2026 No Buy

[Eatingmusselsfromashell]

I am planning a strict 2026 clothes no buy. I’ve tried in the past but the maximum I achieved was 3 months or so.
I’m sick of the cycle of seeing/ wanting / buying. I want to couple my No Buy with some other habit changes. I would like to limit screen time to one hour a day (except when listening to podcasts/ books and language learning). This is the year to brush up my Spanish and German for trips later in the year. I am annoyed at the hours of life I have wasted scrolling online sites.
I’ve tidied wardrobe in preparation and am ebaying / charity shopping anything which isn’t currently working for me.
Anyone else want to join me for moral support?

So far so good. Still sticking to my rule of 'replacements for essentials are allowed if there is money available in the budget'.

Hole in waterproof gloves so had to replace those but there was money in the clothes fund still. (Absolutely essential for dog walks at the moment.)

Rather more expensive replacement needed for the vacuum cleaner, but again there was money in the emergency fund so not too painful. New one arrives tomorrow.

Tumble drier is on its last legs but trying to keep it going until spring when we mostly dry stuff outside anyway. Will replace it when emergency fund is replenished.

Proving to be an expensive month but none of this spending is what I would call non-essential!

I had an issue with my credit card last week and had to cancel it and await a replacement. I have other cards, but this one is my main spend one, the one on my Apple Pay etc. I found that not having access to this card really cut my spontaneous spending. Just a thought that removing auto saved card details from phones and laptops might be a way to cut impulse purchases.

I second this. I removed my credit card and left only my debit card on Apple Pay. I don’t carry either physical card. I also deleted the stored card information on my phone so the details can auto populate on checkout. The hassle of finding the card and entering the details usually overrides my impulse purchase.

I rarely use my credit card these days absolutely also got rid of my amazon credit card. Has made a big difference.
I found myself nearly ordering a holdall today as its nice and in the sale..I have one pretty much identical. Step away, step away. I've spent all my budget for January so I can't buy it anyway.
It's such an ingrained habit to scroll and click.

I like to add to basket and leave it, sometimes (often) I forget why even wanted to buy. Or sometimes I receive a nice discount code.
I get lots of enjoyment from favouriting items.
I received a notification from Monzo that I am spending less this month. Which is the account I do my general spending and online shopping on.

I also have lots of nice beauty items etc from both my DD’s beauty advent calendars.
I’m also doing the recycle at Boots.

I've unsubscribed from all clothing retailers and that helps. I'm on holiday and so far managed to avoid buying anything other than food and drink apart from the aforementioned black cotton trousers 😒, but they are being worn and i dont have anything similar in my wardrobe at home.

It's so difficult avoiding buying things - I've only brought a cabin bag and so have very limited clothes with me. It's so easy to just pick something else up because it would be useful, but I'm resisting on the basis I have it all at home. I did some handwashing yesterday so now have a couple more items back in circulation 😃

Total purchase so far in Januuary - 1 trouser.

Hows everyone getting on with the other part if this challenge- the limiting screen time?

I wasn't sure whether to up and leave or stay with the challenge. Less than 2 weeks after signing up, I've massively failed. I re-opened vinted with a view to research for my quality purchase quest - £175 later, oops.
I'm really happy with my purchases though. After losing going from size 20 to 10, a lot of my clothes are too big and I have bought a beautiful Kate Spade handbag for £37 as my goal weight reward. I have replaced my coats that are too big and couple of cotton tops and some decent jeans to replace my cheap primark and shein placemarking items. I am in the process of a major clear out, but very few items are worth selling.

on the plus side, our food spend is right down. We are working our way through our freezers (yes, we have 3) and cupboards. It's best that I send DH to do a small top up, he is better at resisting the crap we don't actually need.

@EveryDayisFriday That’s an amazing achievement; well done! You deserve clothes you enjoy wearing. You’ve spent the money now, so don’t feel guilty.

Perhaps put a few bits back on Vinted to offset the cost?

I survived the weekend without buying anything, added a scarf that was extra 20% off the sale price to the basket and left it sitting there. Next day when I revisited the site I realised I didn’t want it anymore.

Today I caved in though, bought a pair of jeans while buying clothes for DC.

I'm definitely online less but I'm abroad and using WiFi only which is quite limited so I don't think that counts 😂

I’m not limiting my screen time, but I’ve never committed to it.

I have managed to introduce some positive, lasting changes to my daily life before and I do believe in one step at a time. Going all out has never worked for me - if I make too many NY resolutions I am usually done with them by February 😅.

@Itsnouse I don't think I've done massively well on the screen time but I have unfollowed alot of spending type accounts on insta and followed lots of new saving and frugal ones so it's really helping with what I digest!

I'm really enjoying my hobby which keeps me off my phone and I miss it when a day goes past and I don't get to do it !

I'm doing well limiting screen time and reading more books. It's a bit sad though because I couldn't follow S&B anymore. I found too many things I liked.

Still not spending, but my friend did give me some nice clothes. She was on weight loss injections and these were her midway clothes (I'm size 14) but she's now putting weight back on so the joy might be short-lived! I might not give them back though, few of the trousers are really nice 😁

Still going well here, I’m getting used to my spending hiatus, anything I think I might want I’m adding to a list of possible future purchases.

Annoyingly I got bleach on my new sweatshirt first time wearing it, normally I would have gone straight online and ordered a replacement, but instead, thanks to this thread, I’ve just accepted it and moved on.

I am using this time to also sort out my wardrobe as well as my shopping habits, this morning I purged my underwear and nightwear, I don’t need 10 pairs of pjs- two is enough, I also binned a load of pants. I’d got into the habit of buying clothes randomly rather than replacing when needed and I’m hoping that my year of intentional spending/buying will help me to develop good habits.

However, limiting screen time is not going well and I do need to work on this, especially in the evening

My screen time use has increased due to Vinted and watching decluttering inspo on YouTube!

No real decluttering today here but did put 3 lots of junk mail straight in the recycling rather than leave them on the side.

Focussed on online shopping reduction rather than screen time per se at the moment. Does mean some things (like most S&B threads) are being avoided. Replacing these with minimlism and no buy inspiration at the moment.

Same here! We have three freezers too, not big ones though.. I sadly mourn by Huge chest freezer that used to live in an oubuilding. It was cavernous. I used to buy frozen turkeys cheap after Christmas to have through the year plus store the surplus goat milk & gallons of stewed apples from our orchard.I had to stand almost on my head inside it to scrape the ice out of the bottom when it ( rarely) got defrosted. But the building went & so did the freezer & now I make do with an under counter one in the kitchen plus two tiny ones stuffed into nooks & crannies in our tiny old cottage.
So we’re living out of those plus all the tins & packets that seem to have bred in the cupboards & I too am getting DH to do the shopping. Can’t say he always avoids temptation though as last time he came back with underpants & two bags of cement 🤔

Ooh I wonder if my Vinted sellers are on this thread 🤔.
I'm enjoying decluttering, I have a bin bag in boot for the tip tomorrow.

I've been holding onto my favourite jacket even though it's too big for me. It was only from Primark but it went with everything and fit so nicely (before I lost weight). Overjoyed to find the same one in my new size in Vinted earlier this week so my old one will get sold on.

Managed to get a handful of items onto vinted over the weekend and have sold 3 already...but alas ended up also buying a jumper and a t shirt so 3 steps forward 2 steps back!
I think I am going to struggle with a complete no-buy so may have to revise to a low-buy, vinted only and limit myself to using only money from selling. I have reset for now though and will start again from day 0 for another attempt.

Screen time is another work in progress. I think it will be easier once the evenings get lighter and I can actually see what I'm doing with the piles of half finished crafty bits I've got lying around!

I've had to replace my suitcase because the wheels are almost off and also buy a new phone charger cable because mine is fraying, but I'm not counting replacing things when I need them so I'm still ahead.

Screen time isn't something I have any problem with so I've no plans to try and reduce it beyond maybe going to bed a bit earlier

@Winederlust similar here, I knew I couldn't do a no buy so I am doing low buy. Very small budget each month for clothes and toiletries and I can spend from my Vinted balance or withdraw the vinted balance. It's really working, it's made me much more mindful.

That said I need to stop buying on vinted unless I'm really sure on the sizing etc. A dress arrived yesterday and it's massive.
One massive benefit for me of no spend is the time saved from buying and returning all the time, checking refunds have come in etc

So DS mentioned casually last night his shoes were ‘wearing out a bit.’ He got ready for school this morning and you can see his foot through his shoe! A ‘gentle’ discussion followed about perhaps letting us know shoes are wearing out when they are in a repairable state!

So, new shoes today for DS. Hadn’t budgeted for those…