Episode #2: Could You Commit to a No-Buy Year? We Did, and Here is How It Went!

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So, we have a question for you…. Would you be able to commit to a no-buy year? Well, in this episode, we are going to tell you how we did it, in 2021. We committed to a year of no-buy. We are going to tell you how we did it, give you the low down on why we decided to do it, how we did after a year on the no-buy year lifestyle, what we learned from it, and if we would do it again.

In this episode we chat about:

Why did we commit to a no-buy year? As minimalists, sure, this isn’t unchartered territory, but as humans, we often find ourselves falling back into old routines, of buying things without thought, adding clutter to our home, and forgetting about what is important in life. Spoiler alert- it’s not all of the stuff we have. What better way to really reflect on the importance of experiences, adventures, and being in the moment, here and now, than to not buy stuff. We wanted to do it, not as a punishment; we were extremely excited about it! We considered it as a period of fasting- as reset of our spending habits, and a withdrawal of the things that just became routine, no thought considered, and to improve overall. We wanted to make it a habit of living more intentionally.
We set our own guidelines for the no-buy year. You can find those here.
Our mantra: Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without. (1) Do we have to have it? (2) Can we repair? (3) Can we make it ourselves?
How do we think we did? We did a monthly check-in at the end of every month on YouTube, so that held us accountable. We think we did fairly well. We know we saved a ton of money. We learned a lot. Some of our wins: this year, we had a successful garden, we made our own cleaning products, we didn’t buy any clothes for ourselves unless we used our poshmark balance. We lived without amazon prime. It can be done. We contacted companies when appliances broke and on several occasions, had them replaced! We said no to things, when people suggested we buy things, even if it made us uncomfortable. Then, we found that when we explained why, they were engaged and interested in the no-buy year.
Would we do it again? We are not going to actively engage in the practice of a no-buy year, however, we have adopted habits that we will take on into the new year, and beyond. We are thrilled to have done it. We encourage anyone to do it. It’s sort of an adopted lifestyle in a way.

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Episode resources:

We mention the amazing Hilton Carter in this episode.
Gift ideas that are not physical gifts.
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You can always find us on our blog: arneradventures.com or Instagram: @arneradventures Please let us know your thoughts on this episode, or others. Your feedback means the world to us, so please send us a message and tell us what you think.

Thank you!

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