2021 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD

[ElleElleG]

Hello, hello! Welcome to Year 7 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 https://community.sephora.com/t5/VIB-ROUGE/2015-The-No-Buy-Low-Buy-Budget-Buy-Accountability-and-Sup...

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

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...

2020 https://community.sephora.com/t5/Beauty-Confidential/2020-THE-NO-BUY-LOW-BUY-BUDGET-BUY-ACCOUNTABILI...

Challenges to Help You Use Your Stash:

Spoiler

* Coming Soon *

[lnum]

@ElleElleG I will definitely be returning as always! Feel like the last few months I was rather impulsive in non-beauty categories and I need to reel it in. 

[QueenMarceline]

@ElleElleG Don't know if you started this thread yet but I think many of us (me very much so included) desperately need it. 🙂 Just like @Mellmars1185 that's my goal this year. 

[Mellmars1185]

@ElleElleG  I am interested! It is one of my goals this year to save money and stop impulse shopping!

[txcatx]

I've been trying to cut down on buying so much stuff in general lately, and I'm happy to say that I used my F&F code to stock up on essentials like cleanser, shampoo, and conditioner. I'm now filling my cart with my skincare essentials for the upcoming Rouge sale.

I will say that I'm almost 60% to Rouge this year, and it might be the first time in years that I won't reach Rouge! I looked back at my purchases for the year, and it was all gifts for my mom and sister-in-law, plus skincare, hair care, and only two makeup items for myself. 

Before I moved in January, I was horrified when I filled a large garbage bag with old makeup and makeup that I rarely used. I then vowed to only buy items I would actually use (as opposed to just collecting) because I was tired have having so much clutter. And with the pandemic still going on, I usually only wear eye makeup and maybe a tinted lip balm under my mask, so I haven't bought foundation, blush, bronzer, etc. in over a year! So while that Westman Atelier makeup stick set is so tempting...I really do not need to add it to my cart...

[lnum]

@txcatx not re-rougingis truly a feat! Great job!

[Samtian]

The first half of the year wasn't very good haha. But I've done really well on my no/low buy. As of this month until the end of the year at least, I'm on a strict no-buy. 

[SportyGirly125]

I just cleaned and organized my entire house by myself….yup every single room/drawer/cabinet and that will make you really realize how much stuff you have and what you don’t need. It took 13 days but that really helped me with going on a low buy. I haven’t placed an order with Sephora for almost a month which is unheard of from me. 

[lmaster]

Sooooo impressive!! @SportyGirly125 doesn't it feel so good to go through everything

[SportyGirly125]

@lmaster Yes it does.  Now I am going through everything again slowly room by room and selling stuff.

[Samtian]

@SportyGirly125 Wow great job! Bet that was a rewarding feeling. 

[SportyGirly125]

@Samtian It was but we still have so much stuff. 

[Samtian]

@SportyGirly125 Progress is progress though!

[SportyGirly125]

@Samtian Agree.  6 bags of donations. 

[hersheykisseslv]

Checking in on my low buy, so far this year I purchased the Natasha Denona Zendo palette and the Sonia G. Lotus brush set. I plan to purchase Pat McGrath Mothership IX: Huetopian Dream with my rouge reward. I don't have any plans to purchase other makeup items as of now.

[WhereYouStand]

sorry to post back to back like this... I'm just really eager to get a lot buy no buy started. i'm starting my challenge for 3 months ( I'll move on towards skincare and bath and body items soonish) my first goal for myself will be from august - through october.
i will reassess my inventory of what i can't buy at that time and readjust.

so in-between my first and second makeup inventory edit/declutter I mapped out my low buy no buy goal for August thru October. please not this only is for makeup
i have yet to buckle down on decluttering my bath and body products etc. I feel one step at time would be best for me at this point.

this list below is the makeup I can purchase when i run out mainly because i don't have any or many back ups and or are run of the mill items for me

concealer
false lashes
eye shadow (cream, in a champagne color)
face primer

Setting mist

setting powder
eye primer
Eyeliner: black, brown, & Nude

this list is what i will not be buying, at least until i revaluate my inventory in October

eyeshadow ( with the exception of cream eyeshadow in a champagne color)
colorful eyeliners
Foundation (if the few bottles i have on hand dont go bad before I use them)
blush
bronzer
nail polish
highlighter

mascara
lipstick
lip liner
lipgloss

for the future I'm toying with the idea of doing two seasonal capsules with my makeup both would
consist of a maximum limit of 55 items and some items might carry over to each capsule if they haven't expired and they
still fit the mold for both seasons (eye shadows blushes highlighters I'm looking you here) on the other hand that's a maximum of
110 items total if not crossing over so plenty of room for variety. I have no idea if this seems excessive when you love makeup either way
if I reach this goal of narrowing down from the starting point of 243 items. I'd say that's a lot of progress and I would still be comfortable with what
I have...I just have to work on whittling down these products using them up, or pitching them, etc.

[ather]

@WhereYouStand  Wow I really like how you laid everything out. I think it makes it so much easier to stick to your no buy!

[WhereYouStand]

thank you @ather ^_^ writing it out that way for sure made a good guide for me to follow. i saw some similar layouts from other beauty members on this thread and followed suit. 

[faeriegirl]

Good luck @WhereYouStand!

[WhereYouStand]

thank you @faeriegirl i'm going to need it.  ^_^

[FullCoverageBB]

@WhereYouStand, all the luck! Sounds like a great plan. You got this. 

[WhereYouStand]

Hi all I think and hope it's ok to post about a declutter here this is in the hopes that i will shop less and have a better sense of my makeup situation. yesterday I started trying to implement the KonMari method on my makeup.  so for me this meant I grabbed every piece of makeup i owned and put it a pile on a sheet on the floor then counted it. (which was 243 items Eek!!)  moving on. I sorted everything into 2 piles yes & no (note I regret not creating a third pile for "maybe" items. I intend to fix that in a 2nd purge) during the first round I let go of 69 items. leaving me at 174 items. I still have a second purge to go. after the 2nd round I'm hoping to have 145 items or less. while there should be no specific number I want to hit the breaks somewhere. even 145 items seems excessive. still i intend to go slow with my first my makeup declutter. my goal is to use up what I would still use before buying too much more new stuff & try to use the majority of what i have and only replenish what i need. i intend to reset the item count number to something closer to around 85 after winter or spring that will give me a few seasons to chip away at it. I eventually just want to stick with what I love and reach for the most and to let go of the filler stuff that is taking up space and unnecessarily distracting me from using all my favorites.

 every makeup product I have is in a pile on the floor I’m actually standing on a sofa to take this photo and include the mayhem 

 

 boxes of items are 

items purged