It would appear that everyone in my TikTok feed is doing a No Buy this year. And I’m grateful for that. I have some pretty big financial goals I want to achieve in 2025, plus Euro summer, so my No Buy has been born from this. Oh, and also the fact I LITERALLY HAVE MORE MAKEUP THAN ONE PERSON COULD USE IN AN ENTIRE LIFETIME. And no space to store it.
I’ve watched so.many.videos. about people’s experiences with a No Buy, what worked and what didn’t. I’ve collated some of my key takeaways, not rules per se, from all of this content, and I’m sharing it here. I’ll keep you updated on how I decide to document this journey over the year, and I’d love to know what your thoughts!
1. Know your why; punishing yourself is not enough!
This first tip comes from Christina Mychas. Christina says that whilst a No Buy is a challenge and you will have to employ some discipline, your reason for taking part in the first place should come from a place of kindness to yourself. ‘The pain of the process will be worth it in the end.” That is, what are you gaining from doing this No Buy? A savings goal? A holiday? Keep the bigger picture in mind.
This mindset shift helped see things in a new light, as previously my thoughts had been “I’ve spent way too much money, I need to stop.” I’ve tried this ‘punishment’ approach in the past, and it did not work…
Christina had some amazing other rules, such as “spend time with your stuff “ and “create friction” which you can watch her speak about here.
2. Mental peace
Emma from the Broke Generation describes the mental piece that came with her year-long wardrobe freeze. Instead of deciding if she should or shouldn’t buy an item, the decision had already been made. The rule was no new clothes for a year! That mental peace she describes sounds SEXY.
3. Get creative with your rules
Laura set herself a limit of 6 new wardrobe pieces for the year of 2024. I love this approach, but as an all-or-nothing gal I can’t see it working for me oops. Very interested to follow along her journey in 2025 though! Maybe this could be something I implement once I get past 2025’s No Buy and move toward a low buy.
These are my rules at the moment, subject to change! A mix of challenging and achievable (as all good goals should be, I should know, uni LOVED a SMART goal lol).
1. No new clothes – this means I’m allowed to buy from second hard stores, Depop etc but nothing NEW. Clothes actually means bags, shoes, accessories etc. Anything you’d store in a wardrobe really. I will still be allowing PR, which I realise I am in a fortunate position to be able to do, and I anticipate this will help itch the ‘wanting’ scratch. I also anticipate that I will need to restock a fair chunk of my activewear this year so that’ll be a significant purchase that I am pre-planning for. On top of this, part of the reason I find this so hard is I tie a lot of my identify to how I dress, primarily in the workplace. I love to wear bright, colourful dresses and am often complimented for doing so. In fact, I think people know who I am because of what I wear. What’s going to happen when I stop having a new dress in the rotation? (Literally nothing, I’m sure!!! Rule 1b. Get out of your own head.)
2. Wishlist – I am going to allow myself to buy some items that I’ve been wishlisting at peak sale times (eg. EOFY, Black Friday etc)
3. No new books- this is one of my achievable goals, because I am well and truly into the library I don’t anticipate this being a problemo.
4. No new makeup or skincare – probably a good time to mention, that is where this whole No Buy has stemmed from. I have far too much makeup, skincare and clothes and nowhere to store it all. So these categories are where I am cracking down the most. Like with clothes, I will allow myself to purchase new wishlist beauty items at key sale times and I will still be receiving PR. I literally WILL NOT run out of anything so I can’t even allow restocks 😦
5. Money can be spent freely (albeit within budget) on experiences – if I’m going without things, you best believe I’m going to DO things. This means so restrictions on eating out with friends, seeing concerts or shows etc. I think the biggest limiting factor will be time to actually do these things. So this one will be assessed on a week by week basis.
I don’t need to factor in beauty treatments like nails (not allowed in my workplace) or trips to the hair salon (I try and scope out freebies through students at hairdressing schools). I also acknowledge the privilege that I receive PR, which I am very grateful for.
It’s going to be A JOURNEY for this recovering shopaholic, but I’m excited… bring on 2025!
Follow me on Instagram @rolly.mag
Follow me on TikTok @rolly.mag
ROLLY Mag 