Buy nothing in 2025 challenge (or minimal purchasing!) - anyone want to join in!

[LuminousStar]

Hello! In the vein of the decluttering threads I've been thinking about doing a challenge where I buy as little as possible in 2025.

I realise buying "nothing" is impossible, especially as a parent. But as my life is endlessly complicated by clutter and junk and taking care of objects, as well as money (or a lack of) so I am going to try to buy as little unnecessary stuff as humanly possible in the coming year. Not to mention all the clutter sitting around making me feel guilty because I haven't used it / read it / sorted it! So I wondered if stopping the junk coming in as much as possible might change my mindset!

Instead what I will do is write down anything I am tempted to buy and hold out instead. If something becomes absolutely necessary I will allow it. But there are often other ways around problems that I am often inclined to ignore (mend, home made solutions etc) I will have to rely on more.

Obviously groceries and essentials are allowed, as are non-physical items or treats (holidays, events, e-books, subscriptions within reason). But I figure that even my grocery shopping could do with a bit of pruning! And if I need something that makes life infinitely easier, of course I will buy it.

And at the end of the year I am perhaps planning a little treat if I manage to do a good job - maybe a budget for some new clothes or something.

Would anyone like to join in?

I caved and bought a jumper yesterday. It is one I already have another colour of and wear all the time so am trying to think about it on a cost per wear basis (!). Took the kids ice-skating yesterday. No needless junk food bought but I did buy them a drink. All in all though, a bad spend day.

But no random £30 co-op stop-offs so far. I have a Tesco delivery planned on the app for next weekend. In the meantime we are eating up what we have. I bought a book I wanted for under £5 including delivery on eBay. Cancelled Apple TV as I have enough to watch at the moment.

£30 on groceries today. Hoping for a couple of no spend days. I don’t think 70%is achievable for me I will be happy around 3 days a week on average

Thanks to the snow today will be another no spend day.

1 - £0
2 - £35 Morrisons Top Up Shop
3 - £0
4 - £30 Nails
5 - £0
(Excluding bills)

By now I would have usually spent at least £££ on clothes, homeware and daily supermarket trips but since Christmas I’ve realised it was unnecessary. We have plenty of food at home and we don’t need any stuff.

Usually on a Sunday I’d at least pop into Aldi on the way to my parents and have a browse at the special buys and walk out with some random homeware/books/toys/snacks but today I’m happy staying home and satisfied I can mark it as a £0 day.

Awh I’m trying to keep myself motivated. Full disclosure I’m trying to lose weight this year - I need/want to lose 3/4 stones so cutting down a bit on alcohol and treats. We have leftover Xmas alcohol/treats stock in at the mo. So no treat or alcohol has been added to the budget but it could be a good idea to monitor it. Spend wise esp. im become aware of how many treats I add to the weekly shop 🙈 so planning on not buying them for the next month.

This is me too @Floopdifloo - I want to curb unnecessary personal spending whilst also watching the family budget. My no spend days won’t include petrol, bills or essential budgeted for spending!

Spent £18 on a school trip (essential) and a bit in Lidl but only food, no non essentials or “treats”. Aiming for zero spend tomorrow…

@rahlikeatiger snap on the weight loss front. I'm hoping that this challenge will spill over into my dietary habits as well. YY to keeping an eye on treats! I honestly wouldn't buy them were it not for pester power by my kid, but that said I'm not immune to buying alcohol for myself either so I guess it makes sense to cut out / down as much as possible.

Result - I repainted the entire kitchen today! And that is almost the conclusion of decorating most of my house. Just wanted it out of the way before back to work starts! And was sooo tempted to get a takeaway as a "well done" but we have got stuck into toast instead! Not quite the same but I'm glad I didn't spend £30 odd quid!! Still need to do the clean up but have some beers (left over from yesterday shop) and will have one as a well done. Then thank god - 95% of the repainting is DONE!!! It has been my life the last two weeks and I am not sorry to have to end it!!

And continuing in my decluttering also gave away several items via Olio - last few left now but the house feels rather clearer and so does my head. Writing down how important it is not to buy more clutter and stuff in my diary!!

I'm hopping onto this thread, I've joined the frugaleers one too because I'm desperate to pay off debt and get back into the green this year. Money worries make me feel a bit sick.

I've read this whole thread!

For me, it's all the little dopamine hits that need to stop. Amazon, Shein, Vinted, a coffee and cake here and there, etc. Some things I'll keep going with but more mindfully, like gardening as that is a good hobby that brings me joy. Just spending more carefully.

I wrote this on the other thread:

I have been keeping a spreadsheet for 3 months now that I made logging every single purchase and it's helped SO much as I have a 'was this necessary' section. The first month about half of my purchases were 'no' but in Dec I was much better so I'm going to keep it up as it helped.

The spreadsheet is a really good idea @NessaSmith. I’m similar, little bits and pieces would be added to my Amazon basket without any real thought. It was always a spur of the moment ‘I really need this’ purchase. And of course they add up.

I’ve still been adding things as I’ve thought of them but haven’t pressed the buy button. Instead they’ve been broken down into whether it’s a genuine need, when it’s needed or if it’s just a random purchase to cheer me up. A few bits I do need for camping but as I certainly won’t be doing that for a while they’ve gone into ‘saved for later’ and will be reviewed nearer the time.

So far this year my only spends have been food shopping last Friday.

Well done for painting the kitchen @LuminousStar. That’s a big undertaking.

Urgh I've just worked out I need to buy 18 birthday, and therefore 18 Christmas, presents each year for the children in my life. I have a £30 budget each so that's £540 on birthdays and £540 on Christmas, and that's before the DC!

I wouldn't cut any out though or want to spend less as they're all humans I absolutely adore and frankly I'd spend more on them if I could 😍I love giving presents but that figure has made me stop and think, so I'll be careful to stick to the £30 budget from now on.

I did this for a year about 8 years ago. Prompted by husband losing his job....it took him a year to get a new one.

A lot of it stayed with me.

check if we already owned something that would do the job before buying new.

Shopping from the cupboards.

Shopping from my wardrobe. Getting things repaired like shoes.

We gave too much stuff.

I think I'll start again more from an anti consumerist point of view than anything else to be honest....

@NessaSmith @BigDahliaFan welcome!

@NessaSmith That is a LOT of shopping! It is lovely to gift but perhaps you could try to get stuff in the sales, or even if you dropped £5 per gift you would save quite a lot - you might be surprised what you could get by shopping about. Hard though when you have so many to buy for.

@Iheartmysmart thank you - and you are doing amazing so far not to have bought anything other than groceries!

I considered buying some clingfilm earlier - to cover the top of the unused paint (from decorating) with to help prevent air getting in! Then thought about it - I don't really use it, and the rest would be wasteful - decided I could find a thin plastic covering from something like packaging instead. Small win, but these add up I guess!

I love the spreadsheet idea @NessaSmith ! And I will have to try to locate and join the other thread as well!!

Hi Again, This is my list of what I am not spending money on this year for myself,,
Clothes, I have loads, especially nighties, pants and socks.
Shoes, I don't have loads but I was never a big shoe person anyway.
Handbags, I bought a few on Ebay last year, so I have enough for now.
Make up, have loads and I don't wear it everyday.
Toiletries including, body lotion, lip balm, bar soaps, must use up what I have first.

Doing well so far, I'm a SAHM so it's my job to do food shopping for the family.

My main win today has been saying No to the sweet shop after school but I did spend a fortune paying for this term's clubs! No other spend. Told DD I couldn't afford Spotify.

No spend day 🥳

Bought 2 Birthday gifts today but did scale back and bought this month as 5 weeks rather than next month when things be a bit tighter.

hello all, had to buy my kid a digital watch with a vibrating alarm - so my kid remembers their music lessons while at school especially as the time changes each week. Otherwise I just know he will forget and teachers don't always remind. So, an annoying needed spend but will prevent lost money in other ways. Took me a good hour of internet searching trying to find a decent one!! Annoying I know but sometimes needs must. Otherwise am hoping to have a spend-free week. I have an appointment tomorrow and will walk there to save on bus fare, and using up ingredients in the cupboard in order to eat for the next few days.

Also been consistently Olio-ing all week and have cleared an unbelievable amount of crap. And I contacted the local primary who say they will take all our unwanted pens, pencils and kids books of which we have a mountain - win/win!

I went to the shops today and stuck to my list of household items. It felt good not to buy stuff I didn’t need.

I'm definitely cutting back on lunch while out and about. I'm still buying the odd coffee, but no cake!
I will alow myself a new item of clothing in March. Until then, I'll be shopping my wardrobe and considering what I need most.
Feeling very proud of myself for cancelling a 14 free trial before the payment kicked in.

Had to do a small food top up shop. Was only 12.50 and is part of the essential shopping but I was irritated by the lack of planning. No other spends today so that 5 No Spend days out of 6 days this month so far.

Bought a birthday present book token today so not a no spend day will try for one tomorrow

My new phone (Christmas gift from DH) needed a new charger as the plug is different to my old one. So that is a purchase today.

On the plus side I found the email in my junk mail saying that the cashback claim has been accepted and verified, so I should be getting that in Feb. And a free charge pad and case for leaving a review.

Also, another plus...whoever said the dopamine hit is what has to go has hit the nail on the head for me. I bloody love a costa! The usual routine used to be one on a Friday and I'd meet DD1 from work and go there together (and use the gift card I buy when they give away £5 free for every £20 you top up).

Recently, DD2 has had a job that meant I was hanging around for an hour ish before meeting her at the train station or bus stop (rubbish public transport into our town) and that meant I had multiple visits weekly to coffee shops. And as much as it was lovely to sit and read and chill while waiting, it was also nice to be able to come straight home after work today - and a lot cheaper!

I am not doing so well 😭 bought a lunch out in a rush as I forgot my no spend plans! 🤦🏻‍♀️ also bought a couple of bits in smiggle sale incl a birthday present for an upcoming kids party (needed). No spend tomorrow until Friday when there is the school second hand uniform sale. (DC1 is growing so fast!)

Oh. I forgot about this! Happy to have found the thread to remind myself!

What have I been up to... I don't think I've bought much thatisn't food, but I haven't been great and I have bought too much food..

An amazon subscribe and save toiletry for £5. It wasn't essential, just a product on a good offer that i have been wanting to try for ages.

(It's a bit meh 😕)

4 × £30+ reduced to £6 each garments in a sale. One is a suit jacket which I'm super pleased about, the rest warm base layers that I don't have already. Could have bought less.

I've bought too much food, that's my big thing so far. My fridge is more full than it was at Christmas ffs! A combination of bargain reduced cheeses, stocking up on fruit and veg to eat healthily then getting several 2 good 2 go boxes or late night yellow sticker reductions then making those things to eat the next day instead because they needed using. I've been feeding my elderly parents ready meals of leftovers or inviting them round for a meal lots, which has been lovely but equally they are far better off with their pensions than I am on my wage and I should start prioritising buying less food or putting it in my freezer for future me 😅 still, the £3.30 2 good 2 go box goes a very long way: I lucked out today and have 3 full packed lunches, two easy dinners and several packs of cooked chicken breast slices in the freezer.

Bought a tesco meal deal today when I could have used a tin of soup for lunch. Really need to watch myself with meal deals, they eat up money surprisingly quickly if you have them too often!

Feel like I've been doing quite well so far! Biggest wasteful expense was 7 quid on some lottery tickets. I've been buying a lot less food and trying to use up what I have in the cupboards/freezer. Haven't had a cup of coffee in days as I'm trying to make my way through mountains of cheap Lidl teabags 😂 might go to the Nero for a coffee tomorrow as a treat, and skip the additional bun or croissant.

Making my own oat milk by blending oats and water rather than buying a new carton of Alpro every few days. It's nice but gets very sedimenty very quickly. If anyone does this and has worked out how to keep it from concealing at the bottom of the container I'd love to hear!