We completed a no-buy year in 2021. It was exciting and scary, but also one of the best things we ever did for ourselves. Ever since, when it comes up in conversation, we are always asked, โHow did you do it?โ Well, we are going to tell you all about it.
The year following our no-buy year didnโt change much. We developed wonderful habits to establish what was truly important in life. Spoiler alert- itโs not stuff.
We are going to tell you how we planned our no-buy year and how you can, too.
Why Embark on a No-Buy Year?
Letโs first establish the reason why opted into a whole year of no spending. As minimalists, sure, this isnโt unchartered territory. As humans who spend time on social media consuming products everywhere we look, itโs not an easy journey.
We definitely eased into it with a low buy year when we sold everything to live by the coast. But, we often find ourselves falling back into old routines. We would buy things without thought, adding clutter to our home. We really wanted to establish that mindset of considering purchases before just making them.
Heading into a no spend year, is one of the most mindful practices you can partake in.
At the end of the year, you assess your progress, and your challenges, and you begin to realize that even if you are not 100% successful, you established habits. Itโs a great way to reduce impulse purchases and see how much money you are spending.
How We Successfully Started Our No-Buy Year
Each January, with the 30-day Minimalism Game, we can clear things out, begin with a clean slate, and feel good about purging the unnecessary stuff from our lives. When you begin to embark upon challenges like that, you often want to do a little more.
What better way to reflect on the importance of experiences, adventures, and being in the moment, here and now, than to not buy stuff for an entire year?
We wanted to do it, not as a punishment. We were extremely excited about it! We considered it as a period of fasting- a reset of our spending habits. It was a withdrawal of the things that just became routine with no thought considered. We wanted to make it a habit of living more intentionally.
There were areas in which we needed to improve, to not only save money but to lessen our carbon footprint. By placing less strain on manufacturers, delivery logistics, our sweet mail carrier, Mack, and not to mention the landfill. Most packaging items end up there, and sometimes, the items themselves.
There were also other challenges we presented to ourselves like a no-spend challenge for a weekend. We also had done a low buy challenge here and there.ย
When we had a โMinimalist Weekend (also, no-buy)โ we calculated that we saved $200. Imagine what we can save in a year, of really being intentional with where our money goes.
Getting Prepped For Your No Buy Year
In preparation for the year, no, you donโt spend the leading days up to it, buying all you can. On the contrary. We began having instances where we had almost hopped onto Amazon to buy something, and then asked ourselves, โWait, what else can I use instead?โ or โDo we really need that?โ We wanted the consideration of purchase to become a builder of good habits.
One of the biggest steps for us, in preparation, is that we did not renew our Amazon Prime. This was a giant step since we had Amazon Prime for the previous 8 years. We asked ourselves if one could live without being an Amazon Prime member. We look back on that now, and just cannot believe that question arose.
You will want to begin to assess your bank account. Take a look at credit card debt. What are your unnecessary purchases? It may take a long time to review your spending habits, but you will need to do this to prepare for the year ahead.
Setting Your Guidelines for the No-Buy Year
So, what are the ground rules for ourย no-buy year?ย Everyone who opts to have a no-buy year has different rules for what they need/want to improve upon. Everyone will have their own rules. We donโt want to make rules, as if this is something that is a negative event. We want rules so that we both know what we consider a staple/must-have item to purchase, and what items we feel are fine with spending money on.
No-buy Year Guidelines
Guidelines are much better than rules, right? Even if you are creating low-buy rules, call them guidelines. Here are our guidelines for what we have in store for a full year of not buying.
Approved Spending
- Utilities
- Auto maintenance, fuel, and repairs as needed
- Medical/Health
- Betty White medical/health/food
- Food/Groceries
- Dining out/Take out but within a set budget (equivalent to about 1x/week)
- Toiletries- only after all products are used up, including Shannonโs beauty products- no buying any replacement items, including makeup, until all is used.
- Experiences/travel
Restrictions
- Clothing- we have enough of what we need. If there is a situation where we must have something, we have agreed to borrow from family/friends or buy gently used.
- Gifts- If we need to provide a gift, it will be a consumable, assistance, or providing an experience. Examples are given,ย here.
- Souvenirs- we usually donโt purchase them on our travels, anyway, but we are adding them, just so we set the expectations.
- Cleaning products- we make our own. We have already begun making our own dishwashing liquid, and hand soap, and weโve made our detergent for years. We have a recipe for a general household cleaner that disinfects, so there is no reason to purchase any of those supplies any longer. Bonus- we will reduce plastic and packaging brought into our home, and it is much healthier for us!
- Home office supplies- use what we have, then all digital.
- Books- we will utilize our library more and use community book trade groups for new reads.
- Plants we do not need any more plants, but with the help ofย Hilton Carterโs propagation class, we can create tons of plants from the ones we already have. Bonus, they make great gifts!
Our Mantra for Our No-Buy Year
โThis probably isnโt the first time you are seeing the 4 Rโs below. We used it for the entire year!
(1) refuse
(2) reuse
(3) repair
(4) recycle
We spent so much time at first, running items through this list. Wants/needs would come up and we would then question why we even wanted to buy it in the first place.
After a short period of time, we started asking ourselves questions like,
(1) Do we have to have it?
(2) Can we repair it?
(3) Can we make it our ourselves? YouTube can be a beautiful thing when it comes to DIY!
A Wish List for the No-Buy Year
Itโs important to set some goals for what you want out of your no-spending year. We wanted to learn more about gardening and guess what?! We did! Now, we have a garden that grows year-round! We also wanted to not ever buy new clothes. We have only bought from reused markets since our no-buy year and we couldnโt be more proud of that!
We hadnโt planned to know about fast fashion or the implications it has on the environment, but it was a positive takeaway.
The best thing to do is to understand where your poor habits are. Where is your excessive spending coming from? At the end of the day, or year, what do you want to reflect on? Feeling good about having not bought unnecessary items or guilt about the new things you have, but donโt care about?
Again, the purpose of this isnโt to punish ourselves, live like monks, or feel deprived. The purpose is to get us to rethink our spending habits to learn more, live more, reduce our carbon footprint, and be more present. Think of how great it will be to say, โLast year, I embarked on a no-buy yearโ. People will want to talk about it and you will feel great about the positive new habits you have formed.
Helpful Info re: a No-Buy Year
You can watch our monthly updates on ourย YouTube channelย where we reported via vlogs with how we were doing. We shared our challenges and our wins! We also shared some life hacks we came up with along the way.ย
Let us know if you plan to take part in a no-buy, or low-buy year! Weโd love to hear the rules/guidelines you set for yourself! Good luck!
