2021, My Low Buy Year

I’m not a minimalist. Nor do I aim to be. But 2020 was such a year of indulgence when it came to online shopping for me, that I feel like I need to take a step back and refrain my consumerism.

Basically, I’m so full of stuff I need a shopping diet.

In 2020 I really got into skincare, so a big chunk of my beauty spending went into that. I also purchased a lot of luxury makeup items I’ve always wanted to try. Most of which I hadn’t purchased before not because I wasn’t able to financially, but because those brands were not easily accessible to me. The first quarantine, that started about a year ago, made me turn to the internet and I fell deep into an online retailers rabbit hole. Most of them ship to Portugal now (something that was far from reality a few years ago): LookFantastic, CultBeauty, Selfridges, Pat McGrath, even ColourPop (who when it first launched, it would not ship outside North America). I realised I could finally try a bunch of brands I’ve always been curious about. So I did.

I also partook in the purchase of some designer bags and accessories. Even a Marchesa Notte dress for an eternally upcoming wedding that this pandemic insists in postponing. And the thing is, while I don’t regret any of it, there comes a point where you can only have so much coming in that you can enjoy. The picture that goes with this post is my Black Friday haul, that I never had a chance to post about. And of those 8 products, I’ve only tried 2 of them. There are at least 4 brand new dresses that I can think of that I know I haven’t used yet. I’ve been living in pijamas and shopping for an outfit won’t make me get out of them any faster, unfortunately.

With the amount I purchased, I have more content than free time to write it. There are just about as many posts that I want to publish as the ones that are already public. There is absolutely no context in which I need a haul. So a low buy was set in place for this year.

If I set the rules too strictly, I know I’ll break them. I don’t have any self control am a rebel at heart. So my rules are somewhat fluid:

  • My budget for makeup is around 50€ a month. If I don’t spend it it rolls over to next month.
  • I’ll keep my one beauty box subscription.
  • I should refrain from buying skincare unless I use something up. But I’m allowing myself 1 purchase per month – here a quantity limit seems more reasonable, because skincare does expire faster than makeup.
  • 1 big ticket item a month. In case I don’t purchase anything, it won’t roll over to next month. By big ticket item I’m referring to something like the RIKI mirror I purchased this February, or a pair of designer shoes.

This is more of an effort to not have more than what I can enjoy than anything else. It also helps to overanalyse my purchases and trim out the “wants” from the “really, really wants” (because I have all the “needs” one can come up with).

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8 Comments

  1. This is actually a really good plan to keep your spending under control. Hopefully you’ll be able to stick to it. In my case, before purchasing anything I really consider it for a few days and most times I only end up buying the “really, really wants”.

  2. These are some really good goals! And by giving yourself some money to spend, hopefully it means you don’t feel the need to crash and buy everything when the year is up! Good luck!

    Katie | katieemmabeauty.com

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