Thursday 1 September 2011

No-spend September and untried challenge...

So, today is September 1st, the end of the summer and start of a new season. I can't believe the non-Summer we had, so blah. My tan is already fading and yesterday I wore a dress with thick tights and boots. How depressing.

Anyway, as you've probably guessed I am aiming for a no buy/no spend this month, for nails, hair, make-up and beauty. I have everything I need - I'm not about to run out of moisturiser or foundation, I have a couple of basecoats which are perfectly fine and the number of half-full bottles of shampoo I have in my bathroom is obscene. So, with a few exceptions, I am not going to buy anything - no polish, no make-up, no nothing. Bit scared. But it will do my bank balance good, as the old man is self employed and work has been thin on the ground lately and my part-time this and that isn't getting us anywhere...

As I said, there are a few exceptions-

  • I will run out of polish remover and cotton pads at some point, so they will need to be replaced - maximum spend £2.50 possibly twice in the month.
  • I will need hairspray as mine has rolled too far under the bed for me to get (at least I think that's where it is...)
  • I may be organising a swap...but if I do will put it off until later in the month.
  • Bargain of the century Holy Grail item that I can't pass up.
  • I have a small paypal balance that isn't worth transferring to my bank burning a hole in my virtual pocket, I will hold onto it as long as possible though.
So, since I can't buy any new polish, I decided I should stop being such a spoilt brat and use the 'new' polish I have that I've not even worn yet. Yup, the untrieds. I dug out all the untried polishes from my stash, put them in a box and firmly closed my polish drawer.

Um, blogger, why you make picture upside-down?

I think I have a month's worth of manicures here... I'm going to use these and only these for the whole month of September. A few exceptions again, to keep it interesting-
  • If there is a particular nail-art that I want to do, I will allow myself to use other polishes as long as the main polish is from the untried box.
  • I have some polish winging it's way to me from the Models Own sale and blog sales which will be added to the box.
  • To add interest and change it up a bit I will allow myself to use matte, glitter, shimmer and crackle top coats as long as the main colour is an untried. Where possible I will use a glitter or crackle from the untrieds if I can.
So, that's my September! I've already started by painting my nails with an untried polish :) To be fair it is one I only got at the weekend...but it's a start!

Anything that catches your eye from the (upside-down?) picture? Will you be joining me on no-spend September? Let me know!

Hx


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11 comments:

  1. Great idea & challenge! I cannot wait to see what you do with it:)

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  2. Hi! I'm a new follower of your blog and pretty new to the blogging world itself, and am a recent nail polish junkie.. I so wish I could join you in no spend September, but I just don't think I could do it! haha. Loving your blog and looking forward to seeing your untrieds :)

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  3. I am also on a no-spend September :"-( Already I have closed the browser window on flower nail decos. I have to last till the end of my overdraft until I get my student loan, so NO excess spending at all!! So yes, I will depressedly join you heehee xx

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  4. Wow, you can do it hun! I should really do this too. >.< I'm doing the Project 10-Pan, but I've been spending a lot on swaps and giveaways..

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  5. I am actually doing the same thing, I dont need anything just bought polish remover may need cotton balls soon, but no biggie.
    In july I was supposed to go 2 weeks with no spending, I failed miserably lol I ended up buying like 15 polishes maybe more.
    So yes this can be done and your not alone.

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  6. I am on a no buy as well-unless I see a great buy, or something I just must have, or one that's been on my wish list-maybe I better not say I'm on a no buy!

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  7. Good luck on not buying any new polish. I couldn't resist buying a new revlon nail polish with glitter today as they were on sale in superdrug:)but I am also not buying anything unless is on sale

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  8. good plan. I also plan something similar - low-minimum-only-necessary-stuff-buy. And I have over 50 untrieds at the moment, I plan to go thru some of them too, this summer has been horrible regarding spending money on polishes, 3 months of unrestricted buying, I need to get in control again

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  9. I mentioned you in my latest blog post... am officially on my no-spend!! xx

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  10. Thanks everyone, it's such hard going! I actually bought a couple of No7 polishes, because I had Boots vouchers to use but apart from that nothing. The challenge is kinda fun though. Kinda. lol

    Hx

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