2022 & 2023 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD

[ElleElleG]

Hello, hello! Welcome to Years 8and 9 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!

Curious about the past threads?  Check Here:

Spoiler

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...

2021 https://community.sephora.com/t5/Beauty-Confidential/2021-THE-NO-BUY-LOW-BUY-BUDGET-BUY-ACCOUNTABILI...

Community Challenges (These Can Help You Use Your Stash):

Spoiler

Pan It! - 2022 Challenge
Makeup Challenge of the Week 2021/2022
💕😌Mask of the Week Challenge 😌💖
100 Days of Lipstick Challenge
Show Me Your Nails 2.0
100 Shades of Eyeshadow Challenge

*Feel free to PM me if there are additional challenges that should be added*

[QueenMarceline]

Alright, it's that time of the month to trim down my amazon subscribe and save items. This month: 43 items in subscription due to be delivered on April 1st. My goal is to keep this at around 15 items that I truly need. Definitely not as drastic as last months trim down but still have quite a bit of work cut out for me here. As per usual, I'll be back to update and to hold myself accountable 🙂

[Mellmars1185]

I have been telling myself that once I place my order that includes my birthday gift then I will try a no buy. Order placed... Wish me luck please!!

[heavyhedon]

@Mellmars1185 -- did the same thing myself. One small order for my B-day, then a very low buy.

[lmaster]

Sorry I'm late!! @Mellmars1185 good luck sweetness!!

[Mellmars1185]

@lmaster Thank you so much!

[QueenMarceline]

@Mellmars1185 Happy belated 🙂 hope you had the best birthday ever.

[Mellmars1185]

@QueenMarceline Thanks so much! It was yesterday! My family, friends and co workers made me feel so special! It has been one of the best birthdays a long time 🥰

[QueenMarceline]

@Mellmars1185 Awww, not so belated then 🙂 Happy birthday Pisces Queen 👑. 

[Guessgal]

Happy birthday @Mellmars1185 🥳 and good luck on your no buy! It’s definitely nice to get a treat in before the start of a no buy 😊

[Mellmars1185]

@Guessgal Thank you so much! It was in March but I guess i was aloud to get my bday gift early!! Now no more spending!! Hehe

[Mellmars1185]

@Guessgal Thank you so much! It was in March but I guess i was aloud to get my bday gift early!! Now no more spending!! Hehe

[Saradestin]

I feel very happy that, so far, I have been able to control myself and I have not gone crazy buying things I don’t need (well, almost... 😁)  I have cut in clothes and shoes (I have plenty and I have not been able to use almost any for so long because of covid) so I haven’t bought any for a long time, and in skincare I am just buying what I need when I need it (unless there is a great sale) But I haven’t been very diligent with makeup. I haven’t gone crazy but I have bought some lip products and eyeliner that I didn’t really need. Let’s see if I can control myself better. At least I was able to resist buying more Lipstories while they were 50% off and they were in my basket for days! 

[QueenMarceline]

@Saradestin I totally agree with you. The last few years have showed me that I really do not need all of these products. I'm going to try to extend my no buy throughout march and continue a no/low buy throughout the entire year.

[Saradestin]

@QueenMarceline Yes, these couple years have taught us a lot of things and have brought a lot others to our attention. There are so many lessons learned! 

[Mellmars1185]

@Saradestin Great job! I feel like covid has also made me realized that I don't need as much as I think I do.

[Saradestin]

Yes @Mellmars1185 ! Isn’t that true? Now let’s see for how long we can keep behaving! 😁

[ather]

@Saradestin  Great job!!!

[Saradestin]

@ather Thank you! I feel accomplished (almost 😁)

[newcarlee]

A 1 month update here on my No-buy through June: TL;DR - it’s a massive failure.

When I instituted my No-buy, my plan was to shop my stash particularly in skincare and makeup and in that, I did well. But I fell down a fragrance rabbit hole and purchased a couple candles - one of which was due to my GWP weakness! - and a bottle of limited edition JML cologne. But now I am holding on fragrances too as part of my No-buy until June!

My only “allowed” purchase now will be sunscreen, which I had forgotten about when instituting by No-buy. But that’s a need, not a want. I hope everyone else has been managing to their goals better than me.

[QueenMarceline]

@newcarlee Stay strong! I know mine went fairly well but I want to extend through March. I'm realizing my product out vs. product in ratio was quite... different for a while now so i have a ton of back-ups. I'm now shopping my stash and being more critical of the products I have. Also not allowing myself to purchase more than 1-2 backups MAX. (only allowed 2 if I'm more than halfway finished with a product). I've also been using The Offical Anti-Haul Thread to talk myself out of products and why I don't need them and it's surprisingly been a great help 🙂

[ather]

@newcarlee  I think we all slip up but getting back on track is a good thing!!!