Last night we took at look at our budget for 2008, and reviewed 2007. We have also begun the process of searching for a financial planner (which is SO fun, let me tell you). We have to be honest with ourselves and realize that going to Japan will not be cheap, and we need to rebuild our savings as soon as possible from that expenditure.

All these things combined have lead me to conclude that, as my part of contributing to our re-savings efforts, I am going to need to give up buying Arbonne products. I did renew my status as a consultant in November, meaning I still get the discount. But, in the end, I am spending hundreds of dollars that we need to save this year. I have never actually sold anything to anyone, I just use the consultant discount to buy things for myself.

I am definitely grieving this loss, because I LOVE Arbonne products. They don’t have any harmful chemicals, are completely plant-based, and using them has replaced moisture in my skin that I didn’t even know I was missing. I have a little bit of fear that my skin is going to start aging more rapidly, breaking out, and drying out when I stop using Arbonne. Fortunately, I just stocked up on my favorite Ginger Citrus sea salt scrub during the holiday promotions. It should be at least a few more months before I run out of it. And we have also stocked up on the body wash, because it has really helped Christian’s skin. He seems to be allergic to most bar soap and body washes, I think because of the fragrances and chemicals they use.

I am going to tell myself this is also a “green” effort because I will not be paying to have products shipped from Indiana directly to me, but will start buying products locally at Whole Foods and drug stores. Those items are already shipped en masse, so I won’t be increasing the carbon expenditure by purchasing them.

Well, wish me luck! Any advice on night moisturizers, facial wash, etc are always more than welcome!