I now know I really need this low-buy! I keep buying stuff even though I know I need to stop...but of course I tell myself I have until January 1st. I bought the violet lip bag from the holiday collection(which I have been wanting for a long time) plus prepare for pleasure, I never intended on buying from the holiday collection but I ended up with 3 lippies, a blush and the lip set(so four lipsticks actually)...and I wasn't planning on getting much if anything from Magnetic Nude(except maybe 1 skinfinish) but swatches always draw me in! And I forgot I bought a ton of lipsticks from an indie company and they are shipping finally...lipsticks and eyeshadows, my weakness.
But I am starting to define my goals now...roughly...these are ones I had last year as well, so I may change them depending on what I want to accomplish this year. If anyone is interested in how I work mine, here it is(I write it in my blog but I can't post a link).
As of January 1, 2014 I will not be allowed to buy any beauty related products, unless...
1. the product is an absolute essential (shampoo/conditioner, cleanser, deodorant...etc.) and I have run out.
2. I run out of a product and I have nothing else to replace it (ex: I run out of my current eyeshadow primer and I have no other primers in my collection)
3. I receive a gift card, money or am gifted makeup and therefore am not spending any of my own money on it. (which rarely happens lol, no one buys me makeup or gives me gc for places I can buy makeup haha) OR if I de-stash my current collection, I can add that towards something I want.
4. If I am in a place that I usually never go and has products that I am otherwise never able to get (ex: if i am traveling to another country or go to a store that is not available close to me).- I may say no to even this though, this year.
5. They are presents for others.
Although I am calling this a "No-Buy", I am making some exceptions for myself. These are rewards for myself for 1) following the no-buy, 2)following weekly goals, and 3) sticking to my 2014 resolutions.
1. Weekly Goals.
2. Blogging and Writing. One of my goals this year is to write more consistently, which also includes my blogging. I started this blog for many reasons, I love beauty products, for one but I also love fashion, art, photography, writing, etc. I consider all of these things as part of beauty, not just how we look but who we are inside. I want to push myself to do more. So for every blog post I will award myself $4. For other writing(essay, poem, story, etc) I will award myself $1 a page, so if I write a 3 page essay I will get $3, a poem, $1 and so on. A lot of people have been encouraging me to write more about my life, so hopefully this will encourage me to do more.
3. Art. This may sound like an odd goal, but art used to be a huge part of my life, and it's slowly taken a back seat to so many things. This year I am really hoping to get back into it. Painting, drawing, photography, sewing are all things I used to do consistently. So for every piece I do, or if I create something I will award myself $5.
5. Reading. Another part of my life that used to be huge and I let slip. I love to read but tend to do it in "spurts," meaning I will read voraciously for a week or two, a ton of books and then go back to nothing. I would like to be more consistent, because I love reading, I just tend to get side tracked. So for anything under 200 pages, $2, beween 200-500, $4 and over 500 pages, $6.
6. Empties.
It is great to finish a product, especially products you don't particularly care for that are just taking up space. Therefore, for any empty product I have, I will award myself $2 of makeup allowance.
7. Self-Control.
This is not really a reward, but a punishment. If I don't follow my no-buy, then I will get negative cash for whatever amount I spent. For example, if I buy a $10 product when I have no reward allowance to spend, then I will subtract double the amount I spent on my total reward allowance, in this case being -$20. This means my allowance will be in a negative number and I will have to work even harder to have money to spend on makeup the following weeks.
Last year I wanted to work towards buying a nice(but expensive) new laptop, this year I don't necessarily have any big goals. Primarily I would like to build up my savings account, and hopefully that will lead to a good vacation somewhere down the line. And paying off my credit, which, realistically, I can do in a couple months.
Sorry this was long, but I figured it might help someone, and it helps to lay it all out.
