A Small Win

I went to Walmart for dog food and walked out with just dog food.  I used a coupon.

Adding to the List of No Buys

No Buys

Purses, Handbags, Wallets, etc.  
I will not purchase another until this date a year from today- February 13, 2015.


Jewelry 
I will not purchase any jewelry for a year.  I am allowed to make anything I want with what I have on hand though.

Storage Containers

I will use all the available storage containers I have or make do with homemade ones for the next year.


Low Buys and Slow Buys
Candles

I will burn all of my candles completely before I purchase a new one.  This includes tea lights and wax melts.  I will use up all my incense and air fragrances.   I don't think it will take me a full year so I am allowing myself to repurchase when my supply is gone.

Shoes
I will allow myself two new pairs of shoes for the next twelve months.  No more.

Books
I can get books from the library but I must read and get rid of a dozen personal books before I can buy a new one.  I will need to keep a list and keep track of this.  I consider books listed on paperbackswap as being the same as donated.


This list doesn't leave me much to purchase for myself.   Perhaps I can spend my time doing other things I enjoy like gardening or walking my dogs.  Shopping has been my go to entertainment for way too long.  Time to embrace a healthy change.

My Face Is Spending My Fortune- Make Out 2014 and Project Pan

I am finally getting around to my New Years Resolutions.

My first and most important one is to stop buying any personal care products or cosmetics for a complete year.  I have gone a lot crazy with Dollar Tree make up hauls, sephora.com, beauty.com, ulta.com, shopmissa.com, etc.  

I will not purchase any of these items until February 13th, 2015.   The only exceptions will be my Birchbox and Ipsy subscriptions (which I plan on cancelling in the next few months) and anything I have used up completely.  For example, if I use up a mascara I cannot buy another if I have another tube in stock.  I mean I need to be completely out of that particular thing.

Any gift items or free samples that come in the mail will not be counted.

I am looking forward to "hitting pan" on many of my items.  I plan on making a list of items to repurchase as I use products up. 

This is scary but also kind of exciting.  A year is a long time but I've got so much stuff to use up.
Here we go.

Alive and Kicking

I'm still here.  It's a new year.  I'm thinking about renewing my interest in frugal living.  It's taken a back seat for me for the past year or two and now it's time to get back to it.

I miss scratch cooking.  I miss my freebies.  I miss posting about recycling and reusing my items rather than buying new.  I'm tired of the consumer treadmill.  I want to be a more conscious consumer.  My children need to learn from my example.  Delayed gratification is a good thing.

We're getting a late start because we took a last minute trip to Disney after Christmas.  We've been home a week and everyone has a cold.  I don't really have any good ideas for how to save money at Disney except maybe pack snacks.  Also, the kid's meals at the parks are really a decent size and easily enough food for an average adult. 

For starters, I'm going to read this list of 56 Things to do Instead of Spending Money.   I know I have old gift cards laying around that I can use when I get the urge to splurge.  And the pantry is in need of a major clean out.  Plus, I have pinterest ideas sitting around that I've never gotten around to making. 

Gonna go throw ingredients in my bread machine and get started on the after Christmas clean up.  Today is a stay home day.  Hubby starts his new job tomorrow and the kids go back to school. 

Two New Beauty Favorites and Ipsy VS. Birchbox

I'm getting ready for dinner out with the husband and the kids and I thought I'd share two of my new favorite things from my little cosmetics bag.


I've been too cheap to buy the iconic NARS blush in Orgasm (I didn't name it).  So, when I found an old favorite color from Cover Girl that reminded me of the peachy pink sparkle of the NARS blush for under $6 I was sold.  Cover Girl Classic Color Blush in Natural Glow rocks my world.  It looks great on my skin.  The compact comes with a handy mirror too.  I will repurchase this when the pan is empty. 

Next is another Cover Girl product.  I love the new Smoochies line of lip balms.  My favorite one is Smooch in a pale mauve.  It's so creamy and it has a nice smell.  I can't describe it other than a cross between strawberries and new playdoh. 

I've been subscribing to both Birchbox and Ipsy for a few months now.  If you don't know both of these companies send out a package of cosmetic goodies once a month for a $10 subscription fee.  Some of the products are full size but most of them are a generous sample size.   I have really enjoyed trying new products from the Birchbox but their product sizes and amount of goodies has been disappointing lately.  Ipsy definitely wins on the product size front and I will keep my Ipsy account.  I am going to cancel my Birchbox soon.

The Parenting Files: Bringing Mt. Washmore to the Children

I learned how do laundry when I was 9.   My Dad would wash everything in hot water and it would shrink my clothes.  I loved my baggy clothes (no thanks to early onset puberty).  
So, I know full well that my children are old enough to start learning the basics of their laundry care. 

This excerpt is taken from a flylady email:

"The secondary payoff came several years later when first DS went to college. He held laundry classes in his dorm, because he was the only one of his friends who knew how to do their own laundry. I got one of those treasured phone calls in which he said, "Thank you, Mom, for preparing me. I can't believe these people don't know how to do their own laundry." "

When I was in college I worked part time in a laundromat.   A guy came up to the counter and asked me to quietly explain to him how to wash his laundry.  I came out and proceeded to show him the routine and the whole time he kept shushing me because he didn't want the other patrons to know that he was learning. 

My daughter was working on cleaning her bedroom (which I can almost walk thru now) this weekend and bellowed from her room that it was time for me to wash her clothes because her hamper was full.  I responded by telling her that she had better whisk her basket of dirties to the washing machine then if she wanted clean clothes.  

My children are babied entirely too much and I know this.  But, I am determined that they will know how to do their own laundry, how to do basic cleaning and how to cook a few simple meals before they leave my house. 

Cheap Lips

You would think that I wear cosmetics daily given the amount that I've blogged about them.  In reality, I only wear make up a few times a week and it takes me less than 5 minutes to do a complete routine.  Most days, I'm going around with nothing but Chapstick. 

My one daily essential is some type of lip covering.  Usually it's clear lip balm.  I put Soft Lips in Wildberry on after every shower.  Lately, I've wanted something a little more dazzling than clear balm.  I found a $2 tube of LA Colors Mood lip gloss in pink.  It's such a pretty sheer pink and it isn't tacky at all.  I don't always like LA Colors make up products.  This one is a winner.