My Budget and Buying Rules for 2020

Its 2020!

Today starts the budgeting and no buy rules that I set out for myself earlier last week.  For those interested, here are my rules:

My 2020 Budgeting and Spending Rules

January is a no buy month. This includes replacements. I have enough products and backups to cover anything I may run out of.  This does not include groceries (see budget below) or the dinner we have reservations for on the 4th for my husband's birthday. It also does not include normal utility bills, the $13.00 for an annual Birchbox subscription that I signed up for last year, the dog's annual vet visit or the registration fees I am going to have to pay for my son's school and summer camp.  It does mean that there will be no trips to the drug store, no eating out, no morning Starbucks runs (though I do have some money on my account which I can use). It means no random Amazon orders.  If I run out of something and do not have a replacement that I can use, I am going to have to do without.

After January, the following rules are in effect:

Monthly Budget

There will be a $100.00 a month budget for all replacement makeup items, any clothing, shoes, stationary, and board games, must come out of this budget.

Makeup/Skin Care/Hair Products/Personal Care

This category is going to mostly be a replacement only no-buy with the following rules:

• A product must be withing a week of running out with no other usable backups to be repurchased.
• No new foundations. I have a foundation that I like. It isn't perfect, but I have spent way too much money in the past buying, trying and tossing foundations.  The one I use is fine.
• No new eyeshadow, lipcolors or perfume. I wear a little bit of gold eyeliner to bring out my eyes for my day to day eye makeup. I have three eyeshadow pallates that I can use if I feel fancy, but I don't need more. I have an excess of lip products that I need to work through before I can buy more, and I have more indie perfume oils that I will be able to use in a lifetime.  The ONE exception to this is that I have adopted Blood and Honey as my "signature scent" and I am allowed to repurchase this with my budget if I run out. 

Blood and Honey by Sixteen92

• Only two types of actives in my skin care routine at a time.  Right now, I have a lactic acid, a alphahydroxy acid, a retinol, and a Azelaic acid. If I run out of one, I can't replace it with another until I am only down to two. I like having a couple of different actives, but I don't need them all.
• Product replacements must be reasonable.  This is pretty open ended, but what I mean is that I have to make an effort to purchase replacements that are affordable. I am willing to spend a little more on actives, but I don't ever need a second cleanse that is over $20.00.  I can't use being on a budget as an excuse to spend more those times that I am allowed to spend.
• Any replacement items must come out of the $100.00 monthly budget.

Clothing/Shoes

• All clothing and shoes must come out of the monthly budget.
• Any clothing purchases must be a direct replacement for something that I get a lot of use out of that I have sized out of or worn out or must come from a list of items I am specifically looking for.
• This category includes bras, underwear, socks and pajamas.

Boardgames

• Strict no buy in general. We have enough games for right now.  Here are the exceptions:
• Gifts - within reason (ie: one game, not 5)
• GenCon - we are planning on traveling there again this year. I will set a travel budget that any game purchases can come out of.

Monthly Subscriptions

• No new subscriptions of any kind (even web hosting!!). If there is a service that I am interested in using, I can purchase it, but I must buy a year. If I am not willing to pay for an entire year at once, I do not need the subscription.  Yearly pricing is usually better anyway.
• Go through the list of current subscriptions and cancel anything that isn't necessary or being used.

Food

• We will do one larger Costco trip at the beginning of the month.  My husband will pay for this trip.  It usually ends up being about $250.00
• I will cover the smaller weekly grocery trips - usually a pick up order - that covers lunch items for myself and my son, perishable produce items and things we need for meals that week. These trips should be around $250.00 a month. My part of the budget ends up being about $50 to $60 a week.

Stationary/Pens

• Replacement only. I have more fountain pens, notebooks and other doodads that I can ever use. I already have a planner and I am trying to prevent myself from going down a sticker rabbit hole with it to make it "fancy". It is just fine the way it is and I can print stickers if I want them.

General

• Anything that costs over $50.00 has a three day cool down period before I can buy (save medically necessary items).
• I can only make Amazon orders on Tuesday and all orders need to follow the rules above.

I have already faced two challenges today for my No-Buy January. First, Universal Standard sent an email extending a last chance sale that I already bought clothing from a couple of weeks ago (it should be here tomorrow).  I spent some time browsing the sale and thinking about one $20.00 top.  I had to force myself to close out of the site and move on.  The second challenge is that I feel like I didn't get my husband enough stuff for his birthday, and that is entirely self imposed. I know that what I already got him is more than enough, and in the interest of not bringing more items into our house, I should not even be thinking about getting him more. He does miniature painting and I thought about getting him a set of Citadel contrast paints, but those things about about $8.00 a piece.  I guess there is always Valentine's day!

Tomorrow I will post an article about why each category is an issue for me, challenges that I have faced in the past and what I hope having a budget for each will accomplish.