No-buy?

What's a no-buy?

This is a term I have only recently been exposed to, through my exploration of the various online communities devoted to mineral makeup, indie jewellry and other such handicrafts that can be found braving their way through the global waters of Etsy, or set up on their own spiffy website.

Buying online has its pros and cons. A few of mine (because I love making lists!):
Pros:

• Convenience: anytime and anywhere you have internet, you can shop. You don't have to 'make a day of it' like you have to in order to visit physical shops.
• Instant comparisons: you can check out similar products, and find reviews, in a way you can't (that fast, anyway) in the 'real world'.
• Hassle-free browsing: you can spent as long as you like pouring over a web-site. You can even do it whilst doing homework (not reccomended). Going 'out' shopping is a little more time-consuming, and there's a lot more pressure to buy when you're surrounded by sales assistants.

Cons:

• Sometimes it's a little too easy and you lose track of all the money you've spent!
• Delayed gratification: this can be a good thing, but sometimes (especially if you're ordering internationally) you'll have to wait WEEKS to get your goodies. So if you're ordering  for a particular event, especially a birthday, you need to think way ahead.
• Intangibility: not being able to try stuff out/on like you can in a physical store.

 A no-buy is a self-imposed ban (often encouraged by loved ones, however) for a set amount of time, dictating that you won't buy non-essentials. Make-up, clothing, books, jewellry, CDs and DVDs all fall into the non-essential category. A super-strict no-buy may include cutting down one's consumption of outside food - buying less coffee, not eating out as often, packing lunch etc.

No-buys serve two main purposes:

1. The obvious: saving money! Whether you're saving up for something big, or just trying to curtail your expenses, a no-buy will make you really think about how much you want that necklace, or whether or not you might as well nip down to the library and borrow that book, instead of buying it.
2. The side-benefit: making use of the 'stuff' you already have. Getting your money's worth out of things, so to speak. Thoroughly 'using' your new CD, hat, lipstick and really working it into your life, rather than shoving it to the back of the proverbial wardrobe once the novelty has worn off. That's one of the problems I find I have with buying sprees: I get almost overwhelmed by all the 'new things' and I forget I have half of the stuff. I can't appreciate it properly. If it's not getting used, what was the point of buying it in the first place?

I am on a no-buy at the moment. I have ordered from several makeup companies, bought some absolutely beautiful boots for winter (they cost a lot more than I usually spend on anything, let alone shoes, but I did think about it for a few weeks to determine whether it'd be 'worth it'. I've worn them 3 times in the 7 days I've had them, so I think I made the right call :P) and I'm saving up for tickets to Supanova in June. No-buys for me usually accompany making lunch a lot, but I'm so busy I've relaxed that particular demand. This has probably led to me drinking more coffee than is healthy, though.

Until next we meet,
Jade

P.S. sorry for the somewhat sporadic updates lately, I ran out of pre-planned posts and I'm in the middle of a production for uni, plus assignments, plus my part-time job! It's been a little crazy. I'm trying to stick to a 'post every 2-3 days' schedule but it might not happen that way this week. I have an assignment due tomorrow (practically finished!) and then dress rehearsal in 3 days. Gulp.