r/nobuy

How did your no-buy or low-buy go this week?

Share your goals, progress and how your purchasing habits have changed since starting a no buy.

If you 'failed' this week, remember that it is just a stumble in a long journey. If you did well, inspire others and encourage them when they do well or get off track.

Sorry if this isn't the place for it. I don't know where else to post this. I cancelled two streaming services this month. BIG WIN for me because I've been talking about doing this for over a year.

A few days after I cancelled one of my DVD players broke. Then the Second DVD player broke. I know that Netflix didn't reach it's digital hands into my home to break my DVD players but it makes me want to get out the tin foil. I'm just so incredibly frustrated.

I have been collecting a mix of $1 thrift store DVD and used DVDs from eBay that my family enjoys for a while now in my endeavor to cancel streaming, and now I have to buy new players. I'm going to try my best to fix at least one of them, and I'm thinking about asking a family member if they have a spare. If not I will have to buy one, which I really didn't want to do.

I’m collapsing under the weight of my terrible decisions and self control. I had to have one of my original rats put to sleep a few weeks ago, which had to go on the credit card, and between that, another £600 vet bill for another pet, I’ve opened the floodgates on my credit.

It’s embarrassing, how much I’ve stuffed things up: luckily I have good credit so I’ve just got a no interest balance transfer card with a long interest free balance transfer period to try to get this sorted out in an affordable way.

I’m selling everything I can - craft supplies (doing a crafter de-stash market tomorrow), I have stuff up on Vinted and I got £50 on marketplace this week.

I stood in my craft room, looking around at the torrent of stuff, and I had a panic attack, feeling so overwhelmed, and just wailed ‘why am I like this’. I will hopefully sell a large amount of stuff tomorrow, and even if I don’t get much for it, every little bit helps. Whatever is not sold will go to a car boot sale in a couple of weeks with anything else I can find

I’ve had so many false starts with no spends. But by god I need this right now. I shouldn’t be this broke, I shouldn’t be this stressed about everything.

So for most of April I did terrible but here is to a new month and getting back on track.

How did your no-buy or low-buy go this week?

Share your goals, progress and how your purchasing habits have changed since starting a no buy.

If you 'failed' this week, remember that it is just a stumble in a long journey. If you did well, inspire others and encourage them when they do well or get off track.

I’ve always struggled to walk past any shop without popping in to buy something small. Eventually, the clutter, the cost, and most importantly the environmental guilt caused me to set myself the goal of a no buy year.

I’m feeling really insecure about my style at the moment, and I’m outgrowing lots of my clothes. I’m considering doing a huge clearout and buying a whole new secondhand wardrobe. I feel like I’ve learnt a lot from this no buy, and maybe 5 ish months is enough?

Any thoughts appreciated

Gosh, I'm scared. I've never tried this before and I'm about to make serious plans for my next paycheck. I don't make much anyway and my shopping addiction has reached its peak for me. Other than gardening soil and slug bait, I'm not going to spend a single dollar on things I don't need. I'm hoping I can achieve a no buy year if this works out. I should have never heard of Etsy. 😮‍💨

On things I thought weren't bad. Bought a work wardrobe that, when the day of wearing them to work came, didn’t *actually* fit like I swore they did before. Receipt lost at that point.

Put my card down for a restaurant with friends with expectations of being paid back...hasn't happened yet.

Why is it always the shit I either did need or had planned for in a certain way?! It's fucking frustrating.

(And all this on top of an eating disorder which...is a wholly different type of psychological problem than overspending, so I'm dead in the water in that regard until I get fixed.)

So much spent. I'm hurt. Angry. Wasting money.

I don’t want to pretend I’m an expert at this by any means. I’m only 14 days into my No Buy Month. I’ve tried these before without making it this far. I don’t want to say it’s been easy, but it has definitely been easier than in the past. Can I tell you what I’ve done differently this time that has actually made it easier?

1. I got off social media. This is the biggest one. I deleted Instagram, Facebook, TikTok. This has made a huge difference and I can now see how much social media was driving my spending. 

2. I’m journaling every morning. I’m working my way through The Artists Way (which has also been helping me get through this) and morning pages are part of that. Not a cute “journaling ecosystem” that’s going to tempt me to want to buy journaling supplies. A brain dump into a normal notebook that I’m going to throw away when it’s full. This is helping me work through my emotions, insecurities, and frustrations instead of trying to fix them with shopping. 

3. I don’t go anywhere that would temp me to shop. No window shopping or just looking around at the mall. I only go to the grocery store when I need to buy food. You will not find me anywhere near a Sephora, Target, mall, or thrift store.

4.  I deleted all shopping apps from my phone. 

5.   I’m putting things I want to buy on a wish list. There have been many things I’ve been tempted to buy, but instead of hitting the checkout now button, I paste a link in my notes titled End of Year Wishlist. Then I journal about why I think I need to buy that item and try to identify the underlying emotional issue that’s driving me. I’ve told myself that if an item is still on my wishlist at the end of the year, I’ll budget and save for it. But I’ve already taken off most of the items I’ve put on it, because I realized I was just trying to fix an insecurity that buying something will never fix.

6.   I’m trying to spend less time online. Getting off social media has helped this tremendously. I’m reading, taking walks, decluttering, journaling…Anything to stay offline which leads to me browsing online shops. When I do find myself picking up my phone to “browse” I come here and read how everyone is doing on their No Buy.

 

I‘ll be honest, of all these things it’s getting off social media and journaling that have made the most difference.

I hope my experience helps someone else.

5 years ago I bought a pair of loafers for a good price but they were so uncomfortable I only wear them around once a year with extra thick socks so they won't hurt my feet. So I thought maybe it's time to get a new better quality pair that I can finally wear as much as I want. I saved enough money to get the shoes but since I'm doing a no buy year I am hesitating. What do you all think?