Saturday, January 4, 2014

Project Low-Buy 2014

Much like my no/low-buy last year, which you can find HERE or search PROJECT NO BUY, I am going to try to cut back on buying and spending on beauty related items. Last year it was a 100 day no/low-buy, This year I am going to extend it, around June I will see where I am with it and possibly take it further, depending on how much I have saved. I had a specific goal in mind as far as what I was saving towards last year, this year I don't have a huge goal per say, one may come up during it, so I'll see! I would love to save up for some really nice brushes.

Project No-Buy Goals

Instead of a traditional no-buy, I'm still following the project created last year by Darkside of Beauty to 1) finish makeup I currently own, 2) not horde so much new makeup, 3) to keep up with my 2014 resolutions and 4) save money for something else. I will be updating this project every Sunday. If you are curious about the No-Buy project or if you also want to be part of it, keep reading!


Rules

As of January 6th, 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.
4. Monthly subscriptions and a cpuple products I have been waiting to get before this year- Sugarpill Sparkle Baby palette and BFTE Steampunk collection. Getting these I hope will deter me from buying other things also.
5. 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).
6. They are giveaway prizes or gifts!

*Remember that I have tons of products that I purchased before now 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! This also gives a a chance to talk about some of my favorite permanent products and re-discover lots of items!

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. Every week (on Sunday) 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. Blogging and Writing. One of my goals(again) 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. 

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. I really slacked on it last year, so this year I am going to try again! 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. 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. I did really well for most of last year then I didn't read much the last 3 months. So for anything under 200 pages, $4, between 200-500, $5 and over 500 pages, $8.
                     
6. Empties and De-stash
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. It's also a good idea to get rid of items that you don't use/just didn't work for you. De-stashing and selling them is a great way to earn back some of that money you spent, and put it towards something you will use, so any money I earn from de-stashing can go towards my makeup fund.

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.

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 ($4), and blogged three times that week($6), then that means I earned $2 worth of makeup allowance that week. Then that means that starting Monday after the update, I can buy makeup with my $20 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 $20 and only spent $10 that week, then I will have $10 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 Account since it is essentially the money I have to buy makeup. None of my other money will go into makeup/beauty products. This will help me save up for collections I am waiting for, and hopefully help me plan what I purchase better, instead of automatically buying what I see. For instance, I know I am really going to want some of the items from the MAC Maleficent collection coming out, I know it's going to take a few weeks of saving for it, so before I go out and spend say the $20 I earned over two weeks on something I don't need, I'll be more inclined to stop myself from purchasing it, knowing I really want that palette when it comes out so I better not spend what's in my makeup account. :-) I think it actually helps to see the value of a dollar this way.

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. Not only can I more efficiently control the amount of makeup I buy, but I can also become a more knowledgeable person when it comes to my own finances, wise purchasing and researching a product.

If you have any questions or want any clarifications please leave a comment and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Weekly Goals for 1/8:
  1. Winter cleaning. I need to go through my shelvings of stuff and finally get rid and donate things I don't use, including books, art supplies, etc. (I'll try to take pics so I can share just how much it was needed!)
  2. De-stash. Beginning of the new year and it's time to go through and throw out old makeup and sell/swap stuff I don't use. I will post the de-stash on here and most likely reddit and Specktra for those interested.
Wish List: Currently I do not have much of a wish list, primarily to pay off old bills and save up. Maybe a few months down the road I'd like to get a couple nice brushes.

Makeup Account: $0.

Since this is the first week I don't have much to update yet.

That's it for this week! Wish me luck!

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