So, here we are at the mid-point of the year, and I still have no bought anything from the no-buy list. My approach still seems to be working, so let’s dive in on the goals:
Clothing:
I mentioned in my May review that there are two things that have been on my mind for a while – navy blue shoes and a slip – and I want to see if, by the end of the month, there are enough instances where either could have been used to warrant adding it to the wishlist properly. I’ll be honest, with how high my arch is for both feet, I don’t know that I would feel comfortable buying second hand shoes, but I’ll worry about that as I get closer to the end of the month. For the slip, I want to do more research on if there’s anywhere within in Canada that makes them/look into what I want specifically from the garment before thinking of purchasing it.
Books:
June is a bit of a travel heavy month (a different city each weekend, for different reasons), so I want to rely on e-books for while on the road, and then have a physical book to read while I’m at home. I’m currently reading “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki as an e-book through Hoopla, and my physical book is “Scottish Customs, from the Cradle to the Grave,” by Margaret Bennett. I bought the Scottish customs book back in 2020 from the National Museum of Scotland, and it’s definitely about time that I get started on it.
Using what I’ve Got:
I still do my agenda according to an academic year, since I take classes here and there and my work cycle follows it as well. With that in mind, I got my new agenda for Christmas (how’s that for planning ahead?), and I want it to be ready to go come July – rather than planning in July – which would include writing in major functions throughout the year, when my holiday weekends are, deadlines to keep track of for applying to grad school, and anything fun along the way. I want to make the best use of the planner stickers I have, especially with being able to plan things out more cohesively throughout the year, rather than feeling like I’m scrambling to keep up with myself each week.
Other than that, I’ll be moving to a weekly schedule for the time being – and I’m still figuring out next week’s topic, so stay tuned 🙂
As much as I love dinosaurs, I don’t like my skin to be scaley. Winter in Canada is rough on the skin normally, so that majority of the products I use from November to April are all about keeping my skin from painfully chapping or my lips cracking and bleeding. First, I’m focused on finishing off the lipsmackers lip balm that I’ve been working on for most of 2021 – that I got in winter 2018/2019, as a stocking stuffer – which I genuinely thought there was none left, but then opened it today to take photos, and somehow a usable amount has emerged. I do have a second lip balm on the go (also from the same year), which seems to be unending, as I’ve been using it regularly and I still have a few months’ worth of use in it. For hand cream, I’m 2-3 uses away from done with the shea squeeze tube, and likely about a month from done with the body butter. The hand cream is better for warmer months (i.e., when the “Feels Like -37” line is long gone from my weather app), and the body butter is my best friend for now.
What my other categories are:
As I’d mentioned in my No Buy rules post, I have many categories that need to be used up before I bring in more. I wanted to switch it up for the remaining categories and give you visuals instead of numbers this time around, so you can see just how much I’m working with. I just talked about how much yarn I have left, so I’ll continue with the craft supplies theme:
Pens and other writing utensils:
I’ve whittled this collection down over the years, but this is what I have in my stock pile – meaning what’s not currently in my pencil case for planning or what I use at work. I do have a mix of artsy-er pens as well as a fountain pen mixed in with dollar store highlighters (some of which have been in the pencil case since I bought it, in 2012), so some of these will take longer to use. That’s my issue, though, is that I like to have something to use, but then if it’s too nice, I won’t.
Planner stickers:
I’ve kept every agenda or planner that I’ve had since grade 6/2006, since they tend to function more like a memory book than just a to do list for me (and I’ve never been much of a diary writer). Over time, I figured out highly detailed colour-coding and highlighting systems that I would use to stay on track of my academics, work/volunteering, and personal stuff in between through to the end of my undergrad thesis. Once I was off the shoestring student budget, I was drawn to planner stickers (I also liked stickers as a kid) to bring my weekly planner spreads to life. A lot were bought, and I limited myself to the size of a photobox from Michael’s of how many booklets I could have. I have decluttered a few booklets as well as pulled out sheets that I wouldn’t use at all (the quote-heavy ones, mainly) – and the irony of having three separate sticker books about budgeting is not lost on me.
Greeting cards:
This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise with how much effort I put into other “pen and paper” stuff, but I have over 120 blank greeting cards. Some were gifts, but most were a mix of restocking what I’d used, sales while at the mall, and impulse buys from Michael’s (I’m sensing a pattern here). I used to write to friends and family for the fun of it after moving to a different province for work, but that has slowed down significantly with moving more to video calls for the sake of being able to see each other. I do have some ideas of what I can use these for, but that’s in some time from now.
Tea:
I got into DavidsTea in 2013, and the amount of money I’ve spent could have paid for a trip to Iceland. The amount of tea that I have now is less than half of what I had at my peak around 2016, and the stock pile of specific blends has to do with not wanting to order frequently (reducing emissions from transportation) and not buying outside of the semi-annual sale. Note that the tins aren’t all full – most are half full or less – but I’m not switching the contents of a tin until it’s fully empty and been washed. Also worth noting, about 1/6th of this is from gifts.
Body products:
Some of these have been on my shelf, unopened, for longer than others – most notably, the Maui shampoo, conditioner and mask sets, which were purchased in January 2020 (on sale). I haven’t been able to finish them yet since I cut off about half of my hair (it was to the small of my back, and now just over my shoulders), so I don’t go through shampoo and conditioner half as quickly as I used to, and the fact that I had another four sets of shampoo and conditioner – bottles and soap bars – to get through before reaching these. Some other stockpiles – the toothpaste, deodorant (medium tins), and body butters – are based on what I know I use regularly and need to have at a moment’s notice when I run out. I do have a pharmacy in walking distance, but I prefer to reduce my number of trips out of the house as much as possible (and I don’t have a car). The bar soaps that are all the same were bought in 2021, and I liked the scent because it smelt like one of my toy sets from my early childhood. Nostalgia as a driving force for consumption? Never heard of that before! I say that jokingly, however, as that wasn’t the intent behind the scent blend that the shop owner made. The rest of it? They’re remnants of gifts kits, sales, or shop displays doing their job. If nothing else has highlighted the excess of the body products stock pile, know that I bought a 3-shelf organiser from Ikea to store all of it.
Later this week, I’ll be talking about what my shopping habits have been like (which will definitely be a series unto itself), and today’s post works as a snapshot of where I’m at right now. Thanks for reading!
Lady with Less 