No Buy Ban Rules Update

I've been doing really well on my No Buy Ban so far (nothing bought!) and I have to say that it isn't easy at all.

With all the time that I have to go online and watch Youtube videos and read beauty blogs, temptation is just everywhere. Even when I head out for groceries, I never fail to spend at least 10 minutes at the drugstore just swatching.

Of course, it's always somewhat (slightly) comforting in a strange way that I'm really a housewife and therefor have no money to spend on unnecessary things like, say, more makeup. But, come on. One can only lie to herself so so long, no? Women will always need unnecessary stuff like bronzers, nail polishes, lipglosses...you get the drift.

So I came up with a couple of new rules for my No Buy Ban. I figured that if I don't want to turn into one big pink sasquatch going on a rampage in drugstores after I'm off my ban I really should give myself some sort of allowance.

The original rules:

1. I'm not going to buy anything that I don't absolutely need, like, say, another pressed powder to add to my collection of 8 others.
2. I can only replenish what I've used up (eg. shampoo, conditioner, face moisturizer etc.)
3. The ban will last for a minimum of 30 days starting November 9 2012.

The additional rules:

1. An allowance of 3000yen will be allocated for each month to buy whatever I want. Should I spend more than 3000yen this month, the excess will be carried forward into the next month. If I spend less than my allocated amount, the balance can be added into the following month.
2. Birthday month and Christmas month would be my bonus months and I will be allowed to spend twice my allowance (yessssssss!). And yes, if I don't spend all that money, it will be added into the following month! Wheeeeee!
3. The ban will run for an entire year (and a little bit more), ending on 31 December 2013.

I know the new rules seem like I'm only making excuses to be able to spend, but I have a pretty good argument for them.

See, it helps me think and plan my purchases carefully so that I won't overspend. And at the end of the day, I'd really love to save up for one good quality product that may possibly be expensive instead of blindly buying 5 that end up as duds. Makes sense, no?

No. 3 took me a long time of thinking and reasoning. It's really hard when you're the only person in the argument and you have to look on both sides. But in the end, I think a year will fly by quickly when I have so many things products that I've only swatched but not put to use yet. Considering that when I first came to Japan I could fit all my makeup into a small pouch, I  have now accumulated more than enough items to take me through 13 months. It will definitely be a challenge to refrain from buying beauty products because I really love being a lab rat when it comes to new products, but I think I'll be able to come out of this one alive and well at the end of 2013.

Let the ban begin!

No Buy Ban

Ever since I came to Japan about 8 months ago, I've mostly been a stay at home wife. I learned to cook, did housekeeping, familiarized my self with the neighborhood and mostly, enjoyed not having to wake up at insane hours for work and function on 40 hour days.

Unfortunately, the one thing that I didn't enjoy was not having an income. Before, I was making some decent money and ate out often (partly no time to cook, partly not really knowing how to cook). I could shop whenever I want and I didn't need to think twice when I saw something that I liked.

In the first few months of being here, I spent on the things that I couldn't bring along with me. I guess when you move to someplace new, you have to eventually build up your stash. 

I got bored of buying the needs, and I began making a mental list of wants. All of a sudden, cosmetic and skincare products became all kinds of interesting to me. I started watching Youtube videos. There was a day when I even devoted 3 hours of my time to researching "How to Make the Perfect Hair Bun" and tried it out on myself.

I have never been on such a vain roll in my life. Should you be someone who knew me in real life, you would know that I hardly wear makeup and I don't comb my hair. I may even be called a little boyish.

But here I am, all of 29 years old and learning beauty tricks from people far younger. I thought, hey, if I'm gonna be a stay at home wife, I wanna be an attractive one at that.

So I started buying.

It started with browsing at the ELF website. They had a great deal of stuff at dirt cheap prices. I saw the 100 color eyeshadow palette on sale so I bought it. The more I browsed, the more I bought.

In just 2 weeks, I bought about $100 worth of products from ELF. Now, they didn't ship to Japan, so I got myself a US address and had my stuff shipped there. I had then paid another $250 to have my stuff shipped to my apartment here.

And with that, I spent the first $350 from my Malaysian bank account. Of course, who would feel the pinch when you're not physically paying in cash, right?

I discovered the wonders that is Rakuten after the husband mentioned it. More buying ensued.

In 8 months, I had spent a lot of money on zero income. Sure, I use all of the stuff that I bought. But who could really finish using up a 100 color eyeshadow palette anyway? Why did I need that extra lipgloss when I always get hair stuck on my lips? And 5 foundations? Really?

My bank account balance was beginning to look like the way it had been in my early 20s. Miserable. I'm sure the husband would be really disappointed if he had known about my secret spending.

I needed to put a stop to my shopaholic ways.

Hence, the No Buy Ban.

The rules are simple:

1. I'm not going to buy anything that I don't absolutely need, like, say, another pressed powder to add to my collection of 8 others.
2. I can only replenish what I've used up (eg. shampoo, conditioner, face moisturizer etc.)
3. The ban will last for a minimum of 30 days starting November 9 2012.

I've been cutting down on waste in my life for what seems like forever, so I can't even begin to describe how ashamed I am right now to be surrounded by all the things that I had bought on impulse and possibly may not have a chance to use.

Let's see how this goes.