by Beks
In that crazy haze of spending I did in a moment of weakness a month ago, I spent wayyyy to much on make-up. If you’ve ever bought anything at Ulta, Sephora, Tarte, etc. you know they throw in gobs of freebees (kinda explains why the make-up is so expensive). I ended up with loads of samples and a really pretty make-up bag. I was planning to purchase a new make-up bag since mine was falling apart so… two birds. One stone.
The bag arrived and it was exactly as I expected, lovely AND the perfect size. But, it wasn’t what I would have picked. It didn’t have any dividers and it wouldn’t work for what I need. Ugh. I hate having to explain this. Some of us ladies have more make-up in our bags than we actually use on a daily basis. It’s like having those completely impractical heels in your closet. No, you don’t wear them daily but every once in a while, you pull them out for a special occasion. You can’t throw all your shoes into a heap, you must have them sorted! Same idea with a make-up bag.
Off I went to Target to find a new bag. I stared at the $19 price tag for a better bag. $19? I stared into my cart. I had added a $10 plastic box to sort my daughter’s hair ties so they wouldn’t be scattered all over the bathroom. It hit me. How often do I spend $10 or $20 on things because what I already have isn’t a ‘perfect fit’?
I left Target empty handed and decided to try again. If this was all I had, could I make it work? Yes! I separated out my special occasion make-up into a separate Zip-Lock bag. Boom! Problem solved! My mom gave my daughter some shoes that came in a hard box that I had set out for recycling. Boom! Hair tie solution!
Yes, I saved $30 but seriously, how often do we buy things and throw away perfectly good solutions? Had I tossed that shoebox or that free make-up bag, I would have added to our landfills AND spent money. We get caught up in the easy button and we miss that we should rethink and retry. Should you repurpose something? Take a moment to think before you buy.
Beks is a full-time government employee who enjoys blogging late into the night after her four kids have gone to sleep. She’s been married to Chris, her college sweetheart, for 15 years. In 2017, after 3 long years working the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps, they paid off more than $70K and became debt free. When she’s not working or blogging, she’s exploring the great outdoors.
Guilty. I have been very intent lately, after having downsized, to be careful about accumulating anything new. I have put many items back after asking myself ‘is there anything I already have that can suit this purpose or any other way to fix this problem. Same with grocery shopping. I have been guilty of food wastage, buying things that sit and go bad, just to toss them later. Now I ask myself, are you going to eat it this week? If not, it goes back on the shelf.
Oh! I’ve never tried that with groceries! What a good idea!