Writing about Money in Public

My beauty budget plans for 2024 (budget issue #6)

The time is upon us: let’s talk about my 2024 beauty budget and shopping strategies!

Annual budget: $2,400

I think that most budgeting advice is typically based on either monthly income or annual income. Dave Ramsey’s team would have you do a monthly budget, every month. Other financial planners use the 50-30-20 rule: 50% of income is for fixed, necessary expenses; 30% is for your wants, and 20% is for savings.

And then there is the rest of us, who budget, spend, and save based on vibes.

I grew up with the vibe that money was meant to be saved, not spent. My parents, especially my dad, were extremely frugal. For me, now aged 42, that has translated to the importance of staying out of debt (minus our mortgage + recent renovations—believe me, I had feelings about the latter, but ultimately I ceded that decision to my partner) and always having savings. But I’ve always been somewhat obsessed with my personal appearance, and that has translated into shopping as curation of the self, or at least the outer self.

I married someone who has a very different relationship with money, both earning it and spending it. I have found, in marriage, both a freedom and a discipline that have dazzled me. Paul is constantly encouraging me to do what I want to do…and he is the most disciplined person I’ve ever met. No one else can visualize and then create projects like he does. He is dedicated to building a life of his own creation, and that includes spending money on the things he wants.

Paul and I are still in a transitional time. I don’t know what our financial prospects are for 2024. I’m applying for jobs, his company is bidding on projects…everything is speculative. How does one budget during speculative times?

I’ve asked myself that question, and the conclusion I came to is this: keep on keeping on.

For us, that means using savings to smooth the bumps as 2024 prepares to take flight. It means that I have some confidence that we will have enough paid work to support ourselves this year. It means we’ve been self-employed/contractors/entrepreneurs for a combined total of 24 years, and things tend to work out, despite my hand-wringing.

And so I arrive back at a beauty budget amount that feels comfortable for me: $2,400 for the year. Part of why I feel good about that number is because whenever we do receive bonuses, gifts, or any type of unexpected cash, we fold that money into our larger plans. For me, my beauty budget is intentionally chosen and set. I don’t use bonuses or gift money to inflate it.

If you’ve only ever known the comfort (or discomfort!) of W2-style employee work, I think it may be hard to understand what I’m getting at here. Paul and I don’t have the same income month to month. What we have is a long history of things working out as we ride the seas of contractor work and freelance gigs. We have both found that for us, the hard part of work is nailing it down. It’s the bidding, the negotiating, the scheduling…those are the hard parts. Doing “the work” for which we bill an hourly rate is easy. What we are in right now is the hard part. I have faith and history telling me that things will work out.

Finally, part of my mental stability is structure that allows me to make my spending decisions without panicking. My beauty budget (along with our food budget) is an essential part of that structure.

A new approach to “splurge” items

In broad strokes, I want to slow my roll on spending. To do that, I’m allowing myself one “splurge” item each month (see my post here as I try to figure out what counts as a splurge!) in addition to some category allowances described below. My beauty budget covers four main categories of spending: skincare, makeup, clothing, and candles.

SKINCARE

Replacements only is the rule for skincare. If I want to try something new or more expensive, it will count as my one splurge that month.

MAKEUP

Replacements only is also the rule for makeup. If I buy any new blush, eye shadow, or lip products, it will count as a splurge. Replacements for this category are mascara and my everyday lip glosses (two Maybelline Lifter Glosses and two NYX lip oils).

CLOTHING

Clothing was a little harder to consider in this framework. I want to allow myself seasonal refreshment as the weather changes throughout the year. But I’m also aware that I already have a large wardrobe with many beautiful things to wear. I settled on an “item allowance” of three new pieces for each season for a total of 12 pieces. These 12 pieces don’t count toward the monthly splurge item. Anything beyond three pieces per season is a splurge unless it is a true replacement.

CANDLES

At the risk of sounding overly indulgent, I’m going to exclude candles from this framework altogether. Candle purchases will count toward my beauty budget, but I’m going to allow myself to buy candles when I want.

IN SUMMARY

I’m focusing hard on skincare and makeup as my splurge categories. I wanted something closer to a replacements-only no-buy for those categories. For clothing, I wanted more leeway with some encouragement to slow down my purchases.

My plan is to begin this framework in February. In January, I purchased ten items, including five of which would count as splurges under my rules. I’ll review them in my quarterly summary post (more about that below), but I am content to keep them and roll forward with my new plan.

Writing about my beauty budget

To be totally honest, I am still trying to figure out how I want to integrate budget talk into Ordinary Beauty. For 2024, I plan to write quarterly summaries of my spending on splurge items. These posts will be less focused on dollars and cents and more focused on the why behind each purchase. I’m also curious to see how it feels to live with a low-buy structure like this one.

Personal reservations

I like a lot of freedom in my daily life, so I have some reservations about declaring publicly that I’m going to restrain my beauty spending by a bunch of rules beyond my budget. We’ll see if I start to chafe under my own restrictions. I’d really like to stay focused on using what I have, all these lovely things I’ve curated for myself over the years.

I do have a few small goals around things I already own that are worth mentioning here.

1. I think I could hit pan on one or more powder blushes this year. That would be gratifying!

2. I need to declutter my sweaters, as I am holding onto several items that I have owned for 20 years and don’t want to wear. I need to gather up my emotional strength to bid them farewell. Going through my sweaters will (I hope) inspire me to wear my existing collection more joyfully.

Linkfest! My past budget issues on Ordinary Beauty

Issue #1: Welcome to No-Buy October!

Issue #2: October Check-In

Issue #3: November Spending Antics

Issue #4: It’s Been a Long December

Issue #5: My Mega Summary for 2023