Do you have anything that you can't seem to use up? For me, it's makeup and shoes (and I had been doing so well with the shoes for awhile there too!). I end up buying more of it before I can use up/wear out the old stuff. Very frustrating. How do you reel yourself in before making unnecessary purchases?
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Posted 8 months ago #
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Oh. I thought you meant capital T Troubles, such as worries and woes. I have an ending supply of those.
Posted 8 months ago # -
lotions and face creams... my face is so sensitive that I seem to try so many that don't work and then have to remember to use up the little jars as body cream before I can use the nice smelly body cream I have.... it never ends! I have so many in a box under the sink, all partly used so I can't properly donate them, I'm stuck!
also house hold cleansers. When I was doing all the cleaning it worked out ok as I would just use up whatever I had, but my housekeeper (bless her soul, she's changed my life) has specific items she wants to use (and I will do WHATEVER she wants) so the rest of it now just sorta sits there. I should probably see if MIL wants it.
Handbags might be a distant third. I've really reduced down a lot but nothing lifts my spirits on a crappy day (dreaded retail therapy) like an inexpensive but handsome handbag. I really should just stop buying them and then go buy ONE really, really nice one and use it for the next 20 years, but I don't know if I have the self control. Also, I don't like to travel with anything brand name like that, it may make you a target for thieves.
Posted 8 months ago # -
I hate buying shoes. I force myself to buy them once a year, and at that time I buy a couple of pairs so I can avoid the onerous chore. It just isn't fun because my feet apparently aren't standard-sized. I don't use makeup. I don't use anything on my face except water, and I'm allergic to all types of hand lotions. I hate purses. The only thing I used to buy too much of were office supplies. When back to school sales hit, I'd buy a lot of stuff. I solved that urge by piling all my empty notebooks in one spot. I now have no desire to add to the pile.
Posted 8 months ago # -
Luxcat -- Me too on the purses! After wearing out several this year, I am seriously contemplating this one with a 100 year warranty: http://www.saddlebackleather.com/categories/128-Tote-Bag/products/4864-Leather-Tote-Bag-in-Carbon-Black-
After that, I'm not allowed to buy another purse again, ever. Luggage and travel organizers are my other weaknesses.TheMusicLivez, I find that deciding how much is enough, finding an organizer that will provide a visual cue when the limit is reached, and forcing myself to stop when I get there (one in, one out) are the key steps. For example, no more shoes than will fit on the rack. It's the same thing Bea is doing with her jars. Also you have to find something else to do to replace the time formerly spent shopping, or you will still be buying shoes.
As for using stuff up, I have given much of it away, when possible, or sometimes discarded things I knew I would never use up (ancient, half used lotions and such). And determined not to acquire such things again, when olive oil works just as well!
Posted 8 months ago # -
luxcat - if you have a big half-empty pump bottle of scented body cream you like, empty all the little mini jars of face lotion into it and shake well. Most of the face stuff has minimal scent anyhow, so it doesn't matter much if you mix them. I dumped a whole lot of mine into one with a strong scent, and it worked just fine and emptied my cupboard of a lot of clutter.
Personally, I can't seem to wear out athletic socks. They just get more and more pitifully grey, no matter how much I bleach them, but they don't get thin or holey. (I have black athletic shoes, and the color wears off on the socks.)
Posted 8 months ago # -
Oh yes! For me it's tea (random, but it seems to reproduce when I'm not looking), notebooks, writing implements...office supplies in general. And makeup, although I don't have that much to begin with. I remember a while ago here, there was a thread about counting your belongings, and while I was skeptical about it at first, I decided to count my notebooks, pens, and the like. Being aware of how much I really had worked pretty well to stop my acquisition. I'm not picking up free pens anymore, which is progress. And...I don't think I've had a bag actually wear out since my high school backpack. I adore bags, but like wrennerd is saying, the fact that I have nowhere to put new ones stops me from buying more. And the fact that I'm definitely not able to use and enjoy all the ones I already have. Rediscovering and using a bag I rarely use is almost as satisfying as buying a new one.
Posted 8 months ago # -
Spices. I am one of those who has spices in those old tins that are at least 20 years old now. We have a Penzy's Spice store in town now, so I feel like I should replace the old spices with their super-fresh ones in small bottles. Why can't I let go of the little tins? Any ideas for repurposing them? I mean, sure they are a nice size for spices but for what else? Aspirin?
Posted 8 months ago # -
Currently I'm waging battle with... A 10-pound bag of rice. I do like rice but haven't touched this particular bag in at least a month now. I may have to just cook it all up, make some into rice pudding, and give the rest to the birds and squirrels.
Or I could do the sensible thing and just toss it...
Posted 8 months ago # -
For me it's socks and reusable tea bags. Those tea bags discolor and then I don't want to use them because they look horrible, but I don't want to throw them away because they still work fine.
I haven't bought socks or tea bags in several years, but I still can't seem to wear out the ones I have.Wouldn't mixing the lotions be an issue if one of them causes allergic reactions or if one or more is past expiration? I have no idea how the preservatives in some of those body items break down over time.
Posted 8 months ago # -
Me too on the spices, no matter how many I throw away there are still more. We have a revolving spice jar with 16 little jars on it, but actually most of them are ones we don't use. The ones we do use are on top, spill over into the cupboard, breed and multiply in the dark... Maybe I should just chuck out the spice rack and start again, make a list of the top 10 and buy them.
Posted 8 months ago # -
oh yes, body lotions, hand lotion, face cram... it took me month to use them up (and i though this was not a cluttered section) and then i found more: little jars in my handbags, at the office, in the pockets of my coats... i decided to use them up at first and then have one little to carry with me and one at home. it will possibly take some more weeks to get there...
Posted 8 months ago # -
Definitely handbags. I probably have too many of them, but every 6 months I make a purge and give some away. I have had 4-5 favorites that I have been using for years and I don't want to use them up.
I used to have make up for home and for carrying around in my handbag and now I just use the one I have in my handbag, othewise I never use it up.
And tea bags - i agree on that one. Sometimes I am very happy when I see the expiry date approaching so I can throw them out guilt free. But I stopped buying tea, it is my fantasy self - healthy tea drinker. I love coffee.
Posted 8 months ago # -
I'm with you about the tea bags and spices, but my main "breeder" is blank paper. I have seven drawers full, mostly the scrag ends of reams that I used for other projects. Just this week we ran off the program for an event we're holding Sunday -- two reams is 1,000 sheets, I used 700, so now have 300 sheets left of 11x17" 32 lb. bright white. Too beautiful and expensive to dispose of but it joins the other partial reams of paper on the shelf. I've organized it all a bit better this week and am hoping I can find what I need in my stash instead of driving across town and spending our hard-earned money on yet more paper.
Along the same lines -- office supplies -- file folders, mailing labels, 3-ring notebooks, padded mailers, laminating sheets, spiral bindings, CD labels -- again, hoping that organizing things better will make it easier to find what I need rather than buy new.
Posted 8 months ago # -
Ditto on the makeup, facial creams and for me, hair products! I have very fine hair that frizzes in moisture and is limp much of the rest of the time. I get one body wave per year to thicken it up, and I've tried so many hair products over the years that I now have a plethora of containers under my bathroom sink. Hair thickeners, frizz fighters, root lifters, mousses, hairspray, shine enhancers, you name it! Lately, my 13-yo dd has started using some of them, so I may have a chance to use them up.
Facial lotions/serums promise so much these days - to reduce wrinkles, rejuvenate skin, clear skin, protect skin, etc. I tried antiaging serums, but they made me break out - so WHY am I keeping them? I need to toss a bunch of "failed" products and try to stick to just one or two (daytime with SPF and nighttime "wrinkle repair"). In addition, I have a bunch of cleansers and creams for acne, which I developed as an adult! I have 3 prescription items and a number of toners and washes....sigh.
Posted 8 months ago # -
Ugh, padded mailers -- I finally decided what to do with them the other day when I was standing in line at the post office staring at the wall of mailers. I'd rather buy a mailer, the rare times I need one, than to store all the mailers I have now.
100% cotton resume paper (no one around here appreciates it).
I tossed CD labels when we discovered that not all CD players like labels on the CDs, which our didn't.
Irulan, have you tried soaking the tea bags in hydrogen peroxide? It has bleaching properties. I don't know if it would work, but the oral grade is harmless as long as you give them a good rinse after soaking in the peroxide. Effervescent denture tablets might work too.
Posted 8 months ago # -
This post made me laugh. I'm guilty of many of the same things.
Makeup: I hardly use makeup. I always use up sunscreen and tinted moisturizer with SPF, but other than that I keep buying makeup thinking "this eyeliner will stay put" or "I can't find any of my 10 tubes of lip balm so I need another", and the next thing I know, I need to purge everything.
Skin care products: I use up certain things like my daily face wash, but I keep buying "skin perfecting" lotions, use them for a week, then forget about them and buy another, nearly identical product.
Notebooks: Guilty! I have such a soft spot for a beautiful, new, notebook. I use it for a week or a month, then find myself buying another beautiful new notebook. I have so many half-filled notebooks lying around it's a little embarrasing. Unlike the beauty products, I can't purge them because there's important notes in them!
Purses: I'm ok about this, but not perfect. I tire of purses quickly so I'll never buy a brand name bag thinking I'll use it for years. I know I'll grow bored with it. So I buy inexpensive purses and sometimes they actually do wear out before I tire of them, but that's only because they were poorly made to begin with.
And padded mailers: I stocked up years ago when I was selling things regularly on ebay, but since then I've stopped and I have boxes of them in my office. At least they're contained and nicely labeled, but sheesh!
Posted 8 months ago # -
I forgot one that hasn't been mentioned:
Stampin Up paper. I make cards, and love the fact that Stampin Up's papers all coordinate so I buy packs of 24 in almost every color. Then they come out with limited colors every year, and I get all five of those. Then, every 5 years or so, they retire a bunch of colors and introduce a bunch of new colors. I have used up a few packs of paper, but I still have stacks and stacks of retired colors and don't think I'll ever use them up. I tried to use only retired colors for a while, and tried to stop myself from buying the new colors the last time they did an overhaul, but that lasted about six months.
Posted 8 months ago # -
Lotions, face creams and household cleaners. I'm such a sucker for the latest and greatest!
I'm not buying any more until I use what I have. I'm using the lotions I don't like as shaving cream and the face creams on my hands since I don't like them for my face.I just need to pay more and only buy the products I really like even though they are expensive. I'll probably save money in the long run by not wasting money on products that are crap.
Posted 8 months ago # -
Ooohh boy. So much stuff I can't seem to use up...
- shampoos. I now have a winter shampoo, a summer shampoo, and a shampoo that smells amazing but is not good for my hair so I'm using it to clean my make-up brushes. And washing make-up brushes? Doesn't use up a lot of shampoo.
- glass cleaner. I still have 2 bottles from when boyfriend and I moved in together over a year ago. Both are more than half full. I clean my windows and mirrors regularly, but one of those bottles takes forever to use up. They're different types, so I'm iffy about mixing them.
- travel size toiletries. I don't use them at home, I don't take trips long enough to use up the stash... and boyfriend picks up new ones from every hotel. Expiry dates are the only thing keeping the stash in check.
- medication. Every month I toss more expired meds. I guess this is a blessing, since we haen't had to use them, but it does make me wish for smaller Tylenol bottles.
- tea. We have over a dozen types of tea. We love tea, but are usually too lazy to make tea rather than just drink water. Sad, I know. In fact, I shall go make myself a cup right now.
- pens. I've had a moratorium on buying pens for years, and we still have 2 jars full of them; none ever seem to get used up.
- hair elastics. Also subject to a moratorium on new purchases. I toss the stretched-out ones regularly, I lose some regularly too, but the stash looks untouched. What gives?!
- sunscreen. I never use it, because I don't need to. I did buy an SPF 15 one once and used it a couple of times, more out of peer pressure than actual need ("but you HAVE to protect your skin"... from what, if it doesn't burn?!). Boyfriend, on the other hand, buys sunscreen religiously every year, then fails to use it up. And I toss expired sunscreen. Religiously. Every year.
- nail polish. I've never used up a whole bottle in my life. They either dry up, or I get tired of them and donate them.
Posted 8 months ago #
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