No-Buy Year? No Thanks.
why I'm not avoiding shopping in 2025, and maybe you shouldn't either
For the readability of this post, I will be using the term “no-buy” as a noun, and occasionally as a verb.
The concept of committing to a “no-buy” or “no-spend” period [insert: week, month, or year] has been gaining traction since around 2018, but its popularity was catapulted thanks to the economic uncertainty of the pandemic and the recent egg-cost crisis that we are now immersed in.
Despite the name, a no-buy doesn’t mean you don’t buy anything at all. It’s a designated period of time where you commit to spending no money outside of designated parameters, like bills, debts, groceries, or other items deemed ‘necessary’ for living.
On the whole, a no-buy looks a little different for everyone. It largely depends on your financial goals, highest spending categories, and what money habits you are hoping to change. For example, someone may be trying to avoid buying a new beauty products until they’ve finished all their travel size Sephora freebies. For others, they may avoid buying new clothes altogether, ditch the lattes, or delete the DoorDash app.
Today, in the face of high inflation and political uncertainly, I see more and more people committing to a no-buy in 2025. There is a sense of impending global doom that is creating an urgency to save money and reevaluate spending habits. I am not immune to this fear, but I am also self-aware enough to know that a no-buy could be detrimental to my financial situation, and my mental health.
Why a no-buy isn’t healthy… (for me)
As Dana Miranda points out in her latest book You Don’t Need A Budget, “conventional budgeting methods rely on restriction, discipline, and perfectionism in a way that doesn’t work for people. They ignore an important truth about money: it’s meant to be spent.”
As someone who has spent a majority of their conscious life flip-flopping between binging and restricting with food, I have seen this vicious cycle translated into other areas of my life—like money.
I tend to operate in two modes when it comes to spending money: I’m either obsessively tracking of every purchase and micromanaging my accounts, or I’m going weeks on end not logging into my banking app, closing my eyes, and swiping. (Or in 2025, tapping.)
The main reason people tend to enter a no-buy is to work towards a major financial goal, such as paying off a mountain of credit card debt, or working up towards a major savings goal, like buying a home.
At this point in my life, there is only one money goal I am chasing with all my might: balance.
I meet with a dietician a few times a month to work through this binge-restrict cycle with food, and in 2025, I want to put the same amount of effort towards balancing my relationship with money.
What scares me about committing to a period of strict no spending is what I will be left with in the aftermath. I've heard multiple stories of people finishing a no-spend period, just to immediately engage in revenge spending to make up for the lost time.
While I believe I have the self-discipline to successfully participate in a no-buy, but I'm not confident I would be better off for it in the end. I don't think avoiding money will help me heal my relationship with it—I need to confront it head-on. Avoiding spending money at this point feels like delaying my journey to balance, which I'm tired of doing.
What I’ll be doing instead
In Miranda’s book she tells the story of a woman named Penny who decided to commit to a no-buy month at the start of a new year, but several days in had completely abandoned the plan after making an important discovery: “the benefits of spending outweighed the supposed benefits of succeeding at perfect restriction.”
For Penny, spending money on a screen protector for her kids electronics was worth it, because it protected a much more expensive purchase they would have to be repaired if damaged. She shares that the benefits of connecting with a friend over lunch outweighed the cost of a Mediterranean bowl.
What I liked most about these examples is how they didn’t show restriction, but they did show intention. None of Penny’s purchases were impulsive, they fulfilled a purpose, and she felt like the money spent was well worth it. This is how I want my money to feel in 2025.
I may not be participating in a no-buy this year, but there are a lot of things I would like to buy less of.
Here is what they are:
Less Target, more Trader Joes: Target is one place where the line between grocery shopping often gets muddled with impulsive miscellaneous shopping. Sticking to a once-a-week shopping trip at Trader Joes will help keep my grocery spending to only groceries. I also noticed that I tend to shop more whole foods and less processed items at Trader Joes compared to Target, where they carry all of my favorite childhood comfort foods, meaning this aligns with my Dietician-set goals as well.
Less clothes for fashion, more clothes for function: Coming off the holidays I have a closet full of clothes and truly feel like I don’t need any more. The only new clothes I foresee myself needing are technical gear for any outdoor sports or activities I take up here in Washington, like skiing or hiking, or for special events, like weddings and travel. These won’t be cheap, but they will fulfill a purpose.
Less to Amazon, more on homemade gifts: I love giving gifts, but in the last few years the act of gifting has started to feel more empty and thoughtless when everyone around me already owns so many things. Not to mention, shopping for gifts on Amazon is not fun at ALL. I would love to put more effort, and possibly money, into thrifting unique gifts, shopping at small businesses, or handmaking items for upcoming birthdays or the next holiday season.
Less on food, more on friends: Instead of cutting out restaurants altogether, I want to focus my dining expenses on times spent with friends. This year I'm really focused on nurturing and growing the friendships around me, so it doesn't make sense to cut off all social access by swearing off dining and drinks, but this is the only time I want to be spending money out on food.
Who does a no buy year work for?
There is a reason so many people are committing to a no-buy. Its because for some people, it works! Temporarily, at least.
As someone who once spent two weeks as a raw vegan after falling down a rather unfortunate YouTube rabbit hole at 15 years old, I am considering it a major growth milestone that I could see this trend and simply think “this is not for me”.
I will not be completing a no-buy this year, but there are a lot of better buying habits and mindsets I hope to adopt in 2025 as I worked to turn this binging mentality into one of balance.
What new habits are you looking to adopt this year?
Have you ever completed a no-buy? Share your no-buy success or failure stories in the comments below!
I think you might be missing other reasons people are doing a "no buy" year. One reason could be due to environmental concerns, the intense impacts of our spending habits. Another could be to withdraw support from corporations that are showing their lack of backbone and ethics in the current political administration. On the environmental side, the "buy nothing" movement encourages people to shift to a gift economy for their needs when possible. The founders of the movement actually don't consider restaurant spend off the table (but encourage supporting local businesses). Choosing "no buy" to act on your values is different than restriction for restriction's sake. Your reasoning to not do it might still make sense, but there's much more to this trend.
I like the focus on intention vs a strict no buy. My intention is to buy more secondhand and use what I have and get creative especially with home decor, clothes, kid stuff etc. My motivation is the environmental impact of buying new not so much money.