No buying toiletries in March challenge!

Jacjacjac

thevicster wrote: »

Er, I'm off in about 2 hours :rotfl:. Train down to Portsmouth then setting sail at 8. I'm scared silly! Today I've been up and down as to whether to go or not, reading the reviews it seems the ship is frequented by drunken, fighting chavs. But...it's not school holidays and not a weekend so surely it will be full of nice retired people who want to chat and teach me how to knit? Surely!!

On the plus side I used up an Inecto coconut oil shampoo and conditioner today, really nice, would definitely buy again when I've used my huge stash of shampoos and conditioners!

Oh man, I am so sorry for taking so long - I didn't realise you were leaving so soon. have an amazing time. Basically, just use the same caution and commonsense you do here - don't have your valuables on show, make sure your stuff is secure etc. Also, I do think that when I travel alone, I am more aware of myself and my stuff anyway because I have no one to rely on. You will have a fab time... can't wait to hear how it goes

Jacjacjac

PS don't worry about the chavs, I am sure you can find a quiret area on the ship...

tara747

Sophy wrote: »

That's amazing! Have you been having withdrawal, though? I still like a wander through Boots, to check it is still there :rotfl:

I just don't go in, then I can't be tempted!!!

rosemary54 wrote: »

trying to win a lippy I don't need of course:rotfl:

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

SuziQ

I recieved this email today. Obviously it's American,but I think the tip of 'annualising' every regular purchase you make really grings the overall cost home. Works for me,anyway!

A Simple Trick to Stop Mindless Spending

Most of us think of spending money in the least painful terms. I suppose that's only natural. If we could see clearly how a simple purchase fits into the big financial picture, perhaps spending money on little stuff wouldn't be quite so easy.

According to Starbucks, the average customer spends $4.05 per visit for coffee and makes 18 visits per month. I'm fairly certain that most of these customers think of that as a series of $4.05 expenditures because it's less painful than seeing it as an $874 annual expense, spent $4.05 at a time.

Get into the habit of quickly calculating the annualized cost of things and you'll achieve an effective way to get mindless spending under control.

Here's the rule: Take a monthly figure, and then add a zero plus a little. Say you spend $5 a week in the vending machine at work. That $5 weekly expense is about $20 a month. Now add a zero ($200), plus a little ($50), which is about $250 a year. Let's check the numbers: $5 X 52 = $260. Pretty close! Do you get it? Adding a zero to a monthly expense gives you a 10-month equivalent. Then, adding a little accounts for the other two months in a year.

Here's another example. Heather gets her nails done every two weeks at a cost of $20 per visit. That's about $40 a month. Times 10, that's $400 plus a little ($85) is $485. Again, let's check the numbers: $20 x 26 = $520. Not far off, and shocking when Heather has been trivializing this as just a little something she does for herself. Don't get me wrong. I'm not against nail appointments. I just want you and Heather to know the true cost of what you believe to be insignificant expenditures.

Most people think of their income in loose, inflated terms. Take Tom and Susan. They live in the false security of a $50,000 income, as in "We make $50,000 a year so we should be able to buy what we want without feeling guilty."

The truth is Tom makes $48,275 a year, which is close, but not exactly $50,000. Allowing for taxes and other payroll deductions, their net take-home pay is something closer to $35,000. Of that amount, their actual discretionary income (what's left after allowing for essentials of food, shelter, insurance, transportation, etc.) is more like $5,000, hardly the fictional $50,000 on which they base their lifestyle.

With practice, Tom and Sue can get real about their income by thinking in more realistic terms. While they might make close to $50,000 a year, they have just $450 cash to spend each month. That makes blowing a hundred bucks here or $4.05 there more significant.

Start annualizing your spending and think of your income in realistic terms. It's painful at first, but once you get past the shock, it will keep your financial feet planted in reality. Even better, money will stop dribbling out of your life.

tara747

SuziQ wrote: »

I recieved this email today. Obviously it's American,but I think the tip of 'annualising' every regular purchase you make really grings the overall cost home. Works for me,anyway!

A Simple Trick to Stop Mindless Spending

Most of us think of spending money in the least painful terms. I suppose that's only natural. If we could see clearly how a simple purchase fits into the big financial picture, perhaps spending money on little stuff wouldn't be quite so easy.

According to Starbucks, the average customer spends $4.05 per visit for coffee and makes 18 visits per month. I'm fairly certain that most of these customers think of that as a series of $4.05 expenditures because it's less painful than seeing it as an $874 annual expense, spent $4.05 at a time.

Get into the habit of quickly calculating the annualized cost of things and you'll achieve an effective way to get mindless spending under control.

Here's the rule: Take a monthly figure, and then add a zero plus a little. Say you spend $5 a week in the vending machine at work. That $5 weekly expense is about $20 a month. Now add a zero ($200), plus a little ($50), which is about $250 a year. Let's check the numbers: $5 X 52 = $260. Pretty close! Do you get it? Adding a zero to a monthly expense gives you a 10-month equivalent. Then, adding a little accounts for the other two months in a year.

Here's another example. Heather gets her nails done every two weeks at a cost of $20 per visit. That's about $40 a month. Times 10, that's $400 plus a little ($85) is $485. Again, let's check the numbers: $20 x 26 = $520. Not far off, and shocking when Heather has been trivializing this as just a little something she does for herself. Don't get me wrong. I'm not against nail appointments. I just want you and Heather to know the true cost of what you believe to be insignificant expenditures.

Most people think of their income in loose, inflated terms. Take Tom and Susan. They live in the false security of a $50,000 income, as in "We make $50,000 a year so we should be able to buy what we want without feeling guilty."

The truth is Tom makes $48,275 a year, which is close, but not exactly $50,000. Allowing for taxes and other payroll deductions, their net take-home pay is something closer to $35,000. Of that amount, their actual discretionary income (what's left after allowing for essentials of food, shelter, insurance, transportation, etc.) is more like $5,000, hardly the fictional $50,000 on which they base their lifestyle.

With practice, Tom and Sue can get real about their income by thinking in more realistic terms. While they might make close to $50,000 a year, they have just $450 cash to spend each month. That makes blowing a hundred bucks here or $4.05 there more significant.

Start annualizing your spending and think of your income in realistic terms. It's painful at first, but once you get past the shock, it will keep your financial feet planted in reality. Even better, money will stop dribbling out of your life.

Excellent!!! I also love the MSE Demotivator, and my own detailed budget stops me from mindless spending. I sometimes wish my friends would wise up to this, but they don't want to be told, so I leave well alone.

tara747

I have resisted the Body Shop today, with some difficulty (but just about managed!!).

fixx

tara747 wrote: »

I have resisted the Body Shop today, with some difficulty (but just about managed!!).

Ok, I've come to own up - I didn't resist I bought 5 body butters! I couldn't help it, I only have one left (and a S&G that i'm currently using) and 5 for £12 delivered (and cashback I haven't included yet) was too good :rotfl:

I know I didn't need them right now, and I'll have to find somewhere to put them, so it's clutter. Sorry

lostinrates

fixx wrote: »

Ok, I've come to own up - I didn't resist I bought 5 body butters! I couldn't help it, I only have one left (and a S&G that i'm currently using) and 5 for £12 delivered (and cashback I haven't included yet) was too good :rotfl:

I know I didn't need them right now, and I'll have to find somewhere to put them, so it's clutter. Sorry

I'm currently using body butters at a rate of about pot a week, so if you re anything like me it seems a fair time to restock, and that's a fair price. ;0

CompletelyLost

Today = my first toiletries spend since the 11th March. Doesn't sound like much, but it is to me.

I bought some Carmex as my lips are in a bit of a state, so £2.38 spent. I've just tried it and my lips feel super tingly. That's what it's meant to feel like, right? I wasn't expecting it to be menthol... wish I'd got the cherry one now.

SuziQ

CompletelyLost wrote: »

Today = my first toiletries spend since the 11th March. Doesn't sound like much, but it is to me.

I bought some Carmex as my lips are in a bit of a state, so £2.38 spent. I've just tried it and my lips feel super tingly. That's what it's meant to feel like, right? I wasn't expecting it to be menthol... wish I'd got the cherry one now.

Hard to say-time will tell! There are some lip products that burn me like hell (including LE balm-can use it elsewhere but not on lips) but blisteze used to sting me like mad but heal me so quickly. Don't know if they make that anymore? It used to come in a little metal tube and really helped me. I have been using Gayle hayman liplift your years now (They were selling it cheap on my local market for a while) I ran out about a year ago and have a lot of episodes of sore lips since I sometimes think it would be cheaper for me to buy it again rather than keep buying things to cure it,it's about £8 from one online seller I saw. Just persevering with ori flame tender care at the moment though as I bought 4 pots of that last year in the sale and still have 2 little pots left. It's great stuff if no-one has ever used it-my youngest has break outs of excema sometimes on his cheeks,and tender care cures it overnight.