Project hit the pan

 

 This is mine version of hit the pan project were you use up certain things before purchasing something new.

There are sales everywhere, and sometimes when I’m bored I tend to browse things online and sometimes I see things I really like, and just buy them. Not that I regret my purchases, but honestly I don’t need them, I just bought them because I was bored, and I love online shopping.

But because of that I might have way too much the same products and I can’t use them all!  I decided to do something and hopefully this will help me save money, and don’t spend on things that I already have.

 

 

I’m subscribed to Lookfantastic beauty box, and in December I had Douglas advent calendar, so I have a lot of different size skincare products, and my goal is use them up all, maybe leave few smaller ones from each category – face cream, serum, eye cream for as travel product, when we will be able to travel again (actually have travel plans in March, but I’m not sure we will be able to go!).

Honestly i don't even remember all products that i have or what are they for , and this is just part of them!

 

Products I want to stop buy unless I run out of them:

• ·         Eye shadow palettes - goal is to use up at least 1. Usually I get bored of them, maybe use up few colors and then get rid of them or never really use them again. Obviously I know I’ll never use up all colors from 1 palette but at least most of them!
• ·         All skincare samples, mini sizes. I’m not sure that I even know/remember all products that I have I need to categorize them and use them finally!
• ·         Not makeup related – but candles are other thing that I buy. Don’t get me wrong I love to burn them, especially in winter, but I need to burn all of them before buying new ones (actually before this almost ordered new ones, because they were cheap not that I needed more!). I was lucky enough to receive a lot candles as gifts for Christmas, usually only my best friend and brother gift me candles, I never receive them from others :D Do I really need more now?!
• ·         Read all my thrifted books – I usually buy books either online or second hand because they are cheaper and online selection is better than in stores here. Second hand books in thrift store, where I usually purchase them,  are cheaper than 1 euro and sometimes they have 50% off sale. That means if I find something I like – crime/thrillers, I’ll buy them. Sometimes I have urge to read sometimes I’m just too lazy for that. But that means they pile up just like other things on this list and takes too much space! Decided to read all of them, donate or recycle the ones I dint really like, and stop buying more of them.

 

The goal is to use up all things mentioned above and only then buy something new. I spend more money that I wanted this year, not that I over spend for myself on things that I don’t need or spend way too much money for Christmas gifts, I had some health related things that were expensive. As well I have to make doctor’s appointment in the beginning of January or no later than the end of February, that’s not gonna be cheap! Need money for potential travel plans, and in summer I want to restart my road to FINALLY!!!getting drivers license! Maybe this will help me to stop online shop because I’m bored and stop impulse purchases. Not gonna lie, because of emergency state in country, thanks to rules that we are not allow to purchase certain things in stores, that helps me a lot not to buy unnecessary things!

 

I started to carefully follow my budget this month and see on what I spend way too much money on, want to see what I can change or where I can save.

 

Fingers crossed it will work for me!

 

No spend September update/fail

Actually didnt saved anything , and spend more than i wanted, and had to borrow money from my savings.

From my list of things i need to buy , i just need to buy 2/3 more things that i need to buy. Need new  hair mask. Bought new shampoo and will see how it will work, my hair is very picky with shampoos! Brow gel - i liked my previous one but hopefully i'll find something cheaper without ridiculous shipping price!

Drank less/spend less on  take away coffee, actually didnt drink that much coffee at all this month. Bought 2 over priced ones but very tasty coffee's pumpkin spice latte and maple syrup latte, they were worth the price! So maybe i can treat myself once a week with more expensive and different tasting coffee than just regular one, not bad idea. 

Found good pair of jeans from Pepco for just 10 euro! That's bargain and they look good, and wasnt in that ugly blue color that cheaper jeans have, but in dark grey :)

Treated myself with candles and they were worth it, possibly will buy something from them next month again, because i like to support local business and they are good candles, and price inst that bad too! And now they have new fall scents and i really want to try them! Will see.

Had some unexpected things to come up - more dentist appointments than i was hoping for ! I still have to go more and after x rays will see if i have more cavities or not! Fingers crossed just 1, but i'm not that hopeful, cause i think my dentist suspected more cavities. 

Had to buy my expensive meds , sucks to have chronic illness but it is what it is!

Maybe next month will go better ! Still have dentist appointments but other than that maybe less other expenses! But i think i'll need to start to do Christmas shopping if i want to order something online, takes way to much time to get here and i dont want to receive something for Christmas on February like last time :D

Till next time! :)

Candle haul

 Mini candle haul

So i wanted to buy new candles because i was running out, and it's finally cold enough for burning them. I recently bought 2 very cheap ones for 1 euro each, burned 1 already and other is half burned, and found i have another new one, while cleaning.

I prefer scented ones over regular ones, cause i like that the aroma fill the room and it makes it more cosy. But i'm picky with scents and i dont like very strong ones as well! May or may not found winter candle in H&M, that's on my wishlist :D

My favorite candles are from Yankee Candle but in here you cant really buy them in good selection or price. Last winter i ordered bunch of them on Amazon but i didnt liked all scents in that bunch because if you buy them separately it's more expensive. But then again buying something cheaper but not sure if i'll like them it's still waste of money!

That's why this time i decided to order something i know i'll like and support local business as well. 

I ordered them from Latvijas sveces and they ship worldwide as well and they have good selection.

I spent 23.70 together with shipping (shipping for me was 3 euros).

I'll start with 2 bigger ones , i havent burned them but their scents are amazing.

1. Mint & Watermelon - this ine i was looking forward the most - because i love all those scents! It doesnt smell like mint and watermelon :D but something fresh , something like fancy had cream but i mean that in best way! And packaging is cool! Cant wait to burn it soon.

2. Passion fruit & grapefruit -  yes please! Love it. It has zesty aroma . Grapefruit is my autumn candle scent  as we dont really have that huge autumn scent selection and cinnamon and apple is more Christmassy for me.

3. Soy wax candle  with  HEATHER, BERGAMOT AND GRAPEFRUIT scent - yes another one with grapefruit scent and i'll repurchase this one next time(probably next month :D )!

4 and 5. Lemon ice cream scented candles - Last 2 ones were soy wax lemon ice cream scented ones - i wanted 1 in different scent but they were sold out and i choose lemon one instead. But these ones were kinda little bit  disappointing- they almost didnt smell like anything or scent was so faint i couldnt smell almost anything. So for me - i wont repurchase them in this scent!

I'm already planning to buy more candles next month from this brand :)

Till next time! 

No spend on shit i don't need September

 This month i'll have to repurchase some make up items i'm running out of but when i go to drugstore to buy 1 thing i buy something else  too :D And when i do it after i get paid , i have that i'll treat myself moment and i rarely stick to what i really need i just buy something i want.

Currently i'm running out of:

• Concealer 
• Setting spray
• Mascara ( although i have 2 travel size ones, and lets be real i'm not traveling anywhere this year, and maybe i'll use them up instead!)
• Hand cream 
• Brow mascara 
• Facial mist/spray (with this i'm not sure that i need both- this and setting spray!)
• Hair color ( still havent decided if i want to color my hair or stick to just toning it. Because i love to wear orangy eye shadow and i dont think it looks good together with dusty pinkish hair color. So maybe i will stay with this blondish hair color , i dont hate it, but i'm kinda tired of it!)
• Shampoo and hair mask 
• Probably something else i forgot about!

It's not gonna be cheap!

Then i want to find jeans - i gained some weight and some of my high wasted skinny jeans , they fit, but they are kinda uncomfortable - i need something that is lose at stomach area , othervise i start to feel some pain from very tight outfits  and i know i'll have to have another surgery someday but i dont want it anytime soon! And i cant find jeans at trift store , there is nothing cute in my size and if there is, they are ugly!

Need to buy 3 gifts, and soon!

Want to put aside some money for Christmas, how fast time flies feels like December will be next month! I bought first Christmas gift this week :D Ok, i bought it on Aliexpress and you know how much time it takes to arrive and i dont know how it will look in real life! And i'm allowing myself to spend no more than 20 euros on Aliexpress ,  there is somethings i want  to buy, and i might do it this month!

Finally i want to buy few candles because it's finally cold enough for burning them. We dont really have autumn candles or i dont know were to buy them, but i'm not going to buy some overpriced ones somewhere online. I'm thinking to buy some made in Latvia, will see! I'll check prices and fragrances and decide.

And i have another dentist appointment this month , but hopefully last one!

These are things that i need to spend money on and i know that this feels like huge shopping list , but if i stick to that list, maybe that helps me! We will see! 

Till next time!

 

No spend August update

 I had mid month update but i have no idea where and why blogspot lost it , i saved it but it got lost/deleted somewhere.

How my month went?

Make up wise i didnt bought anything new. I looked and maybe had some things in my basket but never completed purchase! But not gonna lie almost slipped few times. So maybe i saved little bit there.

As it goes for take away coffee, i spend 5 euros less than last month, that's not really good! And honestly i dont think i actually tried!

After looking trough all my purchases i either buy coffee or food/take away/ ready to eat. I'm lazy and yes i'll blame my shitty schedule and i dont have time or want to cook! But that's not cheap and not good for me! So i'll have to work on that next month.

The things i wanted/needed to buy:

I needed sandals for summer - i got them for less than 20 euros. Maybe they are not best looking ones, but Walkmaxx makes comfiest shoes and that's more important than something pretty that gives you the worst blisters!

I bought 2 pairs of  earphones - they wasnt  that expensive and i love them. Sound is amazing!

I didn't bought that t shirt i wanted, but maybe i'll buy it later, i still want it, i just dont need it.

As for clothes - i sticked to only buying something i need, and trifted 2 things  - awesome small hand bag and Levis jean jacket - wasnt expensive and honestly i cant find things in trift stores that i really like. Usually when i go, i come out with at least bag full of things but this month just 2 things. Checked new store and i dont know maybe in bigger cities selection is not that good?! 

So in conclusion i dint save that much, but i'm not giving up.I have plans for next month. 

Till next time :)

No spending on shit that i don't need August

I started this no buy thing months ago, just to save enough money for my upcoming trip. And that actually somewhat helped, and i didnt even spend all my money on that.

Then virus happened, and i tried to buy only necessities, just because i was unsure what will happen with my job.
But as soon as i knew everything about work will be ok,  i started to splurge on whatever i wanted and ok, most of those things i actually use and some of them i always wanted to buy, but never bought, because they were expensive and i could live without them. But some of those things i bought, just because they were on sale, or cheap, not that i really needed them.

I know that we dont know what will happen in near future, but we have trip planned for next year, and i want to save some money for that, even if i'm not sure if we were able to travel, but that is something to look forward to.
Shit sometimes happens and you need money.
And Christmas is coming, and even if we dont spend that much on Christmas gifts for each other, i still want to have budget for that.


My buying way too much takeaway coffee habit  is little bit better now, but thing that doesnt help is my work is so close to coffee shop i like, and sometimes when i take my lunch break i really crave coffee.

At least i dont spend money on clothes as much as before. Maybe sales arent that good or i started to buy only things that i really need.

I had some fails - ordered summer shoes, that supposed to be very comfortable and long lasting, and they were on sale, but sadly they give me worst blisters on places where i never had them, but they are really comfortable, but cant walk far in them. That's why one of things i want to get this month is new summer shoes, maybe they will be on sale.



Things i need to spend money on:

• 1 birthday and 1 name day gift.
• Sandals , cause i dont have any, and maybe i still can find something i'm looking for on sale.
• T shirt i really wanted and it's finally restocked.
• New  regular ear phones, because mine sucks and charges out way too fast, and drains my phone's battery!

Things i just need to stop spending money on:

• Ready to eat food. We finally have fridge and microwave oven at work , but i'm way too lazy most of times and buy something just so i dont have to make something at home. But i have food at home. Yes sometimes i dont have time to cook after work, but not always.
• Things i dont need but focus on what i really need!

On my next post i'll share my plan how i'll  try to achieve my plans!

Do you have any good suggestions that could help me?

Till next time! :)

No buy February

I'm not giving up on this!

I need to save money for upcoming trip, so I can see something in Prague. After checking prices, looks like it’s quite expensive city, but there is some things I want to see, because I never been there. We are going there on the first week of March but I’m getting paid later than that and sometimes at the end of month there is so little money on my bank account.

I don’t necessary need money for shopping because we bought cheapest plane tickets and you can’t put a lot things in hand luggage, but I need it for sightseeing and hotel, and coffee (yes I’m treating myself with Starbucks :D).

But there is still some things I need to buy and I hope I can buy just them:

• Need new jeans – either I can’t fit in those I have, I sadly have gained weight since August (it’s combination of my not soo good food choices and meds) or they are not weather appropriate (too much holes/ripps). But I can buy them on sale!
• I need stick or roll deodorant – can’t take my regular one. I’ll try to find cheapest one, because I don’t like that type of deodorants.
• My concealer is running out and since I don’t have any backups, I need new one.

Last time my biggest problem was coffee and overspending on food items, just because I craved them not necessary needed them.

As it goes for food – I’ll try to take food from home when I have longer shifts, and write list of things I need to buy and focus on list. Maybe make some daily budget for food, if I’m lazy to cook after work for next day.

But with coffee I’ll have some biggest problems!

Saw that my grocery store and stores near me stopped carrying instant coffee 2 in 1, that’s without sugar. Cant drink those with sugar, they are too sweet and tastes like sugary drink not coffee. I usually buy few packets of instant coffee mix and I drink that at lunch break when I don’t want to go to coffee shop. I could mix coffee at home and then just add water at work but sometimes I want to drink it on my way to work. I don’t want to buy coffee and creamer and leave it at work. So I have to figure out this somehow.

I’ll finally use my reusable coffee cup tomorrow, better later than never!

This month I have already bought 3 coffees and spend more than 8 euros! Had very stressful week, and if I had time for lunch breaks I would spend even more than that!

As well bought some things I don’t really need because they were so cheap. Sometimes I just cant not to buy something, because I think I need it and price is so good, I need to work on that too!

These are my plans for February. Hope i wont fail!

Till next time! J