No Buy?

The new year is here and so many people are starting no buys or low buys. I love reading all the posts and comments about no buys, panning, low buys etc. 

 

I've been on the no buy/low buy/panning wagon for years now and I've learned a few things that I thought I'd share today.

 

Going on a no buy doesn't work for me. 

It just makes me want to buy more so I either break the no buy or do a huge haul when it's over, which totally defeats the purpose of a no buy.

 

Low buys and 2 out 1 in work for me but they get boring.

 

Here's what works well for me.

 

I look at my whole collection. 

When it's all packed away I can't see what I have so when I run out of something I buy another one. Now, I get everything out and keep a tally so that when I use something I can check the list to see if there's anything to replace it with. This works really well with skincare. 

With make-up I know that I have way more than I need so don't need to look at my tally to know I don't need anything.

Stop trying to pan things that I don't love. 

I just don't see the point in forcing myself to use up something that I don't enjoy using. I used to feel bad about getting rid of products that weren't empty, but I've realised that it's better to pass them on to someone who they'll work for, instead of forcing myself to keep using them. 

Don't make impulse purchases

If there's something I'm thinking about buying I don't get it straight away. I'll think about it for at least a week. Usually by the time the week is over I've realised that I either don't need it or don't really want it. 

Stay away from the shops and unsubscribe to emails and social media.

New and limited edition products are very tempting to me, the hype around them really gets me convinced that I need the product. Truth is, I don't. I have enough, I don't need more. The limited edition products can usually be easily duplicated with permanent products, they just have pretty packaging. 

Unsubscribing from brand emails and social media means that I don't know about the new products so I'm not tempted. 

Going to the shops is the same. I use to habitually shop, now I only shop when I need something. 

 

How much do I use?

For the last few years I've been keeping a record of my make-up empties for the year. When I saw how long it took me to finish a product I became very hesitant to buy more. Last year I only finished 27 products, several of which were sample or travel sizes.

The year before I used around 50 products, which still isn't many. 

Knowing how many products I finish in a year makes me seriously consider each purchase.

Understand the why

Knowing my triggers is really helpful. I shop for two reasons. When I'm stressed and when I'm exhausted from looking after everyone else and want to do something nice for myself. 

Now that the boys are at school I am able to do other nice things for myself such as go out for breakfast or coffee, have lunch with a friend etc.

I still feel like shopping when I'm stressed, but that moment is short lived, so instead I message my friends who help talk me down.

 

Have a support group

Myself and two of my friends are supporting each other. We're trying not to buy things we don't need. We each have our own rules and that's okay. What helps is that we regularly check in with each other to see how we're doing and talk each other down when one of us wants to buy something we don't need. 

 

One more thing that has also helped me a lot is realising how much advertising and society has affected me. We're surrounded by obvious and not so obvious ads. I've realised that a lot of media is about making us feel inadequate/unattractive etc so that we'll buy something to feel better. 

 

The media is constantly shaming and criticising women and it's all about money. They try to make us feel bad about our perfectly normal bodies so that we'll buy something to fix the made up problem. 

 

Next time you're reading a magazine or online article about a woman, look at the language they use. 

Then go and read an article about a man and see what the difference is. 

 

You don't see many articles where a man is being shamed for his appearance or being accused of flaunting his body, it's only women we speak about in that way. The only way that will change is if we all stand up and demand change. Look what the Me Too movement did. 

 

We have the power. The movement has started. It's time for all of you beautiful people to love yourself just the way you are. 

I'll tell you a secret. Those flaws you think you have, they aren't flaws, they're perfectly normal. 

You're perfect exactly as you are.