2020 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD

[ElleElleG]

Hello, hello! Welcome to Year 6 of the No/Low Buy Thread.  

        *Many thanks to all who have participated over the last few years.  While I don't

         post often I do read the notifications sent to my email and I cannot say it enough,

         You all are truly amazing!  Thank you for your dedication and support!!

For reference here's the purpose of this thread (from Thread Originator, @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.

A note from lnum (2016):

Spoiler

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!

Interested in past threads?  Check Here:

Spoiler

Past Threads:

2015 http://community.sephora.com/t5/VIB-ROUGE/2015-The-No-Buy-Low-Buy-Budget-Buy-Accountability-and-Supp...

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

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

2018 https://community.sephora.com/t5/Beauty-Confidential/2018-THE-NO-BUY-LOW-BUY-BUDGET-BUY-ACCOUNTABILI...

2019 https://community.sephora.com/t5/Beauty-Confidential/2019-THE-NO-BUY-LOW-BUY-BUDGET-BUY-ACCOUNTABILI...

Challenges to Help You Use Your Stash:

Spoiler

Pan It! 2020 Challenge:https://community.sephora.com/t5/Beauty-Confidential/Pan-It-2020-Challenge/td-p/5095576

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**

[eshoe]

Tacos!!!! 🌮 @lmaster @ather I’ve learned how to make tortillas in the past couple of months, they are sooooo good freshly made. It doesn’t really take that long and they are pretty versatile. So we’ve had burritos and tacos, a lot. And lemon caper chicken or salmon. Lunch is tough, I have a salad everyday, but since my husband is working from home I’m trying to come up with something different for lunch than sandwiches 🙄

[ather]

@eshoe  I love tacos!! Do you make fresh flour tortillas? I make them all the time. I almost always have some made!! We make mini pizzas with them. Sandwiches with them. So good. I want to make homemade corn but I can’t find the proper stuff. Do you have a tortilla press? 

[eshoe]

Yes, flour, @ather! I don’t have a press, I’ve just been rolling them out with a pin, but I think I need to get one. I’ve been making them 2-3x a week! I’ve been cooking them on my Lefse maker. I did get a krumkake maker so we’ve been eating those with whip cream or ice cream inside. Let’s just say desserts have become a daily requirement, too😂

I love the idea of making mini pizzas with them! Does everyone add their own toppings? Are you talking about masa for the corn tortillas?
First attempt at krumkake. Working on consistency.

[WhereYouStand]

yum! those look good!

[eshoe]

They taste like sweet cereal to me, @WhereYouStand, or very thin waffle cones you get at the frozen yogurt shop. Sooooo good and each is only about 2 tsp of batter, so it's a small treat with lots of flavor that just looks big!

[treestar86]

@eshoe  I've never heard of those, but they sound like pizelle's (which I've never had either, but heard about from lady gaga lol 😛 )

and, you have a lefse maker!?!?!?!? 😮  my gramma made that a lot when I was younger.  I asked her to show me how to make it once, but she just said "it's a lot of work." lol. 😕

[eshoe]

I think they are very much like pizelles, @treestar86! Although I’ve never had them, I think I remember seeing them when I was looking for recipes. 

My Grandma made Lefse for Thanksgiving and Christmas every year, I grew up loving it. She taught me how to make it while she was alive, but I only tried making it myself this year. It is a ton of work. And I am not very good at it, at all😂 The krumkaker are sooooo much easier to make. The Lefse maker is now my tortilla and crepe maker;)

Do you like Lefse? I just add butter and sugar. But mine didn’t taste nearly as good as my Grandma’s🤷🏻‍♀️

[treestar86]

@eshoe  yes!  she used to always make it around the holidays when we would visit, and everyone would grab some when they came in haha, it was so good. cinnamon sugar is also good!  I loved cooking and baking when I was younger, one time we made potstickers and she said that was a lot of work, lol.  I don't really cook much anymore, but someday I'd like to make them.  funny I used to always think they were like tortillas too, but no, they're soooo much better!!  I used to make crepes also, I liked to put sour cream on them and roll them up - maybe that was like my lil version of lefse? haha.

[eshoe]

Sour cream, @treestar86? I never would have thought of that! Potstickers, I’ve never tried those, although my Mom used to make home made egg rolls. I have a handful of times, but again...it takes forever! I’m pretty sure I’ve never had fresh potstickers. I ate at a Dim sum restaurant in Sausalito once, all I can remember is that everything was delicious 😊

[ather]

@eshoe  Omg that looks so yummy. I second dessert every day!!! Yes the masa. I can order it on amazon it was out of stock when I looked I should look again! My family goes nuts for the flour. We also make quesadillas and fajitas with them. I need to look up the lefse. I just use a regular pan. I usually make 16 and it takes forever to make them. 

yes everyone adds their own toppings to the pizzas. My little man is allergic to tomatoes so he has his sauce free. It’s easier for us to make mini pizza because we can add the sauce to ours. I did make a pan pizza tonight and we added sauce to our pieces and left his plain. It’s easy either way! 

[eshoe]

Oh yes it takes a chunk of time @ather. I spent Father’s Day weekend making tortillas and krumkake, my feet were so sore from standing. I think I was in bed around 7 Monday night! 

I had such a hard time finding flour for a while. I found some direct from a specialty store online, it cost over $40 for two 5-lb bags. Thankfully it’s been easier to find again. I hope you are able to find some masa, I’ve never worked with it so I don’t know how much different it is from cornmeal.

Bummer about the little one being allergic to tomatoes. At least there is less prep for you to do, right? My daughter likes her tortilla with avocado and olives...to each their own😆

[ather]

@eshoe  Oh no 😭 that must have been exhausting. But super sweet of you!! 

I had a hard time buying flour at first when covid started. And the worst part is I make homemade bread,pancakes waffles and tortillas so it super sucked. I also live in a small town with only 3 places to shop for groceries. I just saw hand sanitizer come back on the shelf. My neighbour gave me a smaller bag of flour which was awesome. I haven’t looked lately but my bag is getting near the end. 

For sure. It sucks because he loves tomatoes and would eat them like crazy. He loves spaghetti or chilli and basically any tomato based food.  But we have found ways around it so it works!  Mmm I love avocados!! Your daughter has great taste!!! 

[eshoe]

Sounds like our families have very similar tastes, @ather. I’ve always made pancakes with wheat flour, and now my daughter only likes wheat pancakes. Waffles, well those are definitely made with white flour, lots of butter and sugar. Once a week only for those! I was never good at bread-making so I abandoned those dreams. 

I can’t imagine going through something like this without access to the internet-to shop, connect, etc. it’s the only way I’ve been able to find certain things. I had to buy a big bag of cream of tartar to mix with baking soda and corn starch to make baking powder, I could it find it anywhere. 

Aren’t avocados the best? We go through at least one a day here, they are delicious:)

[ather]

@eshoe  I agree. I think we have similar tastes!! I will have to try wheat flour!! I usually just use white since I make just a white bread. I wonder if they will eat it!! 

it’s crazy the only online ordering place we have is Walmart for groceries. I used it a few times but it got frustrating when they were out of stock on everything I wanted. But I love the drive up to just pick up!! 

[eshoe]

I miss, miss, miss being able to pick out my own produce @ather. And strolling down the candy aisle😉

[ather]

@eshoe  The candy isle is my weakness!!!!! 

[eshoe]

@ather I’m having to think outside of the box to get my fix! I ordered some gum on Amazon, Pomegranate orange or something like that. It lasts like five minutes before it loses its flavor. I bought some salt water taffy on my last grocery order, and my husband washes all of the groceries  once we get them. They ended up wet and soggy😂 Small ‘problems’, though. Very thankful to be able to live day to day somewhat normally, you know?

[ather]

@eshoe  oh no. That sucks hopefully they were still edible. Gum is a great alternative!! What’s your favourite kind of candies?

[eshoe]

Oh where to start, ha ha! Chocolate for sure, milk, dark, white-with nuts. Gummy bears, Black Forest makes some delicious organic Exotic flavored ones that are fantastic. We try not to eat anything with artificial flavors/colors for the most part. Peppermint Altoids-even those I love, though I quit buying them because I was going through too many in a day-bad for the teeth!

How about you? What are some of your favorites?

[lmaster]

@eshoe @ather I have a tortilla press and have tried to make them myself,, but I need better direction for these,,I always get them stuck on the paper when pressing 😞

[ather]

@lmaster  Oh no really. Do you use parchment paper?? I don’t have a press I use a rolling pin but I was looking into investing in one. Did you make corn or flour??