Shopping Your Stash

Now that it's already July I have taken some time to look back at my goals for 2015. I wanted this year to be the year to simplify my everyday life. In my opinion I have both failed and succeeded in taking steps toward a similar life. I have recently stated planning (more on that soon) and that alone has relieved some everyday stresses but I feel that I am still taking baby steps and there is more that I can do. 

In January I went through my entire nail polish collection HERE and purged unused and colors that have gone bad. I realized that for the amount of nail polish I have I could never use up all the nail polish before it goes bad. I would love to say that I finished a nail polish and be able to toss it. I have decided to see how long it would take to use a nail polish up. Thinking about painting my nails the same color week after week did not appeal to me so I made the decision to start with a mini.

From this week on I will be using this little mini nail polish on both my fingers and toes when needed. At the end of t August I will be back to report my progress. I am very excited at the possibility of finally finishing a nail polish (even if it is a mini)!

My Monthly Make-Up Bag: June

To begin this month I was going through my make-up stash trying to decide on which eyeshadow palette to use for the entire month. After a while of looking at them Joe come up behind me points and says "that one." Can anyone guess why? I am sure it has to do with the fact that there was a snake on the packaging because I highly doubt he had any idea that there was even eyeshadow inside.

Now that we are half way through the month I can say that I did find it challenging to create a large amount of different looks from this palette but loved the outcome of every look produced. This palette as well as this NYX blush in taupe were acquired mainly for travel. The blush from NYX I am not using for its intended purpose but to provide a slight contour without having to pack a large contour palette. The Rainforest After Dark Palette from Tarte is ideal for travel because not only does it contain six eyeshadows it also provides a blush, bronzer, and highlight. Both of the items above perform great and are recommended highly from me for anyone who is looking for compact makeup to travel with.

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I just might be taking these two beauties on our Anniversary trip to Aruba in 73 days… but who’s counting?

My Monthly Make-Up Bag & Jewelry Box: March

 

In order to help me use what I have, each month I will be selecting different products to use for the entire month. This month I chose the follow items:

The above products are just basic items I need when I do my makeup. Some of these items will not vary month to month because lets be honest I don't have more than one eyelash curler or eye cream. The products I have samples of or more than one brand I will be switching out monthly so I can try out new items, use up products, as well as purge any items or products I dislike.

The palettes I chose to use for the month of March are:

For eyeshadow I will be using the Chocolate Bar Palette and for face products I will be using the bottom half of the Everything Nice Palette.

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Jewelry is another thing that I have but neglect so I will be wearing the above all month. The necklace was our third wedding anniversary gift from the husband and the bracelet my dad and step-mom gave me for Christmas.

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It feels great to finally get use of all the products and items I have but never make the effort to wear.

Coupon Organization

Lately, I have been getting lazy with how I keep my coupons. I am not the person to spend twenty plus hours cutting coupons and keeping a coupon binder. Nor will you ever see me in the store lugging a fifty pound binder around just so I don't forget one coupon. A lot of the past weeks I have relied on coupon bloggers. These bloggers list the best deals every week at each store and which manufacture coupons match up with those sale items. They also inform you where you can find the manufacture coupon whether it can be printed off a website or what exact newspaper insert you can clip it out of. Each week I have been spending less then five minutes putting together my plan for the shop and it's been reflecting in my savings.

Time to get organized, as you see above I had all the inserts together and labeled but had not gone through my stash recently to discard any expired coupons. After getting these organized I decided to do what I do best... excel spreadsheets! It took a while to complete but I manually entered each coupon I have on hand into my computer. Now after putting in a good half of a day to input the coupons (and clear out my DVR) I can now spend the same five minutes a week to prepare for a shop but am getting much better results!

Now when I go to grab my coupons I am no longer overwhelmed and it's much faster to find what I need and get the shop done.

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1st Couponing Haul After Organizing

Looks like my hard work paid off!

Nail Polish Organization

It's no secret that I have a nail polish addiction but it's about time that I got things organized and got a good look at what I have. This process was not necessarily to get rid of a lot but to make sure I have no duplicate colors and that none of it has gone bad.

The begining....

The below are the nail polishes I am getting rid of. As you can see some of the colors have gone bad and now look ombre in the bottle. Those nail polishes I will be throwing out but the others were just duplicates that I will be passing along.

Now for the fun part! My collection has grown lately because I was gifted over twenty bottles for Christmas. To accommodate all the polishes I got a little creative with some of my empty candle jars.

In the future after I use a nail polish if I notice I don't like the color or it's not my favorite formula it will be getting passed on right away. With this amount of nail polishes there is no point in keeping the colors I don't love.

Bookshelf Organization

Waking around my house wondering where to start with my simplicity project I walked into our living room and was mortified when I spotted the bookshelf. It seems that in our recent past Joe and I have been placing spare items onto the bookshelf as a pit-stop until that item got put away where it really belonged.

I have always been an extremely organized person but when you share your household with someone that is less organized it can be easier to let things go. My desk at work is always organized and looks the same way each and every day I leave. Unlike my house I am able to keep everything in its place at work because I am the only one who uses that space. 

Choosing the bookshelf as my jumping off point the first step was to go through our paperwork and file it away for safekeeping. Then I moved onto the other objects that belonged in the cupboards a mere foot below where it was currently sitting. When it came to the overflow of books that did not fit into our bookshelf I knew I need to purge some. I pulled up my GoodReads account and decided that any book I have read and rated two stars or less would have to go. It was a quick, fun project that left me feeling accomplished and ready for more.

In the end I donated eighteen books that have been read but have not really been loved.

It's funny how a small five minute project can make you feel like you can breathe better. I actually went on to tackle another organization project the same day... stay tuned...

2015 The Year of Simple Living

Every year around this time we all take a look at our life for the last twelve months or so and focus on things we want to improve on. I am currently working to complete my list of 101 things in 1001 days so I decided to skip the new years resolution. Instead I wanted to give 2015 a general theme about something I want to work towards.

2015 will be my year to make my life more simplified. In my life I have gone up and down with having too much stuff. After getting engaged and moving in with each other Joe and I really had nothing of value and not enough things to consider clutter. After our wedding was another story, we received so many amazing wedding gifts to help us complete our home things got a little cluttered. Once we decided to move across the country we went through every little item we had and downsized once again. Three years later I am sorry to say that we again have too much stuff. Living in 725 square feet we are quickly outgrowing our place. Instead of moving onto a bigger and better place I have decided to simplify our selves, house, and life.

Over the course of the next twelve months I will be going through our house little by little and purging what is not needed. I have also been told over and over how much makeup, beauty products, and jewelry I have that I barely ever use. I will also be going through all of the above and reviewing, using up, and purging the unused. I will be bring you along this journey with me and keep you updated on all my progress.

What are you working towards in 2015?