Subscription Boxes – Value for Money or a Waste of Money?

I’m not sure how I feel about these subscription boxes that are popping up all over the place. You know the ones I mean, don’t you? The ones where you pay a monthly charge and get a box filled with random products delivered to your door each month.

On the face of it they’re excellent value because the products you get are generally worth a fair amount more than you pay for the box itself but in reality, if they’re products that you wouldn’t have bought anyway then that’s not good value at all.

It wouldn’t be very frugal of me not to point out that paying £10 for a box of goodies worth £30 is only a great deal if you’ll use all of the items in there and they’re not just going to be relegated to a drawer never to be used.

However, I’m clearly not that against them as I do pay for one each month for Miss Frugal as a treat. The one we get is the Birch Box which is beauty themed so once a month, she’ll get a little box filled with treats and the excitement she gets from it is infectious as I look forward to sitting and opening it with her almost as much as she looks forward to opening it!

She started out paying for it herself with her pocketmoney but then we worked out a deal which meant that I would pay for it and she would do extra jobs in exchange for me paying for it so it was a win, win situation as far as I’m concerned.

She’s been asking me for a little while if she can write up a review of one of her Birchboxes but I didn’t really think it was particularly frugal so I’ve always said no but when she asked again this month, I thought about it and said yes. After all, we’re not frugal in every aspect of our life and it’s the areas where we are frugal that mean we can afford silly treats like this for us all.

So, here’s her review of the April Birchbox:

I love Birchbox because i love that I get to try out lots of different things and discovering things I love and will repurchase. I think it is value for money because it only costs £10 and you are getting a box of products that can sometimes total up to over £20 or even £30.  The boxes themselves are really pretty too and I keep them to store things.

Benefit BADgal Lash Mascara – RRP £17.50
I love this mascara as it is one that I already own. I like Benefit mascara as it’s the only one I’ve ever tried that stays on all day without smudging.

Cynthia Rowley Eyeliner – RRP £11
I love this eyeliner as it goes on very smoothly and also for a sample it is a very good size.  I’m not really allowed to wear much eyeliner but this is good for when I can wear it.

Balance Me Tinted Wonder Eye Cream RRP £20
This eye cream is amazing.  When i had dark circles under my eyes this morning from last nights sleepover I just applied this and it concealed them.  I love this because it is not as heavy as a concealer and at the same time it is also supposed to be good at brightening your eyes.

Beaver Professional Hydro Nutritive Repairing Shampoo and Conditioner RRP £11.50
Even though I haven’t used the conditioner yet, I used the shampoo last night and loved it.  It made my hair so smooth and shiny.

Kueshi Foot Care Cream – RRP £12
I don’t use foot creams that often so I think I might give this one to my Mam.

There’s also a beauty shop online on the Birchbox website where you can get makeup cheaper than you can get it in the shops and if you decide to get your own Birchbox then you can use my link and you’ll get £5 worth of points to spend in the shop.  You can also get points by reviewing what you get in your box and i’ve managed to get £10 of points in 3 months just by doing that.

My mam says I have to tell you that if you do use my link that I will get points too.  Here’s my link – https://www.birchbox.co.uk/invite/hb6db

Thanks for reading and I hope you’ve found this useful if you were thinking of getting a box.

Miss Frugal, aged 13

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