No Buying Unnecessary Toiletries December 2013

AND HERE WE GO AGAIN FOR ANOTHER MONTH! As usual this initial post has been shamelessly copied from the many previous months! A big THANK YOU to Maddiemay for starting us off last month.

Welcome all newbies and regulars to this very friendly and chatty thread where we give lots of lovely tips on how to use up your stash and lots of support and encouragement if you need them.

Keep up the pampering and keep down the spending: let’s make the naughty step an empty and lonely place this month (rather than one so long that it can be seen from space)! Will this be the month when the "usual suspects" rein it in a bit? Let's see..... (but I doubt it!)

Remember - those products do nothing for you while they are locked in drawers, boxes and cupboards!

We are eternally grateful to Katie Clampet who set up this fab challenge in January 2010.

Here's her original challenge post:

"No buying any new toiletries, cosmetics, perfume etc... until I have used up ALL the ones I already have. I got a huge amount of (really nice) stuff for Christmas but I am going to resist the urge to browse Boots, Asda,Superdrug etc, and pop another tub of cream, face scrub, shampoo or conditioner into my basket. I reckon the stuff I have will last me until possibly June. I have decided that the money I save I will put into my special holiday account. Anyone else?"

Lots of us have taken part in the challenge over the past few months and are making great progress in reducing our stashes and unnecessary/excessive spending.

Regulars ignore this, but a quick resume is always helpful for newbies;

Why not add the challenge to your sig as a reminder?

We have a "Swaps Group" on Facebook when you can swap good condition items with other like-minded addicts. PM Trudij, Tokkiandoliver, seasideDreamer or luvlycake your email address and they can add you to the group.

How about taking a bit of time to do a stock-take and see if there are any gaps in your stash that you might need to spend on this month? Some of us set a budget for the month for essential purchases or to help with withdrawal symptoms, others like to go cold-turkey!! Other ideas which some people find useful: Listing everything out so you can cross things off as used to increase the sense of achievement, and putting a sum of money in a pot each time you use up an item to save for something you really want, or simply to assist in making future essential purchases "cash neutral".

Remember the challenge is about making the most of your money, enjoying your products, finding which products really suit you best and are worth buying, giving yourself a well-deserved pampering and breaking the habit of buying for the sake of buying.In money-saving tradition, it should also be about making your products l-a-s-t as long as possible (although the temptation of using an unloved shower gel extravagantly to finish it off is sometimes too much to bear!)

Brand new products (or opened perfume) sell well on eBay
Unsuitable products can be used for other jobs (shower gel/shampoo as handwash etc.)

Some items can be returned to certain stores for exchange (for essential items or gifts!!) without a receipt

Unwanted items can be recycled as gifts or for gift hampers (saving the money you'd have spent on gifts)

Unsuitable items can be donated to charity as mentioned earlier.

It helps to avoid the places where temptation lurks for you; be it QVC, Boots,Body Shop, the supermarket toiletries aisles, Grabbit board, online toiletries browsing, seductive department store beauty counter offers etc. Remember retailers are making offers and promotions all the time, so there will always be another deal!*

*Honest!

Good luck all for December and indeed next year, and remember to keep popping in for inspiration and support, and to report your UU's and IN's, especially any sales bargains - we want a nosy, and keep your stash lists updated

Welcome to all newbies - the more the merrier. Please introduce yourselves so we can welcome you properly!

Oh - and anyone thinking "OMG my stash is FAR bigger than all of theirs, I cant possibly join" - believe you me, we have been doing this challenge for well over a year some of us - you wont scare us, and I can almost guarantee that someone somewhere will have had more and survived.... we are very supportive (and protective - so don't be scared !!) oh - and did we mention that are nosey??!!

Useful abbreviations!

WIBA? - Will I Buy Again?
UU - Use Ups
IN - Self explanatory - stuff you've gained into your stash - warning,lines may be given out for unnecessary purchases or you may be sent to the naughty step!
WNBA - Will Not Buy Again!
Glitch - when a shop/online store make a pricing mistake so you end up paying less or even get freebies!
PYN(M/T/W/Th/F/Sa/Su) DELETE AS APPROPRIATE! - Paint Your Nails Monday/Tuesday...... it allows everyone to try and finish those dastardly nail varnishes with group support! You can never be too groomed for this thread Also see PY(T)N... - for toenails!

Splutterer - the stage where an item is nearing the end of it's life and spluttering - also the most annoying and seemingly never ending stage!
GWP - Gift With Purchase - a sample or mini sized item
HG - Holy Grail - this is the product you would go back for time and time again, it does the job brilliantly, and is either economical, or so fantastic price becomes no object!
NPI - Near Purchasing Incident (OMG we all have those!)
LHJ - Long Haul Job - for those products - love 'em or hate 'em - that never seem to end no matter how often you use them
PRCP -Pink Rose Candle Philosophy.From Erma Bombeck who said, 'If I had my life to live over again I would have burned the pink candle sculptured like a rose that melted in storage'. Don't keep things 'for best' or 'for a special occasion'. That day never arrives.Give the best to yourself now and enjoy it. (Thanks to McCulloch29 for introducing this thought provoking sentiment to us)
GA- for an out that was given away rather than binned or UU, to charity,as a present, or "just because!".

TA - for an out that was thrown away due to going off (generally as it has been lurking at the back of a stash since time immemorial) or for any other reason such as a broken container or spillage.

If anyone can think of any more we can add to the list so newbies won't be intimidated by our jargon!

Graduates

Here is a list of our lovely,fragrant ladies who have polished and pampered their way through their products and managed to get their toiletries stash under control. Ladies -congratulations You are an inspiration to the rest of us, xx . Thanks also to InaPickle who suggested we start the Graduate list. To join the list of graduates let us know by posting that you are graduating in big colourful letters, that way the OP can easily spot you and add you to the list, or better still - pm the OP as the thread can move really quickly! You may also wish to add how many products you have used up during the challenge, good luck ladies xx

1.mineallmine - graduated with honours March
2.Bronnie - graduated with honours March 2011
3. lostinrates - graduated with honours around June 2010
4. Ruby_Eskimo - graduated with honours Jun 2012
5. Seaside dreamer -graduated with honours Oct 2012

Previous threads:

In case you need to refer back to a previous stash list or product review here are the links for the past few months challenge threads (just click on the date to take you straight to it):


January 2012
February 2012
March 2012
April 2012
May 2012
June 2012
July 2012
August 2012
September 2012
October 2012
November 2012
December 2012
January 2013
February 2013
March 2013
April 2013
May 2013
June 2013
July 2013
August 2013
September 2013
October 2013
November 2013

Can't wait to hear how people get on stash busting over the festive period and hearing about gifts that people get!