Is the Economy Affecting your MAC Purchases?

[HeatherAnn]

I've been very careful with my make up purchases lately. Not so much b/c of the economy, but my DH has decided to go back to school & get a teaching degree. Now that he's working part time, I can still afford a treat every once in a while, but when I see him working so hard with school & work, I feel selfish if I splurge on lipstick & eyeshadow. But when he's done with school- WATCH out I'll have 3 years of lemmings built up!

 

[rbella]

Quote:

Originally Posted by elegant-one I just wanted to encourage all who may feel fearful about their economic situation. I'm one of the oldest here on the board, and I can tell you that in my lifetime (married almost 30 years) I have been through 5 job losses by my husband - none due to any fault of his own - but simply a normal fluctuation of business changes. Each of theses changes were very difficult, painful and stressful, however, looking back now, they were opportunities to grow and to actually gain experience & a chance to find a personal gifting & abilities actually leading us to stable business understanding & ownership for over a 12 year period. I hope this may possibly help someone.

I love you. That does help. Thank you.

 

[FiestyFemme]

It definitely affects me since I'm currently job hunting, so I'm trying to save everything I can because I just don't know how long it'll take to find work. Even when I do start working, my priorities do not include frivolous purchases until I get some things taken care of. I have so much anyway, that I'm not really going to be deprived or anything. I might buy something here and there, but I just don't need as much anymore, and other things are more important, especially with the way the economy is right now.

 

[coachkitten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbella I love you. That does help. Thank you.

Ditto! I totally agree with rbella.

 

[genduk26]

It's really affecting my shopping. Life is under-pressure now. Prices are increasing everywhere. People get fired & companies are out of business. My dh works for AT&T & we always save our extra money in the bank. BUT WE DON'T KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TOMMOROW! So we don't go to expensive restaurants anymore. Instead of driving a car, we riding a bicycle (good reason for exercise

). I collect/use coupons when i buy groceries. When it's about makeup purchases, I'm in the situasion "Do I need it? or Do I want it?" And it's so hard to make decision especially for the holiday collections

. Everyday I change my lists... i want that...no no i don't need that... but i want that

... And Christmas is around the corner, time for shopping for the family not only for my MAC.

 

[abbyquack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by genduk26 When it's about makeup purchases, I'm in the situasion "Do I need it? or Do I want it?" And it's so hard to make decision especially for the holiday collections . Everyday I change my lists... i want that...no no i don't need that... but i want that ... And Christmas is around the corner, time for shopping for the family not only for my MAC.

Limiting purchases from collections is hard, huh? Especially when you have the money but shouldn't be spending it...it's so easy to say "ah what the hell, i'll get it all". That's my problem lately! I am going to the trend show tomorrow and it's the first time since the spring that I have to limit myself severely, I can't get everything that looks interesting. But I'm excited anyways!!

 

[Tsunami Rose]

I just got into this whole MAC craze, but there is a difference from what I used to spend in even Febuary compared to now. I used to haul $100 at a time, that went down to about $40 a month. Now I'm down to $15 -20 a month. It's horrible.

 

[elegant-one]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbella I love you. That does help. Thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by coachkitten Ditto! I totally agree with rbella.

Awwwww....I just LOVE you guys

I miss everyone soooo much too

 

[genduk26]

Quote:

Originally Posted by abbyquack Limiting purchases from collections is hard, huh? Especially when you have the money but shouldn't be spending it ..

 

[rbella]

Quote:

Originally Posted by genduk26 It's really affecting my shopping. Life is under-pressure now. Prices are increasing everywhere. People get fired & companies are out of business. My dh works for AT&T & we always save our extra money in the bank. BUT WE DON'T KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TOMMOROW! So we don't go to expensive restaurants anymore. Instead of driving a car, we riding a bicycle (good reason for exercise ). I collect/use coupons when i buy groceries. When it's about makeup purchases, I'm in the situasion "Do I need it? or Do I want it?" And it's so hard to make decision especially for the holiday collections . Everyday I change my lists... i want that...no no i don't need that... but i want that ... And Christmas is around the corner, time for shopping for the family not only for my MAC.

I agree, the holidays can be so rough. Especially when there are so many launches coming out at the same time!! I have so many people to buy presents for, therefore I have to lessen my makeup budget for November and December. Kinda sucks, but in the end when they open their gifts and I see the smiles on their faces, it is worth it!

I should ride my bike, too!!! What a great idea. Wait, does that mean I will have to sweat?

 

[pinklips1207]

omg..i've been cutting down sinced last year b/c i was a full time student and part time at work. my husband goes to school fulltime and i have to support him too. it's kills me when i let good collection go by but i know when we get situated with our career i will be swimmin in MAC!!!!

 

[HeavenLeiBlu]

Absofrigginlutely. ALL of my purchases, in every aspect of my life.

 

[MAC_Whore]

I am being a bit more selective, as we are purchasing two new cars. The first is a big dinosaur-killing, carbon footprint-leavin' suv, so my green guilt is slowing my purchases up a bit.

 

[AdlersMommy22]

^^^Oh wow.. what kinda car is it??? I STILL want an SUV... im selfish. ha!

 

[elektra513]

Quote:

Originally Posted by j_absinthe Chase...*shudders* I was actually at a shoot when I found out, and I was heartbroken. Chase has screwed over so many people in my circle, including the company I work for. I'm sure someone's has a decent experience with Chase, I just haven't met them. I need a new bank! I will say the way things are going are definitely making me more aware of my spending, MAC included. I don't think this will be another depression the scale of the early 1900s, but these are times to be economically cautious.

Same here. When I found this out I felt so nauseous. But all the other banks (IME, here where I live) are just not for me in terms of policies and customer service. I also have a credit union account. But accessibility is a factor (ATMs, etc) b/c it's kinda far from my home.

I haven't curbed spending on makeup, but I want to in general, just b/c I've acquired quite a collection since January. There's not much more out there that I need (or want) from the collections coming out by Mac (except maybe some RSS holiday stuff) but Nars is making it so damn hard for me. I want to pay my car off in the next year and then work on old credit card debt from college.

 

[MAC_Whore]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdlersMommy22 ^^^Oh wow.. what kinda car is it??? I STILL want an SUV... im selfish. ha!

This is the last car on the planet we should be looking at, due to the price of gas and that we try to be fairly green, but...it's callin' our names. Plus, we've been driving our current cars for a while, so it's time to replace them before all the pricey repairs hit. We just had to spend about $1k on repair and that peeved me.

The next car will be a hybrid SUV though. It will help ease the guilt of that /\ beastie.

 

[ledonatella]

Oh for sure, I haven't bought any MAC since July. It helps that CoC didn't impress, nor anything since then so that was a huge factor too, but really I haven't bought any company I've just been trying to use what I've got, which is plenty enough to last me a lifetime!

 

[nursee81]

I have been more aware of what I am buying so I guess it hass effected me minimally. So far the holiday collections are calling my name and I need to build up my brush collection.

 

[xxManBeaterxx]

It has affected my mac spending habits, i normally get a few things from every collection but now i only get something i really really want, the last thing i bought was smoke and diamonds eyeshadow from starflash... But i'm realizing that i hardly use makeup and by the time i can even put a dent anything mac i own it should have already "expired"

My husband is in real estate and i dont work during the school year, i have 2 years left before i get my pharmacy degree.. But before he was able to sell 15-18 houses or condos in 1 year, now he only sold 6 this year, its a huge pay cut

 

[emeraldjewels]

Quote:

Originally Posted by elegant-one I just wanted to encourage all who may feel fearful about their economic situation. I'm one of the oldest here on the board, and I can tell you that in my lifetime (married almost 30 years) I have been through 5 job losses by my husband - none due to any fault of his own - but simply a normal fluctuation of business changes. Each of theses changes were very difficult, painful and stressful, however, looking back now, they were opportunities to grow and to actually gain experience & a chance to find a personal gifting & abilities actually leading us to stable business understanding & ownership for over a 12 year period. I hope this may possibly help someone.

You are so very wise, I love what you said here