No Buying Toiletries in May Challenge!!

Bronnie

Well, believe it or not, it's the 1st of May so here we go with the NEW THREAD!!


This fab challenge was set up in January 2010 by katie clampet

Here's her original challenge post:

"No buying any new toiletries, cosmetics, pefume 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 reducing our stashes and unnecessary/excessive spending.

Come and join us for the month of May. The more the merrier!!

Regulars ignore this, but I thought a quick resume might be helpful for newbies;

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

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!!

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 extravagently 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, Bodyshop, 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'll always be another deal!

Good luck all for May and remember to keep popping in for inspiration and support.

tara747

Oooh, first!!!!

VALM

Morning all, can't believe we are in May already. The challenge will be easy for me at the moment as I have been without temp work for a while so my personal funds have dried up. There's no chance of getting MrM to buy me any products as he knows what my stash is like.

With the aid of this thread over the last couple of months though I have not spent as I used to or would like to but have made a sizeable dent in the stockpile.

Last week I actually sat myself down and catalogued all the nail lacquers that I own (lacquers are my obsession! along with body butters!) and totted them up to 56 bottles! The problem with me is that I find that I want some from the new colour ranges that come out each season but now that I know what colours I have I think it's safe to say that no colour is going to be released that I don't have something similar to in my collection.

So onwards and upwards. I'd also like to say a big thank you to the folks who post on here as I have found some great recommendations - especially the Superdrug Vitamin E oil which I am converted to now thanks to you folks. x

WelshWoofer

Morning all!

I'm in again this month - did quite well last month only buying essentials like shampoo and everyday shower gel and cotton wool. No luxury or unnecessary items at all.

I have a £10 voucher from Boots on the way for doing surveys so will use that to replenish essentials when I need them but NO frivolous things will be bought! Promise!

Good luck to everyone else!

rosemary54

lovely fresh new month,really feel like I need a new start for all sorts of reasons did not enjoy April(hence all my naughty spends to cheer myself up!)GTGN....mr Grumpy just got up!!!

mineallmine

Morning,

Shiny new thread for May, yay!

Had to respond to this one from April's thread, as it a brought a tear to my eyes: Originally Posted by roshydoshy
...think of this one instead "Good friends are the sisters God forgot to give us":)
:A

I need to do a stash check. Lots of nearly used ups:
:(Clarins hydra-quench (I think) serum - WIBA no. They changed the formulation and it's not as good. Naughty Clarins (WIBA = Will I Buy Again)
:(Sainsburys naturals hand cream monoi/passionflower - WIBA no. Rated in a Beauty Bible Beauty Steals book but it was quite watery. Am using it up as a body lotion to get rid.
:(Guinot gentle exfoliating cream - WIBA no. A smidge on the oily side and no noticeable difference to skin.

Need to buy (could not have used those words back in January):
- face scrub
- body butter

Problem areas, ie too many of:
- face creams (won't improve my skin sitting in jars...)
- eye creams (3 on the go!)
- shampoos (not too many but I want to nip the stash builing in the bud, may use one of these unloved ones to wash make up brushes)

:A

tara747

OK, I spent £30ish on toiletries in April... just totted it up. Shameful!!! My challenge in May is ZERO spend except if I run out of anything, which is highly unlikely!!!!!

roshydoshy

hi girls, i went into boots this morning, got some hayfever tablets whilst they are offer, got a new eyeliner from No. 7 (with the voucher) so only cost £2.50 and it is probably one of the best i have used so it is worth while, i bought some eyelash glue so i can make the most of the false eyelashes i already have without buying more so i think that is a MS exercise in a roundabout way,:kisses2: and some batiste dry shampoo for brunette hair. I had a bit of an incident before work yesterday and put in some normal batiste and where i have dyed my hair back to brunette from blonde, the dry shampoo made me look grey :eek: so this was an essential! lol and that was that! quite impressed i didnt spend more (although it came to just over £15 so i benefited from the 10 points per £ offer!) - i dont think i need anything else for this month so will try and stick to this challenge this month!

have a great bank holiday weekend, have fun!x

elfen

I bought the tolietries I needed yesterday in Boots.....shampoo/conditioner.razor blades/shower gel and spent over 15 so I was chuffed with my points!

WelshWoofer

I must confess I have spent £1.44 today on toiletries but both were needed - a half price Pomegranate and Lychee soap (44p) at Mr S and a big bottle of Carex showergel from pound shop (£1 surprisingly!):p

The soap in the bathroom (for baths) won't last the week and neither will the shower gel in the shower room.

Nothing else required for a while though - will hold on until the Boots gift card arrives to buy other essentials so hopefully that will be it for May - how foolish to say that on May 1st!:D

katieclampet

Hi all, I cant believe it is 1st May already!!

I have saved £60 in my holiday fund. I have been in hospital for a week or so, and got lots of toiletries, so my rapidly reducing stash has been replenished!! I have got lots of body lotion (which I hate) so I am going to donate them for raffle prizes. Lots of handcream, which I will use, and some lovely soaps and shower gels.

I am almost out of body butter, so will actually NEED to buy some, next time bodyshop has a sale. I will also need some moisturiser soon as well. It is a long time since I have actually needed to buy something, so I am pleased to be keeping up with the challenge:)

katiex