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?

@Gymbunny2025 £1200 in total to cover all clothes, shoes, lingerie, accessories and toiletries/ makeup. A lot less that than I would normally spend. I want to spend less, but also buy a lot less, volume wise. No more buying clothes because they are cheap or in the sale. No more buying duplicates of clothes I already have ( but can’t remember I have, because they’re in bags in the attic!)
A small workable wardrobe that suits MY lifestyle, not the Instagrammers I follow.

I see so instead of £100 per month you can decide how to split it. I’m going to do completely no buy January then maybe consider similar. For me my spending accelerates in spring then Christmas run up. So might be useful to save it and have more then. A good idea I hadn’t considered 🙏

I have not bought anything but I was tempted to order - fancy pens, new journal I don't need, replacement blades for my chip cutter. All completely unnecessary and I am glad I didn't

Wouldn’t it be great to also keep a spreadsheet of the stuff we didn’t buy. And the money we’ve saved!

well done for resisting

I've ordered a hair mask for my DD ( though I'll try it too) it is for her .

I resisted a b/w houndstooth jacket as I probably wouldn't wear it , it was a bit structured . I have a soft grey/blue jacket which looks good with jeans .

It would definitely be eye opening and also slightly terrifying at the same time!

How would you do it? Anything you take as far as the basket online or oh I fancy nipping to Tesco for x but you don't type criteria?

I really need to start having a cull as well as not buying more. I have far too much, like LadyLapsang many of which are shoes, never worn, that I can’t now wear as they have heels & I have developed a spinal problem after an accident a few years ago. But I’m a bit of a wimp about the likes of Vinted, Ebay, never looked at them, wouldn’t know where to start & worried about people being difficult. I’m very nervous with people, far more at home with my animals.

@MorphingintoMargo I'm doing the same, I've set a budget of £75 a month which I might up to £100 but will start at £75. That's for everything- clothes, toiletries, make up, shoes and bags. I can roll over (as if!). I've already spent £20 of January's today. I need some replacement shampoo and conditioner soon which is expensive. There are some new ones on vinted so am going to use my vinted balance to get those.
This is going to be really hard, can't lie!

I am in, going cold turkey until Easter for now. No new or second-hand clothes, no new skincare, beauty etc. 2025 has been a tough year and I've realised I was using shopping as a way to make myself feel better, but of course the dopamine hit was never long lasting enough, as a result I now have so much of everything that I struggle to choose what to wear and my beauty/skincare stash is out of hand. I can't do low buy, as it's just a slippery slope to justify more purchases. I've unsubscribed from all marketing email and left all my beauty addicts Facebook groups. New year, new me!

I need to join in! I have enough or too much of everything - clothes, skincare, make up. Had a sort out before Christmas and have multiples of most things. I am considering allowing myself to spend the money I may make from selling on Vinted, but feel even that might be a slippery slope. So a no spend for January and will review once I get to the end of the month.

I need to create more outfits from what I have, so am thinking I might put together outfits each Sunday using what I have. Should also use some video tutorials to improve my make up - I think I am sometimes buying products expecting it to magically make a difference.

Hello! Some great ideas on this thread and I’d love to join! I must admit that @circlesquarestaridea of a quality item every three months is appealing as to go full cold turkey will be a hard ask!
I have been regularly (last 5 years) been culling my wardrobe and beauty stash to Cats Protection which I’ve actually enjoyed as get the annual statement advising what the sales have raised.
Great book recommendations, I’ve requested the Patrick Grant Less book from my library, looking forward to that.
This thread has already inspired me. I got caught up in the usual fomo of the M&S 50% off sale and ordered 6 things from the 16 Arlington collab. I’m returning 5 of them - the chocolate satin shirt is a keeper!
I think the beauty no buy will be ok. I’m a sucker, but have an overwhelming stash already and I’m going to be following the beauty stash empties for inspiration!
I’m going to start by putting a nominal amount of what I think I may have saved (who knows?) every couple of weeks in the hope that encourages me.
Thank you for the thread OP, and likewise to all the contributors with your fantastic ideas.

Placemarking. The amount I spend on unnecessary clothes purchases, art materials, books, beauty products and general luxuries is an actual disgrace. I need to stop.

I started ebay a couple of years ago and its been really fun. I find you get the odd awkward bugger but nothing like the ones you get on vinted.

My tips are don’t underprice, don’t accept offers (it attracts some right oddballs) and never describe something as being in better condition than it is, underpromise and over deliver, as it were. With clothes, make sure they don’t smell of perfume. Also, a bit of tissue paper and a clean postal bag seems to make most buyers very happy!

I had a year long clear out of house and wardrobe, and yesterday’s ebay year end total showed me I’d taken £2,560. I had one return. One. And that was no trouble.

Wow, £2,560, that’s amazing. Thank you for that advice, I really must try it. It’s crazy how many things, especially good shoes, I have still with price stickers on as unworn.
So do Cats Protection take toiletries? I didn’t think charities did. I even had some books rejected at my local hospice charity shop before Christmas because “ they looked read” even though they were in good undamaged condition & not even all paperbacks.

@Darklane that’s crazy about the books!

I donated a load of books to our local community hospital.

Happy New year all.

Well i have had a couple of spends since I last posted but I am aiming for a low spend not a no spend and I still come within my budget.

I noticed a bag I had been lusting over had 50% off in m&s so I nipped in to my local one on as it was out of stock online.

Picked up the bag
A pair of new mom jeans- I have always been a skinny jeans woman but I don't think they look good on me anymore.
A little black dress
All came to £54 so I was pleased with that.

I'm going to bin my well worn classic black dress and replace it with my new one
Put all my skinny jeans on vinted

So while I went off piste a little it was all very intentional rather than buying for the sake of it.

My beloved Muck Boots wellies died a death this week and aren’t repairable so I have ordered a new pair to replace them. There was money in my clothes budget and they are essential as they are worn for dog walks daily in wet, muddy and sandy conditions (so the majority of the year!)

They are the only boots I have ever had that keep my feet warm and dry and the worn out pair have served me for 10 years so have earned their keep.

This gives me my first rule for 2026; replacements for essentials are allowed if there is money available in the budget.

Hi @Darklane my local CP shop took some toiletries from me. It was obvious they were new, unused and in date though, as well as being good brands. (Elemis body creams built up as a result of a bad QVC easy pay habit - thanks to the collection sets they always seem to have.)

I managed to spend no money yesterday at all, and only necessary shopping planned for today. I am waiting on delivery of shoes - I walk a lot as I have dog and they were purchased in December, but really nothing else is urgent in terms of clothing right now.

One £12 black sequin top added to my stage wear today. I sing in a choir; our dress code is black and bling and I like to add something every year. We've also received the sad news today that one of our members has died very unexpectedly 😢

Today I have realised how often I open Vinted without even thinking - might have to move it to my hidden folder.

Got as far as checking out with a burgundy v neck cashmere jumper (Vinted bargain) but stopped myself - I have lots of jumpers and lots of burgundy!

i begin a new job on Monday so am going to put together five outfits this weekend. I will use my Pinterest boards for inspiration.

Thank you Sunshineo & Quella for the advice about CP & the community hospital accepting things. I don’t have a CP shop but there’s a local animal shelter one, I’ll try them.
I was given some lovely knee length black suede boots for Christmas but though I loved them I can’t wear them as I’m such a shorty shanks they rubbed the back of my knees when I tried them on. Anyway they were returned & the gifter has kindly said to spend the money on something else. So that doesn’t count…does it,in the no spend. ??.????
Crazily I’ve been looking at stuff but can’t find anything I love. Think this no spend mindset is doing something weird to my brain 🤗

I'm loving hearing everyone's updates.
I'm going to try & stick to a £50 a month budget this year. Though it can potentially be topped up with the revenue from eBay sales. I hink a complete no buy would make me perversely want to spend more ....This will hopefully incentivise me to list my clothes on ebay at the appropriate times of the year. I was on last year's thread & it helped moniter my spending until December, when I seemed to throw all caution to the wind. They were largely useful practical buys & I've already worn them but there were a lot of them ....
So this year is a fresh new start.

Yesterday I was collating outfits with some of December's purchases on Whering & wore one of the outfits today as pictured . I've retrieved some beige patent boots from last year that will look good with the faux sheepskin Mint Velvet Gilet & my wool coat tones in well too. I intend to shop in my Wardrobe for the rest of winter & will try & spend the absolute minimum until April. I'm not spendthrift with make up, perfume or toiletries so that's not an issue luckily. It's literally replacement tactics for those.

I’d give it a go. I was surprised at how well shoes sell on there.

The last thing I’d say is as a private seller make sure you know what’s what with Simple Delivery, combined shipping and whether you want to ‘accept’ returns (I do, you have to anyway, when it comes down to it)

I found all the sorting, cleaning and packing quite fun. It didn’t stop me shopping but I’m here (in this thread) because I really do need to stop now!

Thank you