No Buying Toiletries in February Challenge

footymadgal

Almost all of this post has been shamelessly copied!
Thanks to Trudij for preparing last month's thread, a lot of which will be familiar in this first post....! A lot of us have struggled to resist the lure of January sales but many have used the new year as an opportunity to have a clear out of stuff that has gone past its sell by date, sell unwanted stuff on ebay and sorting and tidying the stash! We were joined by many eager newbies :j and were a very chatty bunch in January. So, let's keep up the good work and keep aiming to use more things up than we buy!!!

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.

Come and join us for the month of February. No need to wait - now is as good a time as any to turn over a new leaf. The more the merrier!!

Regulars ignore this, but a quick resume is always 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!! 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 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 February and remember to keep popping in for inspiration and support, and to report your UU's and IN's.

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

Good Luck Girlies :j .

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 just 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 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 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!)
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 :Afor introducing this thought provoking sentiment to us)

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

The_Dragon

and I'm in again please! I did really well during January and it made me hunt out some stuff as well

footymadgal

I've got a body lotion and a BB on the go but like to have 3 on the go at once so that I can chop and change and don't get bored. I fancied a change at the weekend and so cracked open my Sweet Lemon BS body butter. It is divine - I kept getting a waft of spring flowers all day!

trudij

Thats about the only BS BB i actually like footymadgirl - its gorgeous isnt it !!

Thanks for starting the thread

Im still in - very proud of my stash use up last year - but still have a stupid amount of soap to get through !!!

mcculloch29

Here we go again! I've got one of the MALE Ouch! regulars using cologne as room spray.. Pink Rose Candle Philosophy is spreading.

postingalwaysposting

I am back in for this month :j last month I UU/gave away 39 items yet I still spent £24 (ish) So for Febuary I want to use more, although I know it will be less than this month and spend money on nothing. I know I may need some of my HG items but I want to ekk the ones I have out here until March.

Good luck all

roshydoshy

Hi I am definitely in for this month. I have had a bit of bad news today and found out that I am getting made redundant (I was half expecting this, hence me applying for jobs for the past month or so) so I really need to keep expenditure down and fingers crossed I find something quickly.

Good luck this month girls!x

fru-gal_3

I'm in again. I did quite well last month and only bought things I had run out of. I did have a bit of a shock going through my drawers at work I discovered a mini stash in my desk :eek: (an Atrixo hand cream and some L'Oreal eye cream)

That's going to slow things down a bit on the hand cream front.

The_Dragon

roshydoshy wrote: »

Hi I am definitely in for this month. I have had a bit of bad news today and found out that I am getting made redundant (I was half expecting this, hence me applying for jobs for the past month or so) so I really need to keep expenditure down and fingers crossed I find something quickly.

Good luck this month girls!x

Sorry to hear your news, is there any thing in the offing?

Alton_Towers

I am in again this month and shouldnt need to buy anything! I have plenty of everything to keep me going just need to resist all bargainous temptations!

fru-gal_3

roshydoshy wrote: »

Hi I am definitely in for this month. I have had a bit of bad news today and found out that I am getting made redundant (I was half expecting this, hence me applying for jobs for the past month or so) so I really need to keep expenditure down and fingers crossed I find something quickly.

Good luck this month girls!x

Hope you find a new job soon. Keeping my fingers crossed for you.