You work hard — like, really hard. And sometimes it feels like you come in dead last in terms of your budget. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs aside, you deserve some hard-earned pampering from time to time. While you can’t skip your electric bill in favor of a blue tansy night oil, you can reprioritize your spending.
Budgets are simply spending guidelines, and it’s you that makes the rules for where your money goes. Essential expenditures that take care of your basic needs have a permanent spot in your budget. However, there’s no rule you can’t downshift spending on everything else to corner off a hefty beauty budget if that’s what brings you joy.
1. Get the Right Spending Tools in Place
When’s the last time you shopped for spending tools? This question could have you raising your carefully laminated brow arch, but it’s for good reason: Financial tools have changed. The humble debit card can now be a powerful piece of plastic in your wallet.
Equipped with the convenience and security of credit cards, modern debit cards offer more than a simple way to swipe. Some cards can also be a powerful savings tool, potentially funding your beauty budget with ease.
Certain cards can round up each purchase to the nearest dollar and send the difference to your linked savings account. After a month of paying for your usual expenses, you could have enough saved for a well-earned splurge.
2. Gain Clarity on What Matters to You
You love all things beauty. So why not reorient your spending to reflect what you care about? While you can’t nix your sewer bill because you’re not passionate about plumbing, you can reallocate other spending.
To start, review your current spending habits to see whether any transactions feel regrettable. Take detailed notes of these instances, documenting the amount, frequency, and reason you bought the items. Now review your list to see whether there’s a pattern. Once you know what you’re working with, you can adjust your habits or responses to spending opportunities.
If you’re an easy target for youth fundraisers, overbuy produce that spoils, or mindlessly “add to cart,” set supportive boundaries. Consider donating a flat amount, grocery shopping with a menu plan, or instituting a wait time on online shopping carts. Simple adjustments can keep your budget in check so you can spend on what matters most to you.
3. Build a Beauty Spending Plan
Chances are, you’ve got a list of beauty faves you buy regularly. You probably also have a high-end wishlist of sought-after serums and peels that you wish were in your rotation. Knowing what you need and want in your beauty bag is the first step toward having them.
Review your regular usage pattern of essentials like mascara, concealer, and brow pencil. These items run out more quickly than eyeshadows and blush, making economizing a possibility. Some items can be added to your monthly Amazon subscription, getting you a 5% to 20% discount. Others can be purchased in multiples during a brand or category sale or gift card rebate sale at stores like Target. Plot out your purchasing plan to get the best price while flattening out your monthly costs.
Reserve high-end buys for gift requests, and you can effectively get them for free. Sephora’s favorites boxes pair product types, brands, or fan favorites in boxed sets, offering a reasonably priced way to access luxury. When you’re asked “What do you want for [x gift-giving occasion]?” pass this idea along for a surefire route to a perfect gift.
4. Balance Your Budget and Protect Your Boundaries
Your budget may be beautiful on paper, but it only serves your needs if you tend to it. Just as you wouldn’t miss your weekly two-step peel, aim to review your budget with the same dedication. Set a date that you can stick to and consider it a permanent appointment on your calendar.
Export your posted transactions into a CSV file and label them with your budget’s categories. Generally, fewer categories are easier to manage, but break them out how it makes sense to you. As a beauty lover, your “personal care” category would likely benefit from more detailed accounting. Split products, services, and specialty spends to develop a methodology you can manage. Products and services can equate to hair, makeup, and nail treatments, while specialty spends can mean more expensive, infrequent procedures.
As you get your budget in alignment with your beauty goals, you may face opportunities where your plan is challenged. Although a shared table at the hottest new gastropub may sound fun, remember that it’s you who determines what’s valuable. If the price tag of a fun-but-not-essential night out threatens your upcoming microblading appointment, decline with confidence. Protecting your budget for misdirected spending is one of the best ways you can establish financial boundaries.
Basking in the Glow of a Budget that Matches Your Priorities
There are guidelines on how much the average person “should” spend on housing and transportation. But when it comes to your budget, you make the rules. Financial experts typically share advice and education that resonates with the largest audience and addresses budget-busting scenarios like overblown loans. But what matters to them doesn’t necessarily matter to you.
Your lifestyle preferences and spending goals are unique to your human experience. If buying more beauty products and treatments makes you happy, then by all means, build a budget with that in mind. Your budget should aid you in fulfilling your goals, both financial and personal. When you make money moves to support your goals, your glow on the inside will match what’s on the outside.
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