Project Low-Buy 2015, Update #2: What I bought and thoughts on "catching up" on products | Hello Pretty Bird! - A beauty and not-so-glamorous lifestyle blog

05 April, 2015

Project Low-Buy 2015, Update #2: What I bought and thoughts on "catching up" on products

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Month two of my three-month low-buy challenge for 2015 is now over! I have managed to keep on track, so today I thought I'd share what I managed to pick up this month using my meager budget with you.


New to the challenge? Here are the basic rules:

GOAL: Reduce frivolous buying by spending no more than $75 out of pocket over the course of three months.

RULES: Other than basic living and blog or work-related expenses (outlined here), all purchases must be counted towards the budget. The budget can be increased by selling items I already own or if I receive a monetary gift. Purchases made with rewards points, referral credits etc. do not count towards the budget.

Just to quickly recap February, I did receive some cash gifts for my birthday, so my budget/balance at the end of the month was $69.86. I didn't go over budget this month, but I did purchase several things... would you like to see what I got?


A SMALL MEMEBOX HAUL: $14.20
I still had a few Memepoints lingering in my account, so that coupled with the fact that I had a couple code meant that I got the three items pictured above for just $14.20 shipped. My wee haul included the It's Skin Power 10 YE Formula Effector (which I have not started testing yet), the Missha Dong Baek Gold Premium Recovery Hair Mist (which I like so far but need to test more), and the Ariul Mood Maker Nobody Knows Why mask set. I just finished up the last of the Ariul masks yesterday, so I plan on posting a review of them later this week.


PURE HEALS PROPOLIS 90 AMPOULE: $18.04
In last month's Use It Or Lose It post I tried a propolis ampoule by LJH and liked it a lot, but was mildly horrified at the price tag ($32.50 for a mere 15ml). I decided to seek out more budget-friendly alternatives, and settled on PureHeals Propolis 90 Ampoule, which is nearly a third of the price of LJH per volume. So, does it measure up? I'm not sure yet because I just got in the mail two days ago and have only used it once so far. But I do plan on doing a review after I've used it for a few weeks. If you've been on the hunt for an affordable propolis serum too, you can get this one from eBay or ibuybeauti for around $18 shipped.


MEMEBOX PONY NAILS PASTELS SET: $6
This delightfully springy nail collection is currently priced at $12, but I managed to get it for $6 somehow. I can't remember the precise details, but I think I had 3 points in my account + a coupon code + there must have been a free shipping promo? I like deals. So far I've only worn the blue color, but mint green is next on the agenda. I've been meaning to write a post with swatches of these, but a couple of the colors are out of stock right now so maybe that's pointless? Shrug.


REVLON PHOTOREADER INSTA-FIX MAKEUP FOUNDATION STICK: $10.07

I feel like foundation sticks are starting to pop up all over the place these days, and this one by Revlon caught my eye for whatever reason. I haven't used it enough to write a full review yet, but I will say this: The finish was a bit drier than I expected. Further analysis required though.


A BUNCH OF HAIR ACCESSORIES FROM FOREVER 21: $7.44
Not all of them are pictured, but you get the idea. I don't buy tons of clothes from Forever 21 (big boobs = fit problems) but I love browsing their accessories department. I use little bow clips like the ones you see in the picture to keep my hair out of my face while I'm working, and they have cute ones in spades.


MODCLOTH STYLISH SURPRISE - APPAREL: $4
I posted an unboxing of this on my blog just yesterday! In the past ModCloth Stylish Surprises cost $10 (plus $4 shipping for orders under $15), but this time they raised the prices for apparel to $15 and dresses to $20. I had a $15 credit sitting in my ModCloth account, so I decided to grab one apparel surprise since it only cost me $4 for shipping. Luckily, it turned out to be a really nice coat that would have been more than worth $19 out of pocket!


TOTAL FUNDS LEFT IN BUDGET AFTER MARCH PURCHASES: $10.11


I didn't have too much trouble sticking with my budget this month thanks to the influx of birthday cash. I'm sure there were a couple of things I was mildly tempted to buy but ended up passing on, because that's just how internet shopping is... the only thing I can remember offhand is the new-ish TonyMoly Peach Punch Cleansing Balm. But that can wait until I've run down my cleansing oil/balm supply a bit more.

One thing I've been trying to focus on this month is organizing what I already own. I've been combing through my makeup drawer to get rid of stuff that's expired or I never use, and I plan on doing a purge of ill-fitting clothing as well. I also spent a bit of time organizing the backlog of products I've been meaning to review on this blog. I'm not sure if this number will be shocking or not, but I counted over 70 products that I thought enough of (or little enough of) to photograph for a potential review that still haven't made it onto this site. In some cases it's because the product requires a long testing phase (like for skincare with actives), but there are many things I've tried thoroughly over the past few months and just haven't had time to write about. So I made a list, checked it twice, and am trying to catch up on those posts. Almost all of the things in the 70+ folder are things I purchased myself (not press samples) so it's not like anybody's bugging me to publish, but I feel like the information could be potentially helpful to other shoppers? So it doesn't do much good sitting in my brain and on my hard drive. Anyway, don't be surprised if you see more reviews than usual here over the next couple of months.

And that's it for my March recap. There isn't much left in my budget, but one of my goals for April is to sell a bunch of stuff I'm not using. I already have a lot of it sorted, it's just a matter of finding time to post it online and deal with shipping and stuff. Bleh. This is the final month of the official low-buy, so I'd rather end it with a little cash in the kitty. I'll post one last update around the beginning of May!


What do you think of my low-buy so far? Would you have purchased any of the things I did?


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4 comments:

  1. You've done such a great job on this low buy! I try to shop my stash as much as possible. It also helps me keep some perspective in what I actually might need. I forget I have certain colors all the time! The pastel nail polish set is really cute. I'm loving those colors right now!

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  2. Thank you! Yeah, I've definitely been trying to shop my stash lately. And give away products I don't use to folks who might enjoy them. My mom always gets excited when I come to visit because I usually bring a sack of lightly-used beauty stuff with me, lol! I love the Memebox pastel nails too. They're so perfect for this time of year.

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