Days 21-30 of the 100 No Buy Challenge

[kawaiimeows]

I just wanna apologize profusely to y'all and to @@numbersmom about losing the original days 21-30 thread, because I know how important it is and what a source of support/community the no buy challenge has been for y'all. I really feel terrible that *this* of all threads had to disappear, but I guess I didn't get much choice in the matter. 

I can attest that both myself and the mods have been trying our hardest to figure out where the thread went, but unfortunately I think it was deleted (due to a glitch/malfunction in a setting that we mods regularly use), not hidden so its looking like there's no way to bring it back.

Anyway, I believe the issue in question that caused it has been fixed and I'm hoping that it won't happen again. Thanks for being amazing y'all!

 

[kawaiisofoxy]

@@jaylilee definite YES that maintaining the clean is harder!  I love the idea of a capsule wardrobe!  I'm currently doing the thing where you hang all your clothes backwards at the beginning of the year - as you pull pieces out and wear them throughout the year you can rehang them frontwards.  Anything still hanging backwards at the end of the year MUST be donated!  I don't think a capsule wardrobe would go too well with the current cleanout but I'm very excited to try it in 2016! (Haha yes, I am planning that far ahead! Now if only I can remember it next year.  Someone remind me!)

I am really enjoying the process I'm going through now.  I have already made so much progress wearing things that I haven't worn in years!  And some items that I pulled to wear, I've realized that they fit weird, or are an unflattering color, or don't fit in with the rest of my closet, and I've already added about 10 more items to the donate pile! I find myself getting twitchy sometimes because I haven't worn any dresses or some of my nicer sleeveless tops, but I keep reminding myself that when warm weather comes around, I'll be all over my dresses!  And this year I'll wear them instead of constantly going for shorts and tanks!  Mama's gonna be FANCY!

 

[jaylilee]

@@jaylilee definite YES that maintaining the clean is harder!  I love the idea of a capsule wardrobe!  I'm currently doing the thing where you hang all your clothes backwards at the beginning of the year - as you pull pieces out and wear them throughout the year you can rehang them frontwards.  Anything still hanging backwards at the end of the year MUST be donated!  I don't think a capsule wardrobe would go too well with the current cleanout but I'm very excited to try it in 2016! (Haha yes, I am planning that far ahead! Now if only I can remember it next year.  Someone remind me!)

I am really enjoying the process I'm going through now.  I have already made so much progress wearing things that I haven't worn in years!  And some items that I pulled to wear, I've realized that they fit weird, or are an unflattering color, or don't fit in with the rest of my closet, and I've already added about 10 more items to the donate pile! I find myself getting twitchy sometimes because I haven't worn any dresses or some of my nicer sleeveless tops, but I keep reminding myself that when warm weather comes around, I'll be all over my dresses!  And this year I'll wear them instead of constantly going for shorts and tanks!  Mama's gonna be FANCY!

hah no kidding! and the capsule wardrobe is changing how I look at my clothes! Though I have to say, I am very different with my closet than I am with makeup -- whereas makeup is an all-shiny-all-day-long love/hate relationship where I buy too much shit and can never make up my mind on what combo to wear (certainly don't have any go-to looks). ...clothes I wear until they basically fall apart, I hate shopping for clothing and I have no problem having a "uniform" of sorts, to the point where my other clothes get neglected. So for me, it has really helped! this is what my closet looks like now:

This was post-clean out. before this, it was PACKED to the freaking brim, shoes everywhere, could not see my bags because they were up higher due to baskets being where the bags are now. Now this is all I have in there (have added two shirts, but that's about it), and it's making changing a breeze...everything goes with everything for the most part, and walking into my side of the closet feels luxurious and I breathe a sigh of relief at how minimal it is. I love it.

If you're interested in the concept of a capsule wardrobe, check out un-fancy.com, the blogger there makes some amazing stuff happen with a basically 37 piece wardrobe. 

 

[annatomical]

hah no kidding! and the capsule wardrobe is changing how I look at my clothes! Though I have to say, I am very different with my closet than I am with makeup -- whereas makeup is an all-shiny-all-day-long love/hate relationship where I buy too much shit and can never make up my mind on what combo to wear (certainly don't have any go-to looks). ...clothes I wear until they basically fall apart, I hate shopping for clothing and I have no problem having a "uniform" of sorts, to the point where my other clothes get neglected. So for me, it has really helped! this is what my closet looks like now:     This was post-clean out. before this, it was PACKED to the freaking brim, shoes everywhere, could not see my bags because they were up higher due to baskets being where the bags are now. Now this is all I have in there (have added two shirts, but that's about it), and it's making changing a breeze...everything goes with everything for the most part, and walking into my side of the closet feels luxurious and I breathe a sigh of relief at how minimal it is. I love it.   If you're interested in the concept of a capsule wardrobe, check out un-fancy.com, the blogger there makes some amazing stuff happen with a basically 37 piece wardrobe.

I so envy your closet.  Mine needs to be thoroughly purged. 

 

[greendaisy]

Well, I think I was doing pretty good on my goals.  I'll list out the ones I remember. I have some semblance of an excuse this week, my whole family has been very sick so I ended up taking my little sister cookie selling for a good portion of my Saturday.

1) Do Laundry- I didn't technically fold it all, but it has been washed, dried, and I have folded some of it

2) Use the nail biting deterrent- ah yes, this is absolutely awful and I am horrifyingly aware of how often my fingers touch my mouth, even when I'm not biting my nails. (DONE)

3) Pick out jewelry and perfume to go with at least three of my outfits- DONE

4) Tidy my room

5) Make significant progress on at least two of my art projects- I've made some progress on this but not quite as much as I would like to. 

6) Pick out my outfits for the week- DONE

I need to make updates in certain threads (empties, what hit the trash can, and Monday Club), and I am currently being seriously tempted by perfumes. Indies have ruined my life. I never wanted perfumes because they always smelled terrible, and now I just want all the delicious smells. Plus, I can't tell myself that I have a lot of similar products already because I don't have any dupes or similar scents. 

 

[kawaiisofoxy]

Oh my gosh @@jaylilee that is BEAUTIFUL.  I admire your wardrobe and your style!  I have to admit, I've been crawling all over the Un-fancy blog for the past half hour!  I am loving that minimalist thing.  

However.  It might not work for me.  I love color, pattern, options, and lots of brightness!  Basically, I have both the style and attention span of a 5 year old.  Most of my shirts have some form of sequin, sparkle, or beading, and many of my skirts have bright patterns.  Also, one of my favorite activities with my mom and my hubby's aunt is going thrift shopping.  So this is going to take a total paradigm shift, because my current purchasing pattern is "It's pretty, it's bright, and it's only $2!"  

My new question for buying clothing (which I have not done this year!  Minor miracle in and of itself!), will be "Do I *LOVE* this?"  Not do I want it, or will buying it make me feel better for now.  I need to love every last item in my closet!  And I am accepting that it will be a multi-year process.  

Maybe someday I'll have a beautifully minimalist wardrobe like yours! 

 

[nolongerhere1723]

hah no kidding! and the capsule wardrobe is changing how I look at my clothes! Though I have to say, I am very different with my closet than I am with makeup -- whereas makeup is an all-shiny-all-day-long love/hate relationship where I buy too much shit and can never make up my mind on what combo to wear (certainly don't have any go-to looks). ...clothes I wear until they basically fall apart, I hate shopping for clothing and I have no problem having a "uniform" of sorts, to the point where my other clothes get neglected. So for me, it has really helped! this is what my closet looks like now:

This was post-clean out. before this, it was PACKED to the freaking brim, shoes everywhere, could not see my bags because they were up higher due to baskets being where the bags are now. Now this is all I have in there (have added two shirts, but that's about it), and it's making changing a breeze...everything goes with everything for the most part, and walking into my side of the closet feels luxurious and I breathe a sigh of relief at how minimal it is. I love it.

If you're interested in the concept of a capsule wardrobe, check out un-fancy.com, the blogger there makes some amazing stuff happen with a basically 37 piece wardrobe. 

Great closet pic!!! I'm envious! I've been doing a capsule wardrobe since summer 2014, changing every season, and I've been loving it. I've always been someone that is stunted by wardrobe indecision and often would end up falling back on the same outfits anyway. And then I'd just feel bad about neglecting what I didn't wear. Now my closet is significantly pared down (though not as much as yours!) and it makes getting dressed in the morning so much easier.

Next step for me is to further streamline from the four season format. I can't decide whether to go with just two slightly larger ones (spring/summer and fall/winter) or to have one "core" capsule of 25 or so pieces and then rotate in a few seasonal items every season. I live in a seasonal climate so it can be tough!

If only I could get myself to commit to a capsule makeup wardrobe!!

 

[samplegal]

Too bad the original thread got messed up...

Anyway, from what I can remember of my goals, I am still on track--I've polished toenails and fingernails.  I used up my bath sachet (part of my project pan)!  I've only worn eyeshadow two days (and today would be three if I manage to get some paint on my face...) So I still have to work on that.  I can't remember the other mini goals for this section.  

I am struggling with how to use up the various lipsticks I have.  What works for all of you?  Use one at a time until it's gone--I think that would get boring.  Use 2-3 at a time to prevent boredom--but then do the others go bad in a drawer somewhere?  Focus on using up lipsticks or lip glosses first?  I just don't know.

I have well over a hundred lip products and can only manage to get though 2-3 /year. I choose one to focus on, and I'll wear it a couple of times a week, reapplying the same one over the whole day. The other days of the week are a free for all, so I can follow my moods. This way, the boredom doesn't set in, and I do manage to use up a few a year. Even with this system, things in the collection do go off, which is unfortunate. There is just no way to keep up with using things up in time, and it just goes to show me that my collection is unreasonable. Lip products are my absolute worst makeup weakness though. It's true love, what can I say.

On another note, I am still holding strong with this no buy, but the temptations are very much pressing on me. The 25 days have gone by relatively fast though, and I know I'll allow myself a few things at the end. Meanwhile, I feel pretty good about gaining control of my finances, and haven't been charging anything. Only cash. And that's helping me pay down the X-Mas excesses. Digging out of that feels pretty good too.

 

[samplegal]

This is absolutely amazing and inspiring! Congrats on this! Just looking at it seems to make me feel lighter!

I find it hard to "let go" of things in my closet but I've made a lot of progress last month, donating a big bag of stuff. I could probably use more of a purge, and seeing this makes me want a closet closer to this. I especially get lazy about things that need ironing, and those are the clothes that get most neglected.

 

[jaylilee]

I so envy your closet.  Mine needs to be thoroughly purged. 

aw thanks. it was tough to go through and purge stuff. I ended up with 4 bags headed to goodwill. but it felt good! 

Oh my gosh @@jaylilee that is BEAUTIFUL.  I admire your wardrobe and your style!  I have to admit, I've been crawling all over the Un-fancy blog for the past half hour!  I am loving that minimalist thing.  

However.  It might not work for me.  I love color, pattern, options, and lots of brightness!  Basically, I have both the style and attention span of a 5 year old.  Most of my shirts have some form of sequin, sparkle, or beading, and many of my skirts have bright patterns.  Also, one of my favorite activities with my mom and my hubby's aunt is going thrift shopping.  So this is going to take a total paradigm shift, because my current purchasing pattern is "It's pretty, it's bright, and it's only $2!"  

My new question for buying clothing (which I have not done this year!  Minor miracle in and of itself!), will be "Do I *LOVE* this?"  Not do I want it, or will buying it make me feel better for now.  I need to love every last item in my closet!  And I am accepting that it will be a multi-year process.  

Maybe someday I'll have a beautifully minimalist wardrobe like yours! 

Minimalist does not mean black and white! I am just one of those crazies that prefers blacks, whites, tans and greys during winter and spring. Come late spring and summer time I'm all about the color! It's more about paring it down to a rotation of pieces that you can wear for a season (and can complement each other). bring in all the color you want!  I think come summer I'll be on the hunt for a sequin-y shirt...I love those. I also am an avid thrifter (most of the items you see in that image are thrifted, and man did I do a back flip when I found that eddy-bawer tan jacket (sleeveless) for $3 in brand new condition. Thing is originally worth like $120. =/ I never buy jeans out of store. Around here I can find some amazing jeans in great condition, and i always blow through jeans, so it feels like a waste to pay $50, you know? 

And I feel ya, when I found un fancy I read the whole thing in two days >_> color me obsessed hahahaha.

Great closet pic!!! I'm envious! I've been doing a capsule wardrobe since summer 2014, changing every season, and I've been loving it. I've always been someone that is stunted by wardrobe indecision and often would end up falling back on the same outfits anyway. And then I'd just feel bad about neglecting what I didn't wear. Now my closet is significantly pared down (though not as much as yours!) and it makes getting dressed in the morning so much easier.

Next step for me is to further streamline from the four season format. I can't decide whether to go with just two slightly larger ones (spring/summer and fall/winter) or to have one "core" capsule of 25 or so pieces and then rotate in a few seasonal items every season. I live in a seasonal climate so it can be tough!

If only I could get myself to commit to a capsule makeup wardrobe!!

Thank you! being stunted by wardrobe indecision is the worst ;-; and this is the first year I've kind of freed myself from it by seriously paring my wardrobe down while still giving myself choices (and surprisingly, there's a ton of outfits that can come out of a small wardrobe). 

and LOLLLL there's no way I'm comitting to a capsule makeup wardrobe. I'd go batty.

 

[jaylilee]

This is absolutely amazing and inspiring! Congrats on this! Just looking at it seems to make me feel lighter!

I find it hard to "let go" of things in my closet but I've made a lot of progress last month, donating a big bag of stuff. I could probably use more of a purge, and seeing this makes me want a closet closer to this. I especially get lazy about things that need ironing, and those are the clothes that get most neglected.

Thank you! I am the same. It took me well over a day (and a lot of back ache) to clean it out, but walking in just seriously makes me feel so much lighter every day too lol. Good for you on donating stuff! 

As for ironing stuff, I have found that if I hang it as soon as it's out of the drier, it greatly reduces the need to iron my clothes... but I get ya, I mostly go for items i don't need to iron when I'm buying clothes (which is rare) because I'm just lazy.

 

[tacehtpuekam]

Aaaaaaaaand now I really want to create a capsule wardrobe! 

That might have to be a goal for later in the no-buy though. Haven't even thought about organizing my closet yet! /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[numbersmom]

@@Natasha01 I may steal a few of these for the next 10 days. You're on a mission and you're making me think of extra things I can be doing. I cleaned my pantry out last week but I have about 20 cabinets to do.

I did cxl popsugar. I think I mentioned I might keep for February but I changed my mind and I'm going to cxl my husband's sub after next month is over. I gave him 3 months of $shave club for Xmas but it wasn't anything I could order for only 3 months. So I have to remember to cxl it on my own.

 

[Megan27ist]

My goals were:

1. Use a mask once. Not done, but will be later today.  Done!

2. Paint nails twice. Not done either, my last manicure lasted a long while and I just removed it last night, so maybe I'll do my first one tonight.

3. Use a hair mask at least once.  Not done, maybe I'll do that too tonight.  Done!  And I finished one mini and am onto the next one.

4. Finish counting inventory.  Done!

5. Learn about 3 of my samples and use one of them.  1/3 done, but I haven't used it yet.

6. Make space for storage drawers.  Not done.

7. Keep driving appointment and schedule a new one.  I did keep the appointment, but I want to practice some before making the next one.

8. Apply for 1 scholarship.  Not Done

9. Balance checkbooks. Not Done

10. Limit myself to 3 cans of pop. So far I have been successful.

I haven't done a whole lot, but that's okay, there's still 5 more days to go, and I plan on doing at least 2 of them tonight

Edit: I went ahead and did them, I find Sunday evening to be a good time for me to do masks, so hopefully this will become a weekly ritual.

And yesterday I finally went to Sephora to return a lipstick that I was given that I never opened, I didn't have a receipt and felt totally awkward, but the lady didn't even seem phased.  She gave me a gift card for the return, but I didn't buy anything with it since I really don't NEED anything.

 

[numbersmom]

@@jaylilee nice closet and thanks for capsule closet info.

 

[greendaisy]

Hmm...I'll be moving into a much smaller space late this summer. I had no idea capsule wardrobes existed but I'll seriously consider making seasonal ones later this year. Currently I am still participating in a personal experiment where I am working out the value of my clothes/shoes/accessories via cost per wear. 

 

[SneakyBurrito]

I love color, pattern, options, and lots of brightness!

This is me, too.  I don't like neutrals.  Well, not on me.  Other people can make them work!  (Well, most of my pants are black, brown, or khaki so I can mix and match with different shirts and shoes -- I guess those are neutrals.  I don't do skirts.)

All of my shirts are bright.  No pastels for me.  Jewel tones -- reds and blues, especially -- are my favorites.  I think it's because I'm so pale, I just need some color.  I look like a Goth without blush, what with my black hair and all.  (So I also don't generally wear black.)

When I was in college, if I was sleepy and didn't want to be called on, I would wear neutral colors or navy then.  Because I kind of blended into the background of faces and didn't stand out.  If I was alert, I'd be all about red or orange (and I stood out that way).  It totally worked!  (Careful choice of seating helped.  In a genetics class where a professor called on people a lot, I found a seat that was basically out of his line of sight behind the lectern.  Which was good because I got the post-lunch drowsiness hard in that class.)

Anyway, I'm pretty good about getting rid of clothes I don't wear.  I do tend to keep pants in 3 or 4 sizes because I'm a BAD yo-yo dieter.  But I donate clothes about once a year and my wardrobe is a manageable size.

 

[numbersmom]

@@kawaiimeows thank you for the post. I for one appreciate all that the makeup talk team does for our community here. And I think we all understand glitches happen. Thanks for working on the issue!

 

[West Coast Beauty Addict]

I didn't really have any set goals for this week but less than 2 weeks ago my best friend said lets take a trip.  So we took a trip to 

Spoiler

The Grand Canyon

I bought a few souvenirs for myself and friends and family.

I did not exempt souvenirs or travel because I never thought I'd be taking a trip during the no buy.  but I feel okay about this because the ones I bought for myself are useful and this a once in lifetime trip.

Spoiler

Hand painted coasters, refrigerator magnet, and a reusable bag.

 

[Kristine Walker]

@@jaylilee That brown purse in the middle just called me "Momma"

ETA: I have still not cleaned out my car. We have all been sick as dogs here, dang flu. Whenever I manage to drag my ailing carcass outside I will tackle it.

 My no buy is still going strong. Between an Ulta exchange (won't be used until after the no-buy, but I'm still excited at having something to look forward to) and all the great stuff I got from Secret Santa, and a bonus surprise gifty I haven't really had any urges yet.

  I'm getting myself mentally prepared to resist any Spring collections and new product releases.

  BTW, if you love EmilyNoel83 on youtube, her first Emily Awards 2014 video is up! (insert fangirl flailing here)