Is anyone doing a no / low buy 2022?

[SarahJessicaParker1]

I'm going to try it.

Would love ideas of other people's rules!

I am doing this
a no buying it year
some yrs ago someone wrote a book about it , i think it was called ' not buying it'
i thought it would be a jolly romp through hilarious stories of how the author tried not to get sucked into a new pair of outrageously unsuitable jimmy choos or something but it turned out to be very dull book about her parsimonious attitude to commercialism.

I have clothes to cover all eventualities from a black tie ball to a mountain hike.
I have enough underwear ( my weakness) to start my own luxury shop and i have a house very well equipped with 'stuff'
i just do not need anything, and while a new cashmere cardigan might be nice as i am sure i just dont have that exact shade of baby blue ..i really do not need it.

my rules - no new clothes or shoes with exception of running trainers as these do wear out.
No new stuff....this is anything from new garden furniture to new mugs or gadgets etc.
books are allowed on kindle - which i then share with my daughter
food shop - i already meal plan and use left overs etc etc
take aways - rarely have them so going to say yes to that one, as if i say none i shall start craving them
I want more money for holidays and less stuff in my life

on top of this i am giving up alcohol for 2 months ( may go longer)

mmm....feeling optomistic at moment but it is only day 2

How is everyone planning to deal with gifts?

We have a couple of birthdays coming up (one is our ds and the other is a good friend's dd). I'm thinking I am going to just buy as usual... ds isn't getting a tonne of stuff from us, and most of it was bought last year anyway, but remembered I need to buy for friend's dd too!

I’m going to try. Would rather spend money on doing things than buying crap I don’t need.

My biggest one will be eating what’s in the house rather than popping out for something I fancy/getting a take away.

@SarahJessicaParker1 my resolution is giving DC more experiences than stuff. She has tons of toys and books (and we go to the library) but can remember things now so will spend money on days out instead. DC2 is still a baby, no problem for now.

Have not thought about presents yet - I am not the type to make presents but one of my friends does this. Her presents are always something she made eg bath peel, something she baked, etc Not sure what you would do for a child though.

I do experience gifts for the older one (7). Her bug ticket birthday present was theatre tickets for February. But ds and the other little girl are turning 3 and 4... They don't need a lot at that age, but more enjoy opening presents than vouchers 🤔

I think I'm going to limit ds's to what we've already got him, which is 3 things which I know he'll love, and then I'll wrap some edible treats! Will have to think about the little girl. She's my goddaughter as well.

I do buy for a few more little ones through the year, (saw friend's other dd, one niece, one nephew and another friend's three dcs - they're all quite little except dniece who I think might appreciate an experience gift next birthday when she will be 9), so I think I need to include presents for kids in my budget.

Love the idea of homemade presents for grown ups too!

I am going to meal plan and try not to make impulse purchases but unlike some posters I don’t want to give up my quite limited social life . It’s usually a meal out once a month with my friends and the odd coffee but life would be pretty boring without it . Many years ago when I was a single parent I relieved the boredom in the evenings by ordering from catalogues ( pre internet shopping) and ended up with a huge bill !

My kids are teens so I'm not changing the way we do birthday presents for them - they know the budget and usually have something they've been wanting for months and months, which they'll in some cases also save towards (eg. DS1, 14, wanted a specific 600€ bike for Christmas - he had grown out of the bike we bought him two years ago so we'd usually have replaced with a second hand one without it being a present but we'd effectively already done that because DH has a good barely used bike in the garage ds1 had unlimited use of and was indeed riding. Therefore DS1 saved up for six months and also put grandparents birthday money into the pot to add to our usual budget to get the specific bike he wanted).

Experiences sound good if the child doesn't have reasonable/ set wishes though! I always think birthdays and Christmas are the only chance non spoilt children have to dream of high ticket items,so wouldn't make a strict no stuff rule.

I agree with both pps.

My dcs have winter birthdays so they only get on influx of stuff! We never go mad and they aren't spoilt. Also can understand teenagers knowing what they want. I think I will limit budget to something reasonable but get them what they want. I want to be minimalist, but they don't have to. Dh already is and always was!

Also will still go on special nights out as they occur about 3 times a year for me.

BTW, i hope that last post doesn't read as defensive. I'm genuinely trying to figure out my rules and what the right thing to do is, so thinking out loud...or in text...is really helping!

i find it a very tempting time of year, to buy things for the house for example, a new duvet cover.
i will resist

and unsubscribe is a great idea

I have had to unsubscribe from a shocking number off websites . Not sure why I didn't do it before tbh!

If anyone is interested, I've been really enjoying The Minimalists videos on YouTube recently. Talking a bit about emotions and clutter / buying stuff.

Of*

I did a low new clothes last year and have just gone bonkers in the sale. Am going to get back on track though and it was still a more mindful shop than it would have been last year. Writing lists of things I have has been helpful for me. I also do a declutter for lent.

I tend to think I'm quite minimalist but looking around I'm not really. I take the approach that I want everything I own to have a use, right now I have things I could definitely declutter so I'm going to work on that this month.

Yesterday I went through the kids toys and clothes and managed to fill a whole carload of things for the skip/charity bins.

I'm going to make a list in my planner of everywhere I want to go through in the house, Marie Kondo style

@carlyswirly

I did a toiletry inventory earlier due to isolation boredom. Bloody hell. After not going on holiday for 2 years I have loads of unused travel sized things. I think I can get through 2022 only buying toothpaste and deodorant. So much make up too.

I'm going to do an enormous charity drop off for clothes - I have too many to actually see what I own so end up wearing the same few things. We have a drive through site locally which is amazing.

This is about reclaiming space for me. I must have about 50 pairs of knickers.

@carlyswirly you can also donate those hotel soaps and liquids to various homeless shelters/orgs or to food banks. Their patrons need small and portable cleaning products all the time. Double check with the orgs in your area.

@Youmeanyouvelostyourkey

I'd like to join too. My New Years resolutions are all "less is more". Weigh less, lower blood sugar and lower debt so this fits perfectly.

@Youmeanyouvelostyourkey I really like this as a starting point and mirrors my own “list” year to year. I’ve been trying to aim for less digital clutter too. Currently working through my terribly cluttered email inbox and trying to find ways to reduce my time on certain sites.

@SarahJessicaParker1

Love the idea of homemade presents for grown ups too!

My friend made sloe gin one year. Very easy to make and she wrapped the bottles nicely.

Another yeat she made bread and jam and wrapped it nicely in a little basket.

Those are lovely ideas! I did once make blackberry vodka for some friends' house-warming and they said it was lovely... I don't buy for many grown ups anyway, so wouldn't be giving homemade to vague acquaintances or anything. I know people can hate that!

I have a low buy dilemma (first world problems). I keep reading how people do their own nails and they look as good. If I could do this, I would save a fortune! BUT, I don't want to do any "experimental" personal care things! Tricky...

I'm planning this too. Have cancelled prime and then realised I was also signed up for kindle unlimited! Another of those free trials I forgot to bloody cancel! Cancelling everything except Netflix. Don't plan to buy clothes unless needed. I am going to see if every time I don't buy something I normally would I can save that money to shock me into spending more mindfully.

Hi everyone, can I join too? My goal is to pay off my credit card debt this year. I will tackle that by spending less money while also increasing my income (extra freelance work on top of normal job). I also want to think about how I spend my time and energy so i can focus on the things that matter (instead of lying on the sofa scrolling through my phone for hours as I’m too knackered and stressed to do anything else)!

Yes, all welcome Ronnie

So far, no problems. I did spend money today (fuel for my car)! But not much.

I was listening to radio 4 on thee drive home from work and You and Yours was doing a bit about saving. One tip was to cook double when you cook, so you have extra portions to freeze! So no temptation to have takeaway and also it saves on energy bills.

Checking in to say I haven't bought anything!

I have also joined the minimalism game thread on here for decluttering. You have to declutter one item on the first, two on the second and so on. Should be rid of a lot by the end, which I obviously shouldn't replace any of it as I'm doing no buy. Hope it goes to plan!

So far, so good for me too. DH went shopping today. I stayed at home and washed my car!

I really should have a go at decluttering. We’re having significant building work done soon. And there is just too much stuff!