No Buying Unnecessary Toiletries December 2013

minicooper272

Well I finish the month on 19 INs and 12 OUTs. Blasted sales!

If I discount my sale items, I have ended the year with more OUTs than INs (total), but as soon as I include them, my INs seriously out-strip. The good thing is that a lot of my INs this year have been small and travel sized, while so many of the OUTs have been big an bulky.

lynseydee

sam.4000 wrote: »

No it's not just you. My list is back up to over 500 and that does not include nail varnish or make up, mine is bath and body products anything that smells nice I am a sucker for. I keep promising myself no more but for some strange reason I just can't seem to help myself. I think that I should promise not to buy anything else but this does not work for me. I have aims but I am keeping them to myself for now. I am going to base mine round money not sure which yet, I quite like someone's post of putting money in a jar every time you use something up.

I am not going to post my list again as it is very out dated and I can't keep up with the list on this thread and my own list, so I am going to transfer it onto a spreadsheet and track it that way. If I'm really honest after the judgements made on the frugal blog I don't want to list my stuff anymore.

Clutter free I really like the idea of a holy grail list.

I spent a few hour yesterday sorting stuff out and re-organising things and trying to find new places to put it. My empty hat boxes have come in very useful.

INS
2 dove shower gel set Christmas present from friend

OUTS
Black sands soap WNBA love the creaminess of the soap but prefer other scents ( for some strange reason I love soap)
4 soap samples ( grated for laundry gloop)
2 bar of soap ( grated for laundry gloop)

Onwards and upwards, all I know is that I am going to smell nice in 2014.

Hi Sam


Can you tell me how you make the laundry gloop? I made some soap for Christmas presents and have a bit that went wrong so rather than throw it I was going to turn it into gloop but didn't know how.


Thanks.

sam.4000

lynseydee wrote: »

Hi Sam


Can you tell me how you make the laundry gloop? I made some soap for Christmas presents and have a bit that went wrong so rather than throw it I was going to turn it into gloop but didn't know how.


Thanks.

I use this recipe

1. 1 bar of soap grated
2. 3/4 cup of soda crystals (this softens the water)
3. 3/4 cup of biotex (you used to be able to use borax but this has now been banned from sale so you can't get it anymore. Biotex is a stain remover which I pick up in sainsburys for £2 something. I have tried other stain removers and have had several interesting experiences with them mainly them bubbling up and decorating my kitchen so I always stick to biotex)
4. about 4 litres of water

• You will also need a large container to put your mixture into (it makes nealy a gallon but you can make it in a bucket and transfer it into several containers but only one it has set)
• A large pan

To make:

• I grate the soap and put it in a large saucepan with about 1 1/2 litres of water and heat it stir it every couple of minutes till all the soap has disolved, takes about 8-10 minutes.
• then I add the biotex and stir till that has disolved, this takes maybe a minute
• Then I add the soda crystals and mix till that disolves this takes about 3-4 minutes. I don't bring it to boil aslong as everything has disolved it will be fine but I do leave it on the heat till i have disolved everthing.
• In the bucket (I have one with a lid which I use to put my laundry gloop) I put in about 2 1/2 litres of warm water ( not cold as I find the gloop does not mix well with cold water but it does not have to be too warm you could get away with tepid water) and then I pour the mixture into the bucket and give it a good mix.
• I leave this for 12- 24 hours and it sets to a thick custard. I run a knife through it to break it up and then tranfer some into a smaller container that I keep in the kitchen.
• I use about 1/2 a mug per wash other recommend that you can use 1-2 tbsp but I don't find this is enough personally. Make sure you ADD it to the DRUM and never the draw as it tends to block the draw and it can be messy (yes of course I have done this). I have used laundry gloop for nearly 2 years and I find it works well. I dont use it on a cool wash as I worry that it won't disolve so I always use it on a 40'c wash.
• I do put my washing machine on an empty hot wash one a month to clean the machine out
• You can add essetial oils if you want to scent it about 20 drops but I don't tend to bother.
• It does seperate slighty over time ( a watery liquid seeps out) but this always happens and i just mix it up and use it.

InaPickle

Hello everyone!

Sundaysgirl wrote: »

4 hours later and I have finally finished my toiletries stash list. It totals 249 items,which was less than I expected but seeing everything together waspretty scary - I have way more than one person could possibly needand it has been a real wake-up call, I actually felt pretty sick.

The positive is that I now know exactly what Ihave, I have reorganised everything so that all similar items arestored together again (no mean feat given the volume of ChristmasINs!) and I have some lovely products which I am looking forward tousing over the coming new year :)It has made me even more determined not to buy anything, and I expectto save lots of money in 2014 by being able to shop my stash!Currently when I have a UU which I'm able to replace with a sta!!!!!m I save the replacement cost (and overpay my mortgage with it) -I saved a good few hundred pounds since starting the challenge inApril and I plan to continue with this for 2014 - my target is to"save" £1,000 over the coming year...

Hello Sundaysgirl! Well done on taking a cold,hard look at your stash. This is the start of doing something aboutit, and if you have managed to look it entirely in the face thatmeans you will be able to use up more effectively. Go you!:T

dolly84 wrote: »

New thread for January here.It's my first time starting a thread so if it has gone horribly wrongplease let me know.

It's all gone swimmingly. Thanks! :rotfl:

Right, well I have been away for Christmas and newyear so I've only had the chance to post now. Here we go:

UU:

Hotel sample bath and shower gel (sample)
Sure deodorant spray
Sensodyne Pronamel
Aromatherapy Associates Revive shower gel (50ml)

Ins:

Make-up brushes(professional in a Black Friday Am@zon deal at less than half price)
Tresemme heat barrierand mousse (left at mum's for next time so not counting it)
TBS Vitamin EIlluminating Moisturiser (ditto)
Benefit Rockateur blusher (but near end of No7cream blusher so not counting it as I only got it now as I got a 20%discount)

So that's it. My 2014 annual total of OUTs will be 66 INs and 68 OUTs. That doesn't sound like a lot of progress, butthe INs have been 90%+ everyday stuff like toothpaste etc. andalthough a fair proportion of the UUs have been everyday productionslike those, I have slowly been whittling down the unused, unloved andunwanted. There isn't much left (although some unused Christmaspresents bought in the January sales will be used so I will add themas INs as they stop being potential gifts that I take out of thewrapper and start to use them).

Happy new year everyone!