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?

I’d like to join please. I’m hoping having this thread to come back to will stop me caving by mid Feb and then throwing all self control out of the window by march!
Undies etc I may need to replace but not much if anything else. So clothes,toiletries,accessories are a no.
Scrolling is also an issue so one hour a day sounds like a great idea which would free up my time considerably

@lindyloo57it's hard resisting a favourite on offer. I've resisted shampoo and conditioner. Am sure there will be another sale.

Life is definitely easier when you can see what you have got. Considering asking my husband to move out so I can have his wardrobe space 😆
One thing I have began doing for my toddler is putting her clothes away in outfits I'm going to attempt to do the same I think. Any recommendations of the best place to get suitable coat hangers?

Thanks @coolcahunaYou are right. I’ll not want them next month and I need more replacement activities.

@ChipshopPickledEgg I get velvet coated hangers for hanging blouses etc and sturdier wooden ones with clips for hanging trousers and skirts from Amazon.

Virtual high five @lindyloo

Welcome @DunnocantthinkofoneBrilliant to have you here.

I am in.
I got two travel sizes of perfume yesterday so that is one category I definitely will not be spending on.

I bought two nail polishes yesterday so I can do my nails for Christmas after I picked mine up and the couple of milimetres in the bottom were rock solid, but I think that's it now. All done!

On YouTube there is a woman who shows you how to reignite nail varnishes. She does really old ones. It's oddly addictive. But all might not be lost.

is it by adding nail varnish remover?

No it's another product she adds into it the name absolutely fails me cest restore or something
Look up vintage dusties.

Welcome @biedronaLovely to have you here.

Definitely joining. I don't NEED anything!

Do you mean just not buy new though? I operate on a one in one out method for clothes but have had some amazing things from charity shops this year, and from Vinted.

So my pledge is that the only things I will buy new in 2026 are knickers and socks, if I need them.

I had a bit of a wobble today looking at an online sale and filling my basket and it’s not even 2026 yet ffs. But I managed to talk myself out of it thankfully by picturing myself trying to find room for them in my already full wardrobe. Also recalling this thread helped too as did reminding myself that there are always going to be other clothes that I would like and I can’t have them all.

Stay strong!

I am only starting in January.

I'll be low buy rather then no buy as I do have some wardrobe gaps but I found it really useful to check in this year with my monthly tally.

I have lost over five stone this year so I have sold/bought/resold/bought entire wardrobe. 90% Vinted.

I still have waaaay too much. I wear the same old faithful items week in week out. I don’t even know what is in my wardrobe really.

I nearly bought a cord jumpsuit recently after seeing a friend looking fabulous in it, was poised to complete the online purchase. Then I suddenly remembered that I am two sizes bigger on my top to my bottom half. So a jumpsuit just isn’t something I should consider buying.

I am going to be brutal with my wardrobe in the New Year.

Beauty stuff is tricky. I have loads of little pots from beauty advent calendar and Space NK GWP. They should see me through for a while.

I try to translate the money unspent into possible holidays!

Bought a great audio book today on this very subject!

the wardrobe project by Emma Edwards

is it good?

So far, very good. Down to earth ‘normal person’ tips
She has a podcast that I found yesterday where she talks a bit about her personal year of not buying clothes which gives a good idea of her style. The book is even better imo

I think I've accepted that a total ban isn't going to work for me.
So I've set myself a very small monthly budget which I will log and stick to. I've been through my wardrobe and changing mind set to ' do I already have something like this?', 'Do I need this?'

@SheinIsShite Hello and welcome. No problem if you prefer to restrict new purchases only. People can choose their own parameters. It’s really interesting to see what different people are planning to do.

@cuddlebear Welcome. 5 stones is an amazing loss. No wonder you have to replace everything.

@Dunnocantthinkofone agree that the Emma Edward’s book is helpful. @TheOGCCL also recommended it and I listened to the audiobook.

Thanks for sharing the wobble @narniabusinessand well done for making it through. I’ve had a few wobbles. The latest was a pair of brown cashmere Uniqlo gloves when I was in there buying a gift voucher as a Christmas gift. I have other gloves ! I’m keeping a running total of money saved by not succumbing and am finding that quite motivating.
Apologies for multiple posts this morning rather than just one big one - appreciate that can be annoying. I’ve had a glitch where I twice wrote out post and it wouldn’t let me post it, so have had to delete and reinstall app.

@Eatingmusselsfromashell - love your idea of keeping a running total of what you have saved by not succumbing to temptation! I have a tendency to focus on the money I have ‘saved’ when buying things on sale/ Vinted…

Great idea @EatingmusselsfromashellI have saved nearly £200 by not pressing buy. Looking back a few days later I don’t think I would really even have wanted those clothes very much once they had arrived.