I would love to belatedly join this 2016 challenge! I was wondering if I could ask for thoughts on this:
My biggest weakness is cosmetics. A new lipstick, a stunning highlighter - I just love makeup, but they are perishable items that will go bad and take a very long time to use up. So what do you think the solution is? Cold turkey? One item a month? (Which would be a drastic reduction for me, I'm afraid to admit. I am addicted to Sephora and beauty blogs.)
The clothing shopping I think I can cut. As long as I don't go to the mall, I'm fine. If I go, I tend to pick up a few items. And the only reason I've been going the past few months is because I started a new job at the end of August and barely had any business casual items to wear. My previous job, despite being in a high level of leadership, was working mostly solo in my own region, therefore I wore jeans and v-neck tshirts to work basically every day for over seven years. (Or jeans and sweaters in the winter.) I think I more or less have my workware situated. Yes, I would prefer for some things to be a bit higher quality, and I have purchased a few things that I don't really like in a feeling of "oh god it's getting colder and I have no long sleeves" but I think I can get through the winter. I may need an assessment come summer because I started at the very end of August and just scraped a few things together to get me to cooler temps, but I don't need to think about that until April or May. Anyway, all of this to say, I think I can do controlled spending on the wardrobe (may need some bras, but I have a large cup size that I can't get at like VS or anything, so I just replace nude and black once year or so). I was having a shoe situation with no comfortable shoes that I could wear with socks, but I just got a pair last week. I have learned a lesson there...cheap shoes that aren't comfortable aren't worth the "savings". Spend more, have happy feet, and gladly wear the same few pairs until the fall apart years down the road (thereby actually being a better value than the cheap ones that always get replaced!)
But makeup. God, that's where I need help and accountability and this challenge! As well as not using the excuse of "new job, new clothes".