Rules for Our No-Buy Year

our No-Buy Year Rules

Happy New Year friends! As mentioned previously, we’ve made a goal for 2023 to be our “No-Buy Year.” As such, it has officially begun. The year, though, comes with some planning and boundary setting, of course.

I recently told a friend about our plan and she was aghast. “But how are you going to live?” she asked. It’s a good point. There’s no way we can get away without spending any money in a capitalist society. It just isn’t possible most of the time. So “No-Buy Year” is kind of a misnomer. Rather, it’s more of a “conscious buying” year. But that doesn’t have as nice of a ring to it and there’s something about casting it in terms of the extreme of not buying anything that helps create some kind of accountability.

With the several books I’ve read about other folks’ No-Buy Years as well as the Buy Nothing Project’s book is that you’ve got to create a set of rules or boundaries for what it is and how to buy. Everyone’s purpose for a No-Buy Year is a bit different. For many it’s to challenge consumerism and decrease their personal impact on the planet, for others it’s to save money. It’s both of those for us, but it’s also a way to challenge ourselves to be more creative with the things we already have.

So as we start to think about our No-Buy Year, my husband and I sat down and kind of mapped out the year and some of the purchases we know we need to make. The truth is, 2023 is already looking pretty expensive given that we’re working toward electrifying our home and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that was passed in August is offering some pretty great rebate incentives to do so for 2023. So we pushed anything off to that year. So electrical work, a new induction stove (bye-bye old gas stove that is apparently poisoning us), an electric dryer (I didn’t even know dryers ran on gas), an EV plug, plus some work on a fence so that we can actually get to the plug. And, then there’s the possibility of getting a new EV. Plus, we’re traveling more this year than we have in the last 3+ years. Therefore, lots of exceptions.

As we set these rules in the past week and then reflected on them, there were a few adjustments I made to ensure I’d actually keep to the rules. Specifically, I loosened up the restrictions on experiences a bit more while keeping tighter rules around the stuff category.

With that, here are our basic rules.

What we’re allowed to shop for:

• Groceries, food, etc.

• Toiletries when they run out

• Cleaning products

• Gifts for Finch’s birthday

• Coffee at coffeeshops with a travel mug or to stay

• Meals out ~4-5 times/month while at home*

• Meals out on our trips

*This was the category I loosened up on a bit more. I started with 2 times/month, but when I realized I already had two dinners out scheduled with friends in the first two weeks of January alone, I realized that I’d probably end up making excuses to break this one way too often. Going to restaurants to catch up with friends is one of the major joys and I’d like to keep those joys. Plus, supporting local restaurants is much better than buying crap I don’t need.

What we’re not allowed to shop for:

• Clothes, shoes, accessories, etc.

• Books, magazines, etc. (not gonna lie, this will be a tough one)

• Household items

• Electronics

• New toys outside of birthday presents for Finch

• Subscriptions

Approved shopping list:

• Electrical work

• Stove, dryer, EV charger

• Electrical vehicle

• Experiences (zoo membership, other outings, concerts, etc.)

• Lodging and flights for travel (use miles when possible)

• Select souvenirs on trips

• Replacement items

Looking at the “approved” list and the very big purchases we intend to make, it doesn’t look like we’re going to be saving a whole lot of extra money this year. But I do hope it helps offset the big purchases and helps shift our perspective on “needs” vs. “wants.” We’ve already gotten into a discussion about whether to source a rug for our son’s play area from Buy Nothing or buy it new before the year starts. My husband argued that he didn’t want a rug someone else had used, you don’t know their pet situation, etc. But you can argue that every time and it’s a matter of what you’re willing to compromise.

As a first step for this No-Buy year, I’m going to go through our closets and shelves to find the things that we just don’t use. I’ve already started to read the backlog of books I’ve amassed over the years that have sat on my shelf unread.

In the meantime, I’ll keep you posted on how it goes. Are any of you doing a No-Buy Year? If so, what are the rules you’ve put in place? Would love to check in on how it’s going.

With that, happy new year!