Project No Buy

Greetings from the Dark Side!

                                                               Project No-Buy Goals                                                              

As I mentioned in my 2013 Resolutions, I want to become stricter with myself when it comes to buying cosmetics. Many other bloggers have started a 100 day No-Buy, but I am a rather fickle person. I applaud to any of you who have the self-control to be able to do a complete no-buy! But for me, it is hopeless! I am very stubborn, even with myself. If I tell myself I can't buy any beauty-related products for 100 days, I will be even more tempted to buy things. I admit that I have a huge obsession with makeup and it is a weakness that I acknowledge. But instead of trying to suppress that weakness or to give it free reign over my life, I want to use it as a way to improve myself. Either ways, I am going to spend money on makeup, so why not use it as a tool to motivate myself?

That is why instead of a traditional no-buy, I decided to create a project for myself to 1) finish makeup I currently own, 2) not horde so much new makeup, 3) to keep up with my 2013 resolutions and 4) save money for something else other than makeup. I will be updating this project every Sunday and like those people doing the 100 No Buy, I will make a wish list for myself. If you are curious about my No-Buy project or if you also want to be part of it, keep reading!

                                                                            Rules                                                                             

As of January 7th, 2013 I will not be allowed to buy any beauty related products, unless...

1. the product is an absolute essential (shampoo/conditioner, cleanser, deodorant...etc.)

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 and therefore am not spending any of my own money.

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).

5. They are giveaway prizes!

 

*Remember that I have tons of products that I purchased before January7th that I have yet to show on my blog! Keep that in mind with any upcoming posts! I will be honest with all of you on this project; I gain nothing from lying to you guys!

                                                                            Rewards                                                                        

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 2013 resolutions. 

1. Weekly Goals! Every week (on my Sunday updates) I will set two goals for myself. Each of these goals should be met by the end of the week. If the goal is met, I will award myself $5 of allowance for makeup (therefore, I have a possibility of earning $10 per week). If I do not met either of them, then I get $0 of spending money. 

2.Grades! Yes, I am a student, and grades are a huge part of my life at the moment. Therefore setting up a system of rewards for my hard work in school is a great way for me to earn better grades and get some makeup spending money. I just started my new quarter so it is a perfect time to get this started. This only counts for major assignments, essays, midterms/tests. For each of these major assignments, I have a chance to win money for myself according to the grade I receive:

A+/A =$20

A- =$15

B+/B =$10

B- =$5

C+ = $1

C- or below = $0

3. Reading~ One of my resolutions was to read more and read all of the books that I own. So I am making this a way to reward myself!

Short novel or collection or stories (200 pages or less) = $5

Medium length novels (201-500 pages) = $7

Long novels (501+ pages) = $10

4. Language Learning 

Another of my resolutions is to keep up with my learning of Japanese. I need a huge amount of motivation for this goal because learning Kanji (Chinese characters) is so difficult! Therefore I want to make it my weekly goal to learn at least 3 new kanji per week and study 2 older kanji I already know.I can also instead decide to learn new words in English, Spanish, or Japanese. Language is very important so I think this is a really great and challenging project! If I can perfectly remember all 5 of that week's kanji or words, I will award myself $5. If I miss even one, I will not award myself any money.

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 $1 of makeup allowance. Hehe ^_^

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 $ 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.

                                                            How do the Rewards work?                                                       

During the week's update on Sunday, I will let you know whether I have kept up with my No-buy for that week, show you products I've used up, and update you and show you if I have earned any money through the rewards system. If, for example, I meet both of my weekly goals for that week ($10), perhaps read a 300 page novel ($7), and learned and studied 5 new Japanese words or Kanji characters($5), then that means I earned $22 worth of makeup allowance that week. Then that means that starting Monday after the update, I can buy makeup with my $22 allowance.Any makeup I buy using this allowance will be shown during that week's update. 

The reward money does carry over to the weeks following if I do not spend it. So If I had $22 and only spent $10 that week, then I will have $12 left over. Then I can add onto that any new allowance I get from the following weeks. I am going to call this my Make-Up Bank since it is essentially the money I have to buy makeup. None of my other money will go into makeup/beauty products. This helps to save for money for collections I am anticipating too! I will have to save a lot before hand

This is a bit confusing, but basically what I am trying to do is to control the amount of makeup I buy, not completely stop it. I am a beauty blogger after all! Not only can I more efficiently control the amount of makeup I buy, but I can also become a better, more knowledgeable person in the process.

If you have any questions or want any clarifications please leave a comment and I will get back to you as soon as possible ^_^ I will have no weekly goals for this week, but I will have an update this Sunday when I will start my weekly goals for next week. 

Wish me Luck!