchases and have built up my skin care supplies a bit more, however, not to the point where it is overwhelming.

My makeup collection is quite overwhelming, I am giving some items to a friend in the UK but there is still a lot to go through. I honestly think I have enough makeup to last me the rest of my life and that's a bit daunting.

My makeup buying addiction was largely because of depression after a miscarriage and problems in my relationship. Now that I have left that relationship (probably a break at the least) I am not feeling the need to purchase as much makeup. I have had a lot more emotional support from my family and so I am not "medicating" myself as much by buying makeup.

In 2018, I panned some of my first items and I'm pretty proud of that. Hopefully I can pan even more in 2019. I have picked out a few items that I might even finish off before the end of the year.

I got through so much setting spray I bought supplies to make my own. Hopefully that works out alright and I can save some money by expanding the personal care items I make myself beyond what I do currently (bath bombs).

Thanks for reading.

[eshoe]

It’s good to hear things are getting better for you in a way that allows you to not “medicate” by buying stuff @infinitebrevity, I couldn’t have said it better! Wishing you the best moving into the New Year, you sound like you are already off to a great new start😊

[infinitebrevity]

Thank you @eshoe !

[KateLovesYSL]

2018 went well until the last few months and I will not re-Rouge for the first time since it's inception!! Also, I did not buy a single new lip product or skincare item this year. Continuing to use up what I have. 

I'm $474 away from requailfying for Rouge but only $300 of my total spend at Sephora were purchases for myself.

I did spend a little over $700 on make up from other retailers and hope to rein the spending in. Increased stress from a new job really attributed to the spending frenzy the last few months. Controlling that need to impulse buy during stressful times is an area for improvement next year.

Plan for 2019:

I ordered 3 eight drawer clear acrylic organizers today with the intention to organize my makeup and skincare better so that I can focus on using and loving what I have instead of buying more. Can't wait to get them-I love seeing everyone's organizers and have wanted these for so long.

2018 was a stressful year where I didn't really take care of myself. I probably only applied a full face less than 25 times. Most days I was just filling in my eyebrows and some lipstick. I didn't follow a skin routine ..only threw on some moisturizer and good genes twice a week at best. I hope to focus on my skin better as Canadian winters are so harsh. I just realized I didn't use foundation at all this year and now questioning what I was thinking when I went and bought a new foundation last month. 

One spluge item item I am interested in is the Dyson Airwrap but it's been out of stock. I hope I can purchase this during a sale sometime next year. Maybe it being OOS is a good thing--so many mixed reviews!

Anyone have this and want to share your experience with it?

Low buys to continue in other areas of my life! 

Sending high fives to everyone for the accomplishments this year and best wishes for continued savings and reaching your no/low buy goals in 2019. ✋🏻

[shyvicki]

I did horrible in 2018, especially the last few weeks. I really need to work on using what I already have. One of my resolutions is to use up what i already have and not buy any more unless I'm completely out of it and have no backups or similar items. And for when I do need to get a replacement, I've been looking into dupes of my higher end favorites. And as much as I hate to do so, I'm going to cancel my Ipsy subscription. As much as I like trying new things, it just makes it harder to use my older stuff. 

[cianni]

@shyvicki come join the 2019 pan it challenge! Now that I’ve set aside the things I want to finish (I have a very ambitious 42 items...), I’m itching to pan them! It’s one of the only ways I’ve been able to motivate myself to use older items. 

[alexalicious]

This is such a smart idea. I think those couponing apps have to go. I've got so many stock piles from crazy deals, but compound interest is a real deal maker/breaker too. Deals that delay your saving and investing those extra $$$ or costing you interest aren't helping, they are hurting your future nest egg. Yes, you need to live a little too. Moderation and balance are not easy games to play in our instant gratification world, so if you are succeeding with being disciplined... compliment yourself and be happy in your success! 🦄 I'm aspiring to be more like you. 💖

[WinglessOne]

I’ll attempt the near-impossible for 2019: low-buy lipstick, especially bullets. 

Spoiler

This is more about sanity than spending. I’ve spent the second half of this year decluttering my mentally overwhelming lipstick hoard (still in progress) and I reeeeally don’t wanna end up with that much lipstick again. I hated not being able to quickly and easily find and grab the shades I wanted. I had several lipstick stands/holders taking up lots of counter/table top space, plus a couple shoeboxes full of lipsticks. And I wasn’t wearing 95% of my collection. 

I realize some folks are perfectly happy with a huge lipstick hoard, especially collectors—and that’s great for them! I’m not one of those folks. I’m a lipstick junkie who needs to set hard limits on her addiction. 

1. Bullet limit = 160. I have 2 carousel stands that’ll each hold 80 bullets. All my in-use bullets must fit inside them. 

2. If I buy a 161st bullet, I must purge an existing one from my collection. The only exception to this is...

3. Backup bullets: only one full-sized backup tube allowed, and only for my favorite bullets. (I’ve reserved separate limited space for backups.) If MAC ever discontinues Rebel, I’d better find a great dupe, because I’ll only buy one backup tube. 😄 

4. Function over form, performance over pretty: if a lipstick doesn’t perform well, I won’t keep it—no matter how much I love the color. This includes chronic bleeders: if I can’t stop the bleeding/feathering with a lip primer barrier and/or lip liner, then it’s gotta go. 

5. All liquid lipsticks live in a drawer (I keep them on in-drawer spice racks). If there’s no room in there for a new one, I must purge an existing one. 

6. Avoid buying multiple dupes. This is hard to avoid when shopping online, thanks to inaccurate product photos and the way my natural lip color skews some shades. But I just purged a bunch of oxbloods (for performance issues) and honestly, I don’t need 12 of the exact same shade. 

7. Don’t sit forever on lipsticks I want to return: I’ve missed return windows because I forgot to drop things in the mail or bring ‘em back to a store. Need to get better about this. 

8. Don’t buy lipstick from stores that have testers (Sephora, Ulta, MAC, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Bloomingdales, etc.) without swatching the tester in person. If the store carries an “online only” lipstick shade, I’ll try buying it direct from the brand instead, depending on the brand’s return policy. This should help curb my purchasing and protect me from TRE bans. 

We’ll see how well I do on all this in 2019. 🙂

[fieldsofclover]

@WinglessOne oof, I hear you on missing the return window. This is a good list 👍

[cianni]

I have taken inspiration from this thread and have imposed a household low or no buy for 2019! As I was taking stock for a low-buy year (in conjunction with the pan it challenge thread), I realized that I should probably “pan” a lot of other things in my house, so my family and I are doing a household low buy/pan it challenge 😂 I think I have enough tea, bottles of body wash, extra towels, canned goods and bottled water to last a lifetime so hopefully we’ll be making a dent in all that stuff this year! Thanks for the inspiration eveeyone!

[Tarabotti]

I will continue to be a VIBRouge, a platinum Ulta member and a MAC Select member for the next year. It takes me a while to reach these stages, sometimes half the year is gone before I reach them.

I have started to be intentional in my shopping. I look at a product, read reviews and try swatches before I commit to buying, especially if the item is not limited edition. For example, I almost bought the Pat McGrath Bronze Seduction Palette during the sale but then I realized that I hardly wear eye shadows and I haven't touched the Pat McGrath palette that I bought last year. I didn't buy it.  I am still debating about the Sephora Favorites Lip Collection-  I like half of the items in the box and am wondering if I should just spend the money on the few lipsticks that I want rather than buy the whole kit.

I keep a running list of products that I would like to try and when I am in Sephora, try to swatch them ( I am lucky in that I can 'window shop' in Sephora and not feel tempted to buy anything ). I usually wait to buy them until after I have done that and have saved so much money because no matter what the You Tube person says, if it doesn't work for me, it is not worth buying. And there are always bright new shiny things being released every month so this months 'must have' will give way to the new 'must have' in a few weeks.

I only bought a lipstick during the holiday weekend because I realized that I didn't need anything else. I didn't look at all the emails about the 'sales' and was content with my purchase. I have stayed out of TJ Maxx for months- it's to easy to buy things there because they are at a 'discount'. 

This year, I will organize my collection, weeding out expired items and things that I don't use. Hopefully this will help me when I look at new items-I can see whether or not I have something in my collection that is a dupe for the item. My weakness is red lipsticks- it's my favorite color in lipsticks and I must have hundreds of them. How many variations on the color red can there be?

I will continue my low buy, intentional buy for the next couple of months. It seems to be working and I don't feel the need to spend $$$$ on the sales like I used to. especially during the Sephora sales - this past sale I only made a small online order and went in store twice ( on the first day to get the sample bag and a second visit to get a mini lipstick kit).

I will continue to shop my stash and not keep buying items from brands without trying them out. I have Drunk Elephant /belif/ Sunday Riley sets that I need to try out before I buy any more products from these lines. They may be holy grail or just plain bad for me. 

I

[Danzie89]

After re-VIBing and renewing my platinum status at Ulta for 2019, I am on an official make up no buy until I run out of some

sort of product. Like many of you, I have multiples of all products across all categories (make-up, skin care, hair care, bath and body, etc). I am determined to save more money this year and truly need absolutely nothing right now. I am determined to do the following:

* no make-up purchases until I am on my last tube of mascara, eyeliner, foundation, concealer, etc. I have back ups of EVERYTHING and have enough eyeliner, primer, eyeshadows, foundation, blush, eyebrow pencils, setting sprays, etc to last at least 6 months to a year. I’m very content with my collection at this point.

* no hair care purchases until I nearly run out of my heat protectors, It’s a 10 products, liters of shampoo and conditioner, etc. 

* not be tempted by GWP bags or sales if I truly don’t need anything. Those are my downfall. 

I like to use make up products to “treat myself” as self care, but I really need to use what I have and save an extra $100 or so a month.

[newcarlee]

* not be tempted by GWP bags or sales if I truly don’t need anything. Those are my downfall.

Me too @Danzie89!  Between an item that I really want (but don’t need) on sale and the save $20 off $75, I was trying to buy a few more things.  Luckily, I’m too late - the sale item is now out of stock.  I’ve just saved myself at least $55+tax on things that would just be more backup product.

[Danzie89]

Good for you!! 😊