05. How to Prepare for a No-Buy or Low-Buy
and how opting out of shopping can change your life and free up room for everything else
Ever since I have had access to money, I have struggled to manage my spending. I earn to spend. My brain constantly natters at me about how I deserve this or deserve that, or how that sweater I saw on an Instagram model might be the thing that finally makes me feel comfortable in my skin. My spending habits have waxed and waned over the years, but ultimately have continued to grow as I get older and earn more money. Everything really began to compound when I worked a travel nursing contract in the U.S. in 2023. I earned more money than I will probably ever earn in 3 months again- and my spending habits started to become problematic. I was alone in a new city, working 50 hours a week in a pediatric intensive care unit, and spending 10-20 hours per week writing my master’s thesis. I was lonely, depressed, bored, and working really hard. I rewarded myself by buying pretty much everything that interested me- justifying it because I was still saving more than 50% of my income.
Since then, I have continued to spend beyond my means. I have never carried consumer debt (thankfully), but I haven’t saved any significant sum of money in over a year. I was receiving packages in the mail weekly (not normal), constantly watching for sales (not normal), and never not considering a purchase (not normal). I would hit “purchase” on my Kindle instead of waiting a week to get the book via Libby, I would panic buy a new outfit before a night out, and I did not track a single dollar I spent in 2024. It was beyond time for a change.
In November of 2024, I spontaneously decided that I would be starting a no-buy year on that exact day (spoiler: I did not start it on that exact day). I posted about it on TikTok and so many kind and supportive people flooded my comments. I was so excited! I started consuming tons of no-buy content and felt amazing about it. I told my mom, and she was so proud of me. It felt amazing- but I was completely unprepared.
“One lesson I’ve learned countless times over the years is that whenever you let go of something negative in your life, you make room for something positive.” Cait Flanders, The Year of Less
I ended up faltering a few times (due to the lack of preparation), but I officially started my no-buy on December 20th, 2024. I will carry on until my 30th birthday on December 20th, 2025. At this point in the no buy, I am not thinking about it very much! The first month was hard, but my brain is rewiring- this thing actually works. I will share more in the future about things like my self-care plan for when I’m driven to shop, the benefits of a no-buy, and more details about the WHY behind my no-buy (totally crucial)- but today’s post is about everything I learned in the month where I was kind of on a no buy but kind of preparing for my no buy- the time between my decision to start and my official start, on December 20th.
This essay is kind of long, and divided into a few sections, so feel free to skip ahead to what is most useful to you! The sections, in order, are: identifying your WHY, preparing a budget, making your rules, emotional prep, getting excited about other forms of abundance, inventory, significant events and exceptions, and identifying your support system. Finally, I have included a list of recommended resources that helped me to prepare for my no buy year. It’s important to remember that you can start a no buy at any time, for any length of time- it doesn’t need to be a full calendar year! You could start next week and go for three months- whatever fits into your life. Any time you spend reducing your consumption will have a positive compound effect on your life, your wallet, and the planet- so feel free to give it a try!
Identifying Your Why
A really clear “why” is essential to taking on a no buy year. Having a guiding light to return to, a bit of a thesis or mission statement, is something you can lean on when you feel inclined to browse or spend. My personal “why” is to a) stop thinking about shopping and feeling the need to fill emotional gaps in my life with stuff, and b) to achieve a lofty savings goal. If I achieve my savings goal this year, I will be on track for CoastFI, an investing strategy where theoretically, if I make no further contributions to my retirement accounts for the rest of my working life, the accounts will grow to a healthy retirement fund based solely off of compound interest (If you want more personal finance content like this, let me know!).
Some examples of a WHY:
paying off debt
reaching a savings goal
buying a house
releasing your emotional dependence on consumerism
setting your brain free from shopping, hopefully forever
Preparing a Budget
I have historically tracked my spending and income very diligently, but fell off of this habit in 2023. Budgeting is so back, baby! OhhYouBudget has one of the best budgeting accounts out there, so I highly recommend checking out her content. Every month, I have a plan for my money. I budget for groceries, socializing, transport, pet care, bills, and savings. It has been such a relief to sit down once or twice a week, keep an eye on my money, and know exactly what has come in and gone out. I have a custom budgeting template I made that also allows me to track items that tempted me but I didn’t buy- it will be fun at the end of the year to see how much money I didn’t spend!
Making Your Rules
This is the most important step and the one that requires the most time. I recommend creating rules that will help you to curb your bad habits, but aren’t so restrictive that you’ll quit halfway through. I prefer to focus my rules on what I can buy- because that means everything else is a no. My full set of rules is listed here, but here is the short form.
No: clothes, shoes, books, new makeup products, tech items, kitchen gadgets, magazines, hobby supplies, essentially no new physical items.
Exceptions: 500$ budget for clothing for my trip to India (done), a bookshelf (purchased), nightstands, some art for the walls, supplies for one knitting project at a time.
It is really important to commit to your rules and stick to them throughout the year. Try to share them with someone else for accountability if possible!
Getting Excited About Other Forms of Abundance
Think about how much space shopping takes up in your mind. How many hours per month do you spend browsing? How many times have you wasted days of your life looking for a dress for a special event? One of the really amazing things about not shopping is that it clears up space in your mind and life for more important things, like helping others, making progress in your work, spending time with loved ones, and hobbies and exercise. I am so enjoying having space freed up in my brain. I never would have posted twice a week on Substack before starting a no buy- I was too busy trawling the sale section of the Aritzia website for the third time that week!
Inventory
I actually didn’t do this but a lot of people recommend taking an inventory of everything you own. It can be really eye-opening to find out that you actually own ten lip-balms and 8 different sweaters. A lot of people recommend cataloging your clothes on an app like IndyX, which can be helpful for shopping your closet!
Significant Events and Exceptions
While some people are truly able to not buy a single thing for a whole year, most people will need to make a few exceptions. Look at the year ahead and think about if there is something you will need. Do you have a multi-day hike planned and you don’t own an overnight backpack? Plan ahead- can you borrow or do you need to plan for some expenses there? Planned exceptions are a very normal part of a no-buy. Used in moderation, they can help you avoid feeling like you have failed if you need to buy something. Some people allow shopping while travelling, for example. I made exceptions to buy clothing to feel comfortable on a trip to India where I will be meeting my boyfriend’s extended family, and I will be allowed to shop on that trip as well (no other shopping during travel). For me, this is a worthy exception because this kind of trip is only made every few years.
Identifying Your Support System.
You truly cannot do this alone and there are so many resources out there to support you. It is really helpful to have someone to talk to when you feel the urge to buy, and someone to brag to when you successfully overcome a moment where you would have normally shopped and you manage to avoid it! I have linked two different Discord support groups below, but I also recommend telling some trusted people in your own life! My mom and boyfriend have both been really supportive of my no buy, and it is so helpful to be able to talk to them about it. Other important pieces of my support system include my local friend group and neighbors for borrowing, my dopamine menu for tricky moments, YouTube for learning how to mend and care for the things I already own, and the library for accessing books!
I want to hear from you!
Are you taking on a low or no buy at some point in 2025? Why, or why not? What could taking shopping out of your life make room for more of? What kind of no buy content would you like to see from me?
Future planned posts: THIS SUNDAY I will post a full spending recap of January (these posts with details about my finances will be paywalled)! Other things in the works include emotional prep for a no buy, why we shop for our fantasy selves, how to get through hard moments when you can’t shop, things to do when you are bored, and a deep dive into how companies convince us that we always need to buy!
Thanks for being here, and please feel free to share this post if it was helpful to you! If you don’t have capacity to become a paid subscriber right now but would like to support my work, I would be so thankful if you bought me a coffee!
Recommended Resources
Essays, Books, and Substacks
My Year of No Shopping, by Ann Patchett for the New York Times (essay)
The Year of Less, a memoir by Cait Flanders (book)
The Lighthouse by Cait Flanders (Substack)
Grace’s Substack by Grace Nevitt
What I Learned From My No Buy Year by Shawna Ripari for Maclean’s (essay)
The Gem Den by Denise (Substack, Denise is on a 2025 no buy, she is running a no buy Discord group!)
Uncomplicated Spaces (Substack). Gillian did a no buy year in 2024, and after a big rebound shopping period has started a low buy for 2025! Amazing content and a really supportive subscriber chat.
YouTube Channels
Grace Nevitt - Grace did a 2024 no buy and posted amazing updates every month. Her videos were my main inspiration for embarking on a 2025 no buy. She still runs a Discord support group!
Shawna Ripari did a no buy a few years ago and still makes amazing underconsumption content!
Christina Mychas is an amazing creator who did a no buy to exit a lot of a debt- now she makes content about realistic minimalism and usually does a few no-buy months per year!
Other Resources
r/nobuy . I unabashedly love Reddit- I have found so many interesting and helpful communities and sometimes you really just need to read about other people’s experiences! This page is fantastic.
Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy (film, 2024). If you need a wake up call this movie is it!
I’m also doing a low buy year, to pay off debt. But also so I’m contributing as little as possible to our oligarchy. It’s already been so hard but as the end of the month approaches, I can say I feel good and in control.
I really loved reading all about your no buy - I'm excited to follow your journey. And thank you for sharing all of these resources...I am incredibly honored to be included 🫶🏻