100 Day No-Buy

~ stashy

Today is my official 100 days of my No-Buy! *throws confetti*
My No-Buy primarily focused on not buying makeup / skincare as per my rules (no net new items unless it’s to replenish a finished product).  To a lesser extent, I also committed to not make any unnecessary clothing purchases.  I won’t lie, it’s been difficult, especially in the early days of clearance sales and Target Canada closing (hence me breaking my No-Buy in January and having to restart 😳 ).  To mark this milestone, I’ve giving myself a badge:
nobuyachievement100days
I shared my progress report at 28 days and I plan to do milestone achievement posts to keep myself accountable.  Now that I have my 100 day No-Buy badge, if you’re contemplating on doing a No Buy or a Low Buy, I thought I’d share some tips. 😉

Take an inventory
It may seem tedious but doing an inventory of all of your current stash is helpful to truly appreciate how much makeup you own. It also helps to sort and categorize products to see if there are perhaps duplicates or even gaps in your collection. This information will help to channel your makeup purchasing decisions in the future.

Shop your stash
I know, this is the mantra for many of us No/Low-buyers. How does this work, exactly? Well, a real example for me is: I really really want the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer. Shopping my stash reveals that I already own the Maybelline Fit Me concealer which is supposed to be a dupe. So I have to use up that first – I also have a host of other under eye concealers that I need to either toss or finish up:
nobuyconcealer
Another strategy of shopping your stash is to create makeup looks from your current makeup collection to keep things fresh and interesting. We all gravitate toward new and shiny things, but what about the forgotten gems hidden away in your stash? Digging into my collection and rotating my makeup looks have given me a fresh outlook on what’s in my makeup cache: I recently rediscovered my forgotten Tigi eye shadows, which are fabulous!

Remove yourself from email lists
It’s very tempting when my inbox screams “Sale! 50% off entire site! Limited time!” at me on a daily basis. I feel like I’m missing out if I don’t jump on a sale, but here’s the thing: these sales always come around again. You know that every season, they do a seasonal clearance sale, and Black Friday, Boxing week rolls around every year.  I’ve also been receiving emails with “We miss you! Come back, here’s a discount code”. This is a customer retention tactic and I’m not going to fall for their tricks!  😛 Either remove yourself from the distribution list, or just delete all of your promotional emails daily (gmail is handy for this since they separate all of my promotions email into a separate tab).

Create a Wish List
It’s unrealistic to eliminate all wants and desires during the period of No-Buy, no matter how long it is. Sometimes I worry that if I don’t run out to buy that item I saw on tv, or read about in a blog or magazine, that I’ll forget about it and I’ll miss out on something great. To that end, I have also incorporated my wish list as part of my makeup spreadsheet, so that I can note down items and shades I might be interested in purchasing once my No-Buy is over. I also have a pinterest page where I note down my lemmings in a visual way.
nobuywishlist
Avoid temptations
If you’re an impulsive shopper, it’s probably best to avoid going to stores that focus solely on beauty product such as Sephora and Ulta. I know it’s probably unrealistic to avoid going to the drugstore altogether, but if you must go to pick up your cough medication, head straight to the appropriate cough medication aisle and avoid browsing or lingering in the beauty section. 😉 Don’t tempt yourself unnecessarily! Go shopping at the drugstore with a list, if you must.

Try before committing
Say you find yourself at Sephora and you’re convinced you need that miracle serum or foundation that will make your skin flawless. Stop, drop and roll! Sephora is very good about providing try before you buy samples – their business model is built on sampling! Often, testing out a product first will save you money because the performance versus claims usually don’t align.

Support system
You may have noticed that I haven’t listed “avoid makeup blogs” on this list, because I believe that it is healthy to have an outlet.  Online blogs and forums provide a “window shopping” experience and can also provide a supportive environment for those of us also on No-Buys (just like when I had that emergency MAC lemming).  I feel as though I have a buddy system with my follow No-Buyers!  It’s probably easier for online people to understand what you’re going through than your real life non-makeup obsessed friends (I call them Makeup Muggles).  Perhaps we should start a MUAA (MakeUp Addicts Anonymous)? 😆

For those of you who are currently doing a Low Buy or No Buy – what are your tips to stay on track?

58 thoughts on “100 Day No-Buy”

      1. Wow, a year is very impressive! 🙂

        I already stay within a budget (hubby and I have allotted ourselves “fun” budgets for clothes/misc stuff) but I want to try to spend a max of 1/3 of it per month until at least fall. Skin/haircare doesn’t count towards the fun budget, but I’d like to keep that low, too. I have plenty of stuff to use up!

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        1. That sounds very responsible and attainable! I debated whether skincare should have been included in my No-Buy but I honestly do have enough creams / toners / removers to last me a full year and then some!

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      1. I have been doing makeup purges. To get items out and clear some space. I call them product graveyards, where they go to die (trash) . It feels so good but I love the one in and out policy. I dont think that I will be getting any more makeup until my birthday and Christmas.

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  4. *pat on the back* This is really a milestone. 100 days is a no joke I tell you. For me it’s like always walking with a blind fold on drugstore aisles (products seems to talk to me! you know….) I admit that I still don’t have enough discipline to get myself in a no-buy but I committed to a low-buy instead. What I do whenever I have to buy something, I just bring the exact no extras and if there’s really nothing big to buy, i leave my credit cards at home. Btw, kudos again for doing a great job! 🙂

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      1. Mostly it’s skincare since I’m a low maintenance when it comes to make-ups. It’s really a good thing that there are organic skin care products here that doesn’t break the bank. I’m blessed!

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    1. It’s SO tempting though… the makeup companies are always launching “new” products. I’ll be doing my eye shadow stash post on Friday – just wait until you see the pictures, yikes! #alittleembarrassed

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  7. Congrats on making it 100 days! I don’t know how you do it, reading everyone’s blogs makes me want something new everyday. I need to stop checking out the What’s New section on my Sephora app!

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          1. Haha Sephoras points are pretty lame, Ultas points at least rack up to actual money that you can use on anything you want. That stinks Sephora doesn’t work in a similar way. But I too have the app and it’s hard to resist!!

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  9. I am trying to avoid going on Sephora and Priceline’s websites, because they are just so tempting. Where possible, I don’t go into the drugstore. If I need medicine, Mum will buy it for me.
    xx
    Bea

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  11. This is very inspirational and is motivation to not purchase as many goodies! You’re very right, we do tend to be blind to our amazing products we already have. I’m not sure how many eyeshadow palettes there are or one will ever need, but THOSE are my weakness. I quiver at the site of a gorgeous new palette. I’ve resisted buying the beautiful Tartelette palette for months and months and I’m doing well so far!How long do you plan to keep this up? Do you have a deadline?

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    1. I’m not as big of a fan of large scale eye shadow palettes – I do not even own one UD Naked palette! But yes, eye shadows ARE my weaknesses. I love all manner of taupe. If you tell me there’s a taupe eye shadow made from the tears of a puppy, I will go and make a puppy cry RIGHT NOW! lol!
      I plan to keep this No-Buy until the end of the calendar year, so Dec 31st 2015 is my deadline. Yikes… the thought of ALL those holiday sets coming out and me not buying them is already causing angst. For the Sephora Fall VIB sale, I think I will need to be off planet earth in order to resist! 😛

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      1. Lol that’s so funny! So taupe is your go-to, huh? I still need to go check out your shadow stash post! Perfect timing 🙂 I personally like palettes because they’re great for travel and creating lots of looks. One thing I will say, is the Naked palettes aren’t all that. I have the original, which in my opinion is the best, but they still do not compare to the Lorac PRO palette or any other. – I’m really impressed with your no-buy urge resisting!! Keep it up 😀

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  13. I usually just delete all makeup emails but I browse on Sephora emails only, not so much the website. I keep a running wishlist which is a blog post and I take pictures of things I could be interested in for the future and add them to that wish list. Shopping my stash has been fun and I am able to use up makeup that would take me ages to use if I wasn’t on a no buy. I just look forward to December 2015!

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    1. I’ve talked about doing No-Buy for ages! I attempted one last year and I lasted a month… this is part of the reason why I started the blog – to keep myself accountable! 🙂

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  15. Congrats! I also make a wishlist, try before I buy… no more impulse buying. Usually I change my mind after 1-2 weeks anyway and move on the next shiny sparkly distraction. You have inspired me to do an inventory this year… :::sigh::: I have at least 2 full sephora bags of unopened items!!! that I haven’t touched in a year!!!

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  17. What a great idea! I just came back from vacation and desperately need to save money lol! I think you’ve encouraged me to start a 30 Day no buy challenge for myself . I have to start small first and if all goes well then I shall continue! Great tips too!

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    1. That’s great – yes, start small. I did a No-Buy last year which lasted a month. That month felt like a LONG time but it proved that I could do it if I put my mind to it. It helps now that I have a blog to write about my experiences and share them etc. 🙂 Looking forward to reading about your No-Buy adventures!

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