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?

That doesn't count. You'd buy food if you needed it. Or a part for your car if it broke down. The shoes are no different, you need them. Your DH gift doesn't count either.
It's about avoiding overconsumption, not wearing a bin bag and going to live barefoot in a cave in the woods, denying yourself anything and everything other than the food you hunted down and killed with your own bare hands 😁

I lapsed. Only a little bit. Bought some things I needed and a few things I didn't need snuck in there too.
Overall I'm still holding out and leaving my wishlists alone. I'm definitely finding it easier this year than last year.

I just bought a pair of socks I don't need, just because they're very pretty. I have several, but this was a new colourway. I can't even say they're fabulous quality because I know the make well and they're the only socks I've had that need to be darned before the overall life of the sock is past it's use by date. I can't justify it, but I will say this, although I had unsubscribed to my favourite shop's emails, I learned about the sale because of advertising pop ups when scrolling on MN. The sale had been going a few days I think because I noticed the ad last night, but it still caught up with me nonetheless. So, yay I didn't buy anything else, but boo I might need to come off MN for June and July if I can't manage that temptation!

I went to IKEA today to research new wardrobes (which have been years in the saving and we do need!).

I saw some beautiful cushions but did not buy. I did get some Easter treats from the food hall but nothing else!

Also, given the mass decluttering we’ve been doing, we can also get a smaller wardrobe than we thought and still have space. I’m so happy with that. It’s going to save about £450 overall.

I'm pleased to report that my fancy socks have arrived and are going back. I'm not being harsh on myself, I just don't fancy them as much irl!

I haven’t posted as I haven’t bought anything, so I’m doing well with the no spend 2026. Currently making do with bits & bobs of toner (for my skin rather than the photocopier) that I have lying around, instead of buying my favourite Eau Roma from Lush.

went shopping today but was very restrained! New bras from m&s after a fitting (necessary after god knows how long) which were £10 each and some replacement moisturiser and mascara which both ran out this morning. Feeling quite chuffed not to have bought anything else despite being tempted

So I've bought some trousers, but please hear me out. I got my skinny chinos out for spring and they just looked very dated when I put them on, and I don't say that lightly, I'm the most unfashionable person you could meet but I do want to look good when I'm in the office. I got some wide leg chinos from M&S and some pull on straight leg black trousers and I love them. I won't chuck the skinnies but I will put them away until next year.

I think ChatGPT might finally be curbing my shopping addiction, by separating in my mind permission to spend on what I'll get wear out of and all the sorts of cheap and unnecessary other stuff I have a tendency to buy.

It's far from a no buy year for me but the noise around shopping is reducing.

I was doing so well this month but cracked for a basic white T-shirt. Technically a replacement of a well worn one but it was in a pack of four. Will be very useful for wearing more of my wardrobe at least.

On the plus side:
Removed items from my wishlist.
Still not bought a leather jacket (I didn’t need anyway).
Still not bought low profile trainers but have made a pros and cons list of different styles.
Tempted by some bright spring colours but know I have them already in my wardrobe!
Worn a large triangle scarf on repeat that I’ve had years but feels current. Going to push this particular envelope even more with aforementioned spring colours in my wardrobe.
Digging out my reliable old trench coat and bomber jacket from the back of the wardrobe for spring.

Bought too much this month - a couple of clothing items and a few beauty impulse buys.

The clothes were on a wish list last year and then appeared in a sale. Not too bothered by these - they are versatile items of the type that I wear often so will be used. The beauty buying, however, was pure boredom/dopamine chasing triggered by browsing. In both cases, the justification for buying was a hefty 'discount' - I need to keep reminding myself that the best 'deal' of all is to not buy what you don't need.

On a good note, I stayed away from Vinted which is a historically weak spot and my bank account balance is looking healthy.

Beauty boxes have been my downfall this month. But I now feel stocked up, have minis for holiday and have sold 3 of the 7 items i didn't want.

I've had a holiday try-on this morning and have ample to wear.

With the return of my socks I'm now at 5 and a half weeks in to the no-buy. I've managed not to browse/shop on vinted!

I have a lovely skirt and nothing to match it. So I decided to use up a voucher buying a few matching tops. All fine. But I noticed something - I didn't get the dopamine hit I usually get from shopping. I'm almost indifferent to the imminent arrival of these new items. This feels very weird. It's also huge progress for me. I don't even know how or why it's happened, it must be connected to decluttering?

@IndianSummer78 - decluttering has helped shift my mindset. Getting rid of a lot of stuff really helps to drum home that a lot of purchases end up being sold/binned/donated - that shiny new object usually loses its lustre. I'm also reluctant to reclutter up the space.

I am still buying (as per post above) but always match something in with something going out.

I've managed to not go over my clothes and beauty budget for March so pleased about that but actually when I look at my spending it's the random coffees, brunches etc that are more of a problem. So April plan is to get this under control. Converted a few plans with friends to meals or coffee at my house, for example. So I'm going to continue with the clothes budget as well, and keep withdrawing the vinted balance as I am always tempted to spend it as it feels 'free' money when it would be better sat in my bank account.

I think I've got too good at this... I wandered round John Lewis this morning with my birthday voucher (received three months ago!) and I could not find a thing to spend it on! I'm actually finding it quite hard to buy myself anything, the satisfaction of seeing my savings grow is too great.

Anyone here who is familiar with the Sézane archives will know that handbags seem to be snapped up before you even get the email announcing the sale. Well yesterday I managed to get one in a colour I was looking for and it was sat in my virtual shopping basket and I didn’t buy it! I’m so amazed by my restraint (whilst also shedding a tear of regret 🤣)

Wow @Itsnouse and @outofideas2 , those are accomplishments!!!

I used the deinfluencer thread earlier to get them to talk me out of something that I've wanted for a while and don't think I was in any real risk of buying immediately but was a temptation.

Despite a last day of the month scoot around the shops, I didn’t buy anything because I wanted to get to 2 months no buy on clothes. Now for month 3. I’m hoping this will get easier because the more I wear the things I already have, the more I will find that I have enough already.

And congratulations to everybody else who has achieved their goals this month.

I've definitely brought a few too many things this month kept within budget though and definitely solid purchases that will be worn plenty my sundresses really needed a refresh and update this year.

All I've bought this year is a replacement pair of gym leggings from Sainsbury's (can't wear leggings with holes) and shoes and a bag for dd1's wedding (Boden and Paul Costello at our local outlet centre). I've bought but returned 9 dresses for said wedding.

I have been wearing more of my wardrobe which is fun.

I’m not 100% happy with March - bought a pair of Adidas Tokyo to replace my old Birkenstock sneakers that are falling apart after 10 years of regular use, so all fine.
This then led directly to buying the most professional looking insoles I could find because tokyos are so extremely low that I ended up looking completely flat-footed despite having high arches and regularly training barre.

Also bought too many k-beauty products, only managed to stop mad scrolling and ordering in the last 10 days after finding a book that keeps me away from the screen.

Argh, hanging on by the skin of my teeth here. I sold an item on vinted, went in to withdraw the money and saw a nice top at a great price. I have a wardrobe full of great things. I've walked away. It should sell quickly, thankfully.

I've set myself a stricter savings goal to help support the no clothes spend, and the savings is for a new phone.