Can you believe it? I have gone 4 weekends without buying makeup to add to my stash, or better put, my closet.

I kept buying makeup, with the intention that I’d review them for The Style Page blog. Didn’t happen.

I decided to track my spending by embarking on the Your Money or Your Life program. One of the YMOYL concepts is the “gazingus pin.” Gazingus pins are items that we obsessively spend money on: for me, they are food out, Starbucks CD compilations, and makeup.

Here are some gazingus pins that I would have spent money on:

• Pati Dubroff Aquatint lip gloss set from Costco
• Vincent Longo Pearl-to-Matte eye shadow trio in Untitled (Soft Rose, Sable, Cherry Brown)
• Revlon nail polish in French Roast
• DHC eye shadow palette

That’s nearly $90 that I didn’t spend! I decided to reallocate that $90 to enroll in an online course on Understanding Hindu Identity from the Oxford Center for Hindu Studies, something that would give me more satisfaction (see the Bahu of Bengal tab).

The YMOYL calls for tracking every penny spent and developing your own spending categories. At the end of the month, you tally your spending and evaluate each expenditure category by answering the following 3 questions:

• Did I receive fulfillment, satisfaction and value in proportion to life energy spent?
• Is this expenditure of life energy in alignment with my values and life purpose?
• How might this expenditure change if I didn’t have to work for a living?

It’s nearly month’s end and I’ll share with you my answers to the three questions early in September.