No Buying Unnecessary Toiletries in December

AND HEREWE GO AGAIN FOR ANOTHER MONTH! As usual this initial post has been shamelesslycopied from the many previous months! A big THANK YOU to Sunshineyday for starting us off last month.

Welcome all newbies andregulars to this very friendly and chatty thread where we give lots of lovelytips on how to use up your stash and lots of support and encouragement if youneed them.

Keep up the pampering and keepdown 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 themonth when the "usual suspects" rein it in a bit? Let's see..... (butI doubt it!)

Remember - those products donothing for you while they are locked in drawers, boxes and cupboards!

We are eternally grateful to KatieClampet 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 haveused up ALL the ones I already have. I got a huge amount of (really nice) stufffor 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 conditionerinto my basket. I reckon the stuff I have will last me until possibly June. Ihave decided that the money I save I will put into my special holiday account.
Anyone else?"

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

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

Why not add the challenge to yoursig as a reminder?

We have a "Swaps Group" on Facebook when you can swap good conditionitems with other like-minded addicts. PM Sarah*a or xoxo or Trudijfor more info on joining.

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

Remember the challenge is about makingthe most of your money, enjoying your products, finding which products reallysuit you best and are worth buying, giving yourself a well-deserved pamperingand breaking the habit of buying for thesake of buying.In money-saving tradition, it should also be about making your products l-a-s-tas long as possible (although the temptation of using an unloved shower gelextravagently 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 handwashetc)

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

Unwanted items can be recycled as gifts or for gift hampers (saving the moneyyou'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,Bodyshop, the supermarket toiletries aisles, grabbit board, online toiletriesbrowsing, seductive department store beauty counter offers etc. Rememberretailers are making offers and promotions all the time, so there willl alwaysbe another deal!*

*Honest!

Good luck all for December :santa2: and indeed the rest of the year, and remember to keep popping in for inspirationand support, and to report your UU's and IN's.

Especially any sales bargains - we want a nosy and to keep your stash listsupdated

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

Oh - and anyone thinking "OMG my stash is FAR bigger than all of theirs, Icant possibly join" - believe you me, we have been doing this challengefor well over a year some of us - you wont scare us, and I can almost guaranteethat someone somewhere will have had more and survived.... we are verysupportive (and protective - so dont be scared !!) oh - and we 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 thenaughty step!
WNBA - Will Not Buy Again!
Glitch - when a shop/online store make a pricing mistake so you end uppaying less or even get freebies!
PYN(M/T/W/Th/F/Sa/Su) DELETE AS APPROPRIATE! - Paint Your NailsMonday/Tuesday...... it allows everyone to try and finish those dastardly nailvarnishes with group support! You can never be too groomed for this thread Alsosee PY(T)N... - for toenails!
Splutterer - the stage where an item is nearing the end of it's life andspluttering - 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 andtime again, it does the job brilliantly, and is either economical, or sofantastic 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 - thatnever 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 haveburned the pink candle sculptured like a rose that melted in storage'. Don'tkeep things 'for best' or 'for a special occasion'. That day never arrives.Give the best to yourself now and enjoy it. (Thanks to McCulloch29 forintroducing 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 ithas been lurking at the back of a stash since time immemorial) or for any otherreason such as a broken container or spillage.

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

Graduates

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

1.mineallmine - graduated with honours March 2011
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:
March: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=3823189
February:
January: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=3702779

December: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=3643977
November: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=3583027
October: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=3520791
September: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=3457221
August: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=3392750
July: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=3330436
June: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=3264270
May: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=3201982
June: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=3991985
July: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=4046033
August 2012: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4100267
September 2012: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4152789
October 2012 http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4205719
November 2012 http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4262511

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Comments

  • rosemary54
    rosemary54 Posts: 2,495 Forumite
    first to sign up again:)!!!!!!!!!

    really really really don't want to buy anything this month....decided against going to town as will only buy stuff I don't need with money I don't have:rotfl:
  • I'm in again! :j Thanks Kipling for starting the thread.

    I'm thinking it might be easy to get a no spend month (hah) since I'm so distracted with the xmas build up and will probably get loads for xmas anyway!
    "Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it."
  • silvasava
    silvasava Posts: 4,433
    Combo Breaker First Post First Anniversary
    Forumite
    Third sign up here please.
    Going to do an inventory this weekend ;)
    Small victories - sometimes they are all you can hope for but sometimes they are all you need - be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle
  • maddiemay
    maddiemay Posts: 4,971
    First Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper First Post
    Forumite
    Thank you Kipling, count me in again for another month.

    I almost it the "buy" button on a Liz Earle order yesterday, I am almost out of C&P, and although I have enough cleansers for many months I do like to have a C&P in my overnight bag, will need toner soon and a nourishing mask, which would have made the order up to £55 for a free gift and free p&p, but part of the free gift is Eyebright, which I used to love, but now react badly to. Left the order open on the pc for ages, then eventually deleted it completely:j.
    Rosemary - completely agree about the no going into shops, only have a weeny Boots and a nice independant chemist which sells Clarins and Lancome, staff are lovely, but don't feel comfortable browsing too often, even the nail polish selection (my weakness) is pretty poor in Boots, so I hardly ever spend in there either.
    The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time. (Abraham Lincoln)
  • Can I join in again?

    November was ok, but will brave the dreaded count up this weekend!
    No Buying Unnecessary Toiletries: July stash 72/0 INS/2 UU/0 TA
  • back in again for another month, thanks to kiplingmonkey for starting us off

    happy pampering, xo
  • Going to join in again... was an active poster about a year ago... had alot going on so put the challenge to the back of my mind. Started lurking again mid October and am desperate to get things used up or ga/ta as am planning to move out of my current flat Nov 2013, put our stuff into storage and go travelling for at least 6 months and I don't want to have to store boxes and boxes of toiletries.
    More importantly I need to save money to pay for the trip and to pay off a few debts before I leave.

    Am off to do a quick count and may post a list later this evening :)
  • I am back in again for December :D
    VSP member #25
  • SuiDreams
    SuiDreams Posts: 2,393
    First Anniversary First Post
    Forumite
    Will be joining in or December, although probably won't post much till the office closes for Christmas. I need to try and uu loads of thing ready for the Christmas gifts coming in. Shampoo and body lotion seem to be under control now.
  • Hi All,

    I'm back in, as ever! Thanks to Kiplingmonkey for starting us off on the new thread.... December OMG :eek:

    Will post my updated stash list later, its dwindling but will probably get bumped back up over Christmas (without being too presumptuous) :o Not that I really mind, free IN are my kind of IN :D
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