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?

Oops my last post was meant for the outfit of the day thread so I asked for it to be deleted (thanks, MNHQ).

I completely relate @CortieTat I don't have any great solutions but you're definitely not alone. I almost wish I could be one of these people who gets really into computer games or something just as a distraction but that's not me. I do read a lot and try to leave my phone in the other room so I'm not tempted to browse and shop but that doesn't usually last long. I do go out and about fairly often with my friends and my dog and my husband and that's a good distraction but I can't be out all the time! I have ADHD and really crave dopamine hits and I haven't figured out how to get them easily without buying stuff unfortunately.

@Itsnouse I too have all the "cool" clothes I need and don't even have space for more. Towards the end of 2025 I made the conscious decision to change my style and update my wardrobe after a couple of things happened that made me take a look at the way I was presenting myself. I now feel really good about the clothes I have and the way I dress but I think I got addicted to shopping during that time and am having trouble stopping now I don't need anything else anymore.

The 2026 no buy is not going well at all. But I'm not giving up.

I’m really sorry that you also struggle @Whowhatwerewolf @Itsnouse , it somehow feels better that I am not alone in this though. I have many healthy habits that should help even out the dopamine rush, such as regular exercise and being out and about in nature daily, no matter the weather. But it’s still hard. I’m old enough to remember the world without the widespread internet access and I do remember that my attention span used to be much better. I also don’t remember the constant reward chasing when I was younger - I could easily focus on one thing for the whole day.

It looks like I need to seriously do something about this because excessive shopping seems to be the tip of the iceberg. I don’t want to play this whack-a-mole game with various dopamine chasing activities popping up one after another. There must be another way.

@CortieTat - totally agree about the dopamine. I've been reading a bit about this and consensus seems to be that you need to wean yourself quick fixes and focus on getting a slower feeds. I am seriously going to have to take a good look at how much time I spend online (including Mumsnet) and make some drastic cuts.

Totally get your comments about shredded attention spans, but thinking back to pre smartphones days I used used to smoke which seemed to fulfill a similar purpose for me. If I managed to give that up maybe I can manage to cut back on the phone scrolling. I am managing to read more so far this year which is a positive.

I also used to smoke, that’s true for me as well. It was much easier to smoke and read at the same time though 😅

Knitting is helpful for me, I usually knit in the evenings and the added value is that I then wear things I knitted.

I only have one suggestion for the dopamine seekers and that's competing.

Even if you don't enter competitions that often, say one every 2 months, it takes up room in your head. There's the getting fit for it, whatever that may look like, there's the training to hone your skills, planning strategies, caring for and maintaining any equipment needed.

Plus the competition itself, travelling to the venue, waiting around after registration, familiarising yourself with the venue, warmup and competition, whatever packing away there is, awaiting results and unloading any equipment once home.

And the talking it through with like minded friends how it's all going, social meetings etc.

Competing in anything, even if you're not obsessed with it or trying to get to the highest levels but just enjoy the challenge of pushing yourself and the taking part, it can still mostly take over a lot of your time and energy. Leaving nothing much for doom scrolling and shopping. If you've never tried it, it could be the lifestyle you're looking for. It stops you feeling rudderless and gives you something to focus on, so things don't have that slightly pointless feel about them, even things you enjoy. You don't need to be well off financially either, there's lots of things can be done at a low level on a shoestring.

My own shopping addiction got completely out of hand when life circumstances forced me to stop competing. It's always been there but there was always something more important I wanted to spend my money on, so it was naturally curbed. I've spent more from excess consumption than I ever did being involved in expensive hobbies and competitions.

Thank you @IndianSummer78 thats very interesting. I’m going to try to see what activities I could find that have that degree of preparation and focus, but are not sporting.

@IndianSummer78 therein lays a problem . . . I started cycling and so bought a new electric bike, and then the gear. Waterproofs, base layers gloves, marathon tyres, merino hat, safety helmet . . . so yes it can have side effects. Before that I had 40 years of horses, much more expensive, but omg, the gear 😂

Checking in. Done well this week - just spent on food, drink and a bunch of supermarket tulips. Also taxis and pudding for dinner at friend's house plus my share of a seaside cottage for 5 nights in July.

Still enjoying not having to think about deliveries and marvelling at the lack of cardboard packaging in the recycling bin.

Not managing to keep off social media as much as wanted but this translating into buying - my feeds seem to be dominated by ice hockey at the moment.

I have to admit, I bought some clothes on February. I feel I need work wardrobe since I went back to office now, after years working from home but maybe not that many

I was shopping with dd yesterday & she dressed me in an outfit in Urban Outfitters- it was fab jeans & top. I was very tempted but I put everything back!

I ordered a pair of work trousers on Vinted last night, I hope it wasn't a mistake, I feel like I do need some smart trousers or jeans for work at the moment but I also need them to fit properly so I should really have gone to a shop. Otherwise I think the urge to shop has decreased quite a lot since deleting apps and not scrolling Vinted for entertainment.

There are some things in my wardrobe I need to get out and wear, to make sure they are right for me. If they aren't I can sell them on and make some space. There is a checked cord shirt dress, a satin shirt, and a jumper dress on my list to style next week.

@LivingDeadGirlUK - I've worn more of my wardrobe than normal this season but there are still 5 perfectly lovely jumpers that haven't been touched all winter. They are thicker jumpers (Shetland, Aran, Donegal etc) and I tend to layer thinner pieces or stick to the cashmere. They are gorgeous though so I need a trying on session to see if the love has really died or not.

I've done well for February, not bought anything for a few weeks and that was just one jumper ⭐. I'm starting to feel less of an urge to go buy things. I'm less bothered if something goes off my wishlist before I get it. The logic that I definitely have enough already is starting to take over, I'm creating little pockets of space by decluttering and that's of no use if I then fill it back up again with things I've bought.

I knew at the start of the year I wouldn't be able to do no buy so I started low buy with a small monthly budget for fashion and beauty purchases. I didn't manage it in January but I did in February, wahoo! It's honestly made me so mindful about what I buy..I delay purchases and often the desire has just totally gone a week later. I don't really like summer clothes shopping so I'm thinking this will get easier as we progress into the year.

My "no buy" is really "buy nothing new".

I bought a 2nd hand Damson Madder top 2 sizes down from one that is now way too big for me - its a co-ord set,and the pants are OK as they are elastic/drawstring, but the top was silly too big.

By buying the smaller top I've saved the outfit & hopfully I can sell my bigger top for the same ££

May I join? I've only read the 1st 100 posts, but I thought I'd post and then get back to reading.

I'm nearing retirement and started trying to change my habits with a view to an early frugal retirement years ago. So awhile back (by participating in a thread about this at the time) I managed to stop browsing/scrolling, but last year I started selling on vinted and that's got me browsing again, and the last few years I've over done it during sales of the specific places where I shop.

I've made a lot of gains that I've kept. Over the years I managed to refine my toiletries, so I don't shop around anymore, I get the cheapest I am happy with, hair products are my biggest expense but for skin care I found that I can go quite cheap. And I don't shop around various stores anymore just to see what they've got - it's one shop for clothes, toiletries is a quick search for any shop that's got the items on discount, one shop bras, one shop pants, etc. Even my footwear has narrowed right down to 3 brands. So I gained and maintained a lot of good ground.

My problem areas: 1) vinted browsing - I sell, so I check in daily, and then I get curious to see what others are selling. I wear one brand of clothes and this is almost like a collector's hobby and I want to stop. In December I decided to stop buying from vinted... And my 4th purchase is on its way currently, so I need to focus harder. I'm considering stopping selling in order to get away from the temptation. 2) Summer and winter sales. I have a wardrobe full of things that I love and I would like to drop this, but I have serious fomo about it. I've got 5 months to get my head in the game before the summer sale.

I do need new glasses and prescription sunglasses, a new phone and laptop, and I would not like to get the cheapest, I want things I'll love, but I need to save up and anyway these aren't problem areas for me, I've needed them for a couple of years!

I'm going to check out this book Less that a few of you mentioned on the 1st page.

@dudsville the FOMO is real. Have you tried putting your clothes by category? Especially summer stuff, assuming you're in UK. I gathered up all my summer dresses that I could easily find. I have two drawers full! And only one body. There's 7 days in a week and max 3 months of summer. I don't need them for spring or autumn with cardigans and tights because I'm overrun with clothes for those seasons too. Every time I get FOMO I go look in the drawers at what I already have, I often already have similar to what I'm considering buying and even if I don't, I have plenty. It's really helped curb my spending.

Well done @coolcahuna I'm finding all those delaying tactics helpful too.

@RobinEllacotStrike even if your end goal is to stop altogether, I reckon sensible considered purchases is a step on the road towards that goal. Total denial just leads to FOMO and binge shopping, I've found. Financially it sounds like it'll end up as a zero spend anyway and you haven't actually brought anything in, just swapped sizes, so no increase in items owned.

This is interesting to me, I'll be reading on to see how you've got on, but I just wanted to say I took a frugal Feb in order to pay off my Christmas spending, and what I ended up doing with Amazon was creating a basket that I could purchase on pay day. It surprised me how much I refined it over the course of the month, how frequently those things that would have been instant purchases became things I decided not to get in the end. I've just been paid and just completed my purchase, and it had dwindled down to the necessary toiletries only. So that's a method I want to maintain.

@IndianSummer78 I absolutely have enough clothes than I will ever wear as well. It's clothes and bags that make me twitchy. No issues with make up, beauty, shoes etc. I am definitely improving though.
P.s. also a massive sucker for dresses and need NO more.

That's a good idea! Although I no longer have so many clothes that they don't fit in my wardrobe and drawers, so all my dresses, for example, are together so I can see them. When I'm feeling strong I do go to the relevent section of my clothes and really look, but it doesn't always stop me. A cardigan winging it's way to me will likely replace one I have that I will then post on vinted, so that was somewhat considered, but I don't NEED more knitwear, and more importantly I want to spend less of my "spare" cash.

Payday today and I was able to save so much compared to normal! Feel like this has shifted my mindset so quickly. Although I am finding weekends a bit strange and like I don’t know what to do with myself because everything seems to involve spending money so I just end up staying home… maybe I’ll make a nice coffee and go for a walk tomorrow

I'm still reading the thread, think I'm half way. It's been really helpful. Sorry for posting so much but it's making me think.

It seems a lot of us struggle with vinted. I like the idea of deleting the app and donating to charity instead, but I would really like the money. I've always kept a 0% interest cc for shopping and it got out of hand over the past 5 months whereas ordinarily I'd have paid it off within a month or two. This had become an amount that I was not going to be able to pay off with small amounts, so this morning I took the money out of my savings to pay it off. That was painful, and I think a hard lesson learned. So, with vinted I would like to get a little of this back. I'm going to re-list things and try training myself to go straight to my inbox or to close the app immediately if there are no messages. I'm going to try to tidy my vinted tomorrow. The good news is I have made much wiser purchases over the last year, all my vinted stuff pre-dates that, so I will need vinted less and less of I continue this way.

My cc expires in May. I first got it because my clothing store does these big sales and it's all only online, and you never know what's going to fit, so I wanted the freedom to order loads. I only kept what I loved... But I loved so many things. It would be a big commitment to myself to not get a new 0% interest cc. That's going to take some thinking. Far to easy for me to sit here today and say I won't, but if my values are shifting away from that way of shopping then it would be for the best.

I spend money on work clothes in February, maybe I bought too many but need office appropriate clothing as my days in office increased. I have done well otherwise both months. No perfumes or makeup.

Spending on professional training this, month and family holiday in March so the no spend continues.

I have an oversized grey silk look shirt I really want to love but I can't seem to style it for work. It needs some kind of tucking I think or maybe to be paired with a skirt as lots of material to tuck in.