My nose – wrinkles included!
Since I’m fast approaching retirement age, I’ve been on a quest to reevaluate my spending habits. Inspired by rereading Amy Dacyczyn’s The Tightwad Gazette, that I reviewed in my earlier post, Hero Worship, it occurred to me that saving more and using less could be as Plain as the Nose on My Face.
During my morning rush to get ready for the day, it dawned on me (no pun intended) that simplifying my morning routine could generate significant savings. In my quest for “the fountain of youth”, I’ve added new creams, lotions, hair products, etc., as I have aged, but not relinquished old ones (again, no pun intended!). Unbelievably, while staring in the mirror applying yet another beauty concoction, I realized that I use a minimum of 5 lotions, potions and creams a day, as well as the products used to apply them – cotton swabs, makeup sponges, facial tissue, cotton cosmetic rounds!
No wonder our budget needs an overhaul! Further analysis of my routine revealed multiple ways that cutting corners could rack up significant savings, not to mention decrease the time needed to get ready, plus do my part in reducing packaging waste.
Years ago, in my first reading of The Tightwad Gazette, I did modify my routine at the time in three significant ways, which I continue to use to this day:
-
quit using a special liquid cleanser to wash my face and in the ensuing years have only used bar soap, washing my face in the shower
-
quit using facial tissue to remove my makeup and use a washcloth instead
-
quit using an eye makeup remover product
These three changes alone, over time (22 years), have resulted in savings of approximately $2,000!
Since I’m not a math wizard, I didn’t come to this conclusion from researching the cost adjustment of these products over the last 22 years, but calculated them at current price levels instead. Even if this amount is half (after doing the real math), that’s $1,000 I have today that I would have spent on products that I didn’t really need, haven’t really missed and wouldn’t have contributed to me looking younger today!
So, now that I’m reminiscing about what I gave up in the past, I’m resolved to reevaluate these lotions, potions and applicators and get rid of a few more. I’ll use less product resulting in less waste and saving more money. While I don’t think Ponce de Leon and his successors would approve, as we all know, youth isn’t eternal!
What could you give up in your morning routine and not miss?
Tootles,
Related Posts:
(other posts on Saving More, Spending Less and Building Financial Security)
- Party by Amy
- Saving Mr. Lincoln – May 2013 Update
- Saving Mr. Lincoln – June 2013 Update
- Saving Mr. Lincoln – July 2013 Update
P.S. Haven’t read Amy Dacyczyn’s book, The Tightwad Gazette? It’s available on Amazon. Visit our Amazon shop, Shop Toot Sweet and take a look!
Disclosure: If you decide to make a purchase through our link, Amazon will pay us a commission for it. This does not cost you anything more. These commissions help to keep the rest of our content free, so we thank you very much!
Leave a Reply