My No Buy Year V3: The 2025 Slow Version
This year I’m doing a No Buy Year again, but with a twist. In the past I had always done it cold turkey: come up with several different categories that I want to address my spending habits in and stop spending in those categories in one fell swoop.
Not this time.
I’ve tried this method twice in the past. Both times it worked for a month or two before it backfired and I would go on a spending spree afterwards. The longest I was able to cut back on spending, but not cut it out completely, was during the COVID pandemic when my student loans were on hold AND I had discovered Dave Ramsey, his course, and his method of debt payoff.
I paid off a car, at least 3 credit cards, and have since gotten into credit card debt again. And then paid that off…then did it again. And opened a new card and put an iPad and iPhone on lines of credit with Apple.
I have also grown to become disillusioned with the way the American economy works which is essentially to exploit the working class (which I define here as anyone who is not independently wealthy or has not inherited wealth and must trade their mental and/or physical labor in the form of work in exchange for money). I hate being in debt…again. Earlier this year I actually took money out of a savings account in order to pay off a card and guess what?
Yep, I used it and just paid it off.
Again.
So.
The problem is not an income problem. At the moment I have a good paying job. My problem is a spending issue.
I’m not sure if it’s based out of habits that I developed as a child or if it is an addiction, or both. It may have started as a habit, you know, going shopping with Mom every Saturday and sometimes hiding bags from her husband, and become an addiction. Maybe I used shopping as a way to get a dopamine hit. Maybe I have undiagnosed ADHD and this is one of the things that tickles that fancy. Either way it has become detrimental.
It has been this way before. In the past I would try to outsmart myself by paying 6 months of rent and 6 months of some bills in one go when I got my student loan payments, but doing that made me feel that I had spending money. I had some but by the end of each semester I would be asking mom for help. Why? Because around that same time I discovered YouTube and rediscovered my love of makeup. Beauty YouTube really did a number on me in 2012. I was making videos every week and would go to Sephora so often that I knew the employees by name and they knew me. It all started with the Naked Palette.
My procurement of makeup happened at an alarming rate. I would declutter and then do it all over again. The constant flow of beauty products in my life is exhausting. I get excitement from discovering a new thing, then buying the thing, then opening the box and using it the first time, but after that the excitement would dissipate.
I have already done a massive declutter of my makeup and I still have more now than I could use in a lifetime.
I also believe that shame helps no one. I have spent money on objects that do not bring me long-lasting joy and do not help me towards any goal other than to obtain momentary happiness. Hiding my shopping does not help. Ignoring it does not help.
Shame is a beast that thrives in the dark. It craves loneliness. Hiding it away feeds the beast.
I’m not about that life.
I saw a post on Reddit of a person who made a list of every item they owned in some categories. I thought it was a great idea. Below is a list of the number of items I own that are either makeup, skincare, or unread physical books. I just didn’t have it in me to count all of the digital and audiobooks too.
Go on, take a gander. Take a peek. Feel better about yourself. Find yourself in the table below. Let out a sigh when you find out you’re better off than I am, or that you have troublesome categories too. Indulge your voyeur. I don’t mind.
Setting spray: 2
Primer: 2
Color corrector: 3
Foundation: 11
Concealer: 5
Blush: 21
Highlight: 22
Bronzer: 6
Face powder: 5
Mascara: 10
Eye liner: 13
Eyeshadow primer: 3
Eyeshadow palette: 16
Individual eyeshadow: 104
Eyeshadow sticks: 19
Lip scrub/exfoliant: 4
Lip liner: 10
Lip balm: 27
Lip treatment: 4
Lip gloss: 10
Lip stain: 3
Lip oil: 13
Lipstick: 71
Mini soap: 8
Full size soap: 3
Lotion: 9
Unread physical 📚: 56
Perfumes: 27
Face creams: 9
Face serums: 5
Face masks: 6
Mini sunscreens: 8
Clear face barrier: 2
Face serum: 5
Brow pencil: 3
Brow gel: 2
Brow highlights: 1
Contour: 1
Glitter glue: 1
Eye glitter gel: 1
Face oil: 3
*Context for the table: I did not separate out the categories as much as I could have. Blush for example includes all blushes of all formulations (gel, liquid, powder, etc) and sizes (mini, full-size, sample size, etc).
Let’s note the shockers. Yep! 104 single eyeshadows. The VAST majority of these are from a small brand called Clionadh. They’re all beautiful and I haven’t worn them in years. I bought them because
Pretty
Hannah Louise Poston loved them and I thought I would too
They’re all pretty and I couldn’t choose so I ended up buying them all (that they had at the time)
I like supporting small businesses
I like supporting women-owned business
Supporting these businesses does help them, and it reinforces to myself that I am a person who supports small businesses so I have incorporated my own identity into purchasing these items as if it proves to me who I thought I was
There may be other reasons but this is a good start.
I could never use these up in a lifetime (not unless I started to do drag). I have more makeup than I could use in a lifetime. Lipstick! I have SO MANY. More than I thought I did. The lip balms will be used up. Every last one. I love lip balms which is why I have so many and I love using them up. The same cannot be said for eyeshadow, lipstick, and most other products. I do tend to use up mascaras, primers, face creams/serums, soaps, mini sunscreens, perfumes (it just takes a while), and eventually a foundation and setting spray.
I was heartened at certain categories. Only 2 brow gels! 1 glitter glue! I had more mini soaps but I’m already making my way through those and they go fairly quickly. For a long time I only had 1 mascara on hand and it was the one from Thrive Causemetics. I do like that mascara but … it’s thick. There’s nothing subtle about it so I have been in search of others. I have tried a new-to-me-brand (Victoria Beckham) and do not like that one but the Merit mascara I do. I also like the Westman Atelier brown mascara and would love it if it were refillable. So many of their products are, especially ones in the elaborate packaging like these are, but alas it is not. I hope it will be one day. So how did I go from 1 to 10???
You’ll also notice a blank column. In 1 years time, at the end of December 2025, I will count again. I usually don’t like keeping “empties” (containers of products that I’ve used up) but I will do so, share that info, update the tracker, and then throw those items away. I’m excited to see how many lotions I can get rid of, lip balms I can use up, and if I finish a bottle of foundation. If I use up anything else I will be thrilled.