Thursday, April 25, 2013

Project No-Buy Conclusion

Hello my beautiful readers!

If you have followed my Project No-Buy, then you know it has been 15 weeks since I started it. It was not so much a No Buy, but instead a low-buy. I wanted to try this out to try and lower the amount of money I am spending on makeup while trying to stick to my New Year resolutions. This was such a great experience, and I am so glad I tried it out. I know many of you guys went ahead and started this too, and that makes me so happy! 

After doing this for 15 weeks, there is a couple of things I have noticed about my spending habits:

1. I spend most of my money on drugstore makeup.
This is not bad, but it is astonishing. I have this mind set that because drugstore makeup is cheaper, I can buy a lot and not spend too much. This is so not true. Even if they are cheaper than high end items, the prices accumulate and I end up spending $50-$100 every time I go to the drugstore. This happens often because I constantly check drusgtores for limited edition collections. 
Fix: Only go to the drugstore to search for limited edition items I really, really want and don't buy something because it's "cheap". Avoid trips to the drugstore or to cosmetic aisles.

2. I tend to buy items, not because I wanted to try them out, but because I want to review them on my blog.
This is great, but I do this very often. I have to stop doing this because it makes me spend more money than I have to. And, more often than not, I don't end up reviewing the product anyways and it  becomes a waste of money.
Fix: Because I'm a blogger I will always have this tendency, but I should focus more on products that I really want. If the thought "these would be great to review on my blog" comes to me before "this product would look so great on me" (o something like that), I should probably not buy the product.

3. Around 75% of my makeup purchases are impulsive buys.
Most of the things I buy are impulsive buys, or in other words, last-minute irrational purchases. Most of these purchases I tend to regret. I am learning to do my research before investing the money on products (especially the more expensive ones). 
Fix: Look for swatches or reviews of that product and then really think about whether I really need or want it.


Cutting down the amount of spending I do has been hard, and it will still be hard in the future. But I know that I can give myself challenges in order to "earn" the right to spend money on makeup. This is what I have been doing these 15 weeks; awarding myself a budget for makeup according to how many goals I achieve. This is something that I will be sticking to because it has actually worked. I'd say my spending has been cut down at least 40% these past 15 weeks. I don't think I could cut down my spending completely, but 40% is a good start! I will do some updates in the weeks to come to just talk about the long-term effects of this low-buy. I hope these habits will stick and that I can slowly decrease the amount I spend! 

I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did~! And for those of you who are currently doing this challenge, I wish you luck!


14 comments:

  1. its great when you can do things to learn about yourself :)

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  2. Congrats! I really thought your style of no/low-buy was unique amongst ones I've seen on other blogs. It's sort of a more formal version of what I try to do, too. I also noticed I wound up frittering money away on makeup I didn't really want... I should have returned more of it and spent more money on the pricey stuff instead of hunting for dupes to feature all the time. Your blog also continued to be relevant and interesting even though you weren't buying so much, so I think it's great you will continue your low-buy :)

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    1. Thanks <3

      I totally agree. I find a lot of great stuff at the drugstore, but there is also a lot of things I wished I would have either returned or not purchased at all. But oh well! We learn from out mistakes. :D

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  3. I can't believe it's been 15 weeks! I have loved reading your weekly no-buy posts. I think I'm going to have to try your system in the near future.

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    1. IKR?
      It seems like I started it just yesterday! Time has certainly gone by quickly!
      And thanks, if you try it out I wish you luck <3

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  4. I'm not capable to do this challenge. :D I admire you that you managed to cut down your spending! I would try it too...but I'm sure I would end after 1 month without any results:D

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    1. I know how you feel because I felt the same. But it is all about taking small steps. I could never do a complete makeup ban so that is why I tried this out. But of course, there is nothing wrong with buying makeup so by away!

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  5. Congrats on your 15 week no-buy! Almost an entire (collage)school semester O.O

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  6. So I just found your blog, and I love it! From a fellow nerd, something you might be able to use to track your goals is called HabitRPG, it gives you "gold" for doing real life tasks you need to do, and you set what RL rewards cost how much gold, and you could do that with your makeup if you wanted a little different format with it. I know makeup is what most of my rewards are! Anyway, just subscribed and will totally be reading old posts too! :D

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  7. Thank you so much for inspiring me! It's a real eye opening experience, I can say that with firsthand experience now :) I hope you're able to cut down the spending even more! I get the feeling - you want to feature things but they get lost in the pile. You should make a list of things to review and until every one of those things is reviewed, not buy anything else that isn't essential or super LE :)

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  8. Way to go on your no-buy! I should do that... as I was reading your conclusion, I realized I do the same things!

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  9. I can't believe your no-buy is over! And thanks for inspiring me to attempt it as well. I have five more weeks to go and have found it enlightening so far, I too hope I can continue it somehow afterwards. I managed to go the first seven weeks or so without buying anything, I'm spending a bit now, but feel like saying no is easier, and I feel like it's smart to have a "budget" of some sort, no matter how you work it in, whether it's "earning" it through tasks or whatever you choose. Way to go!

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  10. I always think I spend a lot but wow I feel a little better because I still am not spending $100 at the drugstore. I try to spend for a percentage of income, I am fearful of ever being in debt! If I need to save for a while I just play with the makeup I already have. I'm a slow blogger, so I have a lot waiting in the wings to be reviewed, so I try not to let myself buy something just to review. I am not always successful. It's hard to stay disciplined, huh? I'm still proud of ya, and it was a lot of fun to read and follow your challenges to yourself. I found it inspiring ^_^

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Thank you for taking the time to comment <3 I appreciate every single comment I receive ^_^