my 2025 no-buy spending plan
because I want to end 2025 with less stuff than I started
Hello hi hello. If you’re new here, welcome. this is my third year documenting a low/no-buy. My first year was on reddit, and 2023-20224 was here, on Substack.
This year, unlike my first two, I’m actually trying to buy almost nothing.
You see, in previous years, I could never make a full-on no-buy work for me. so in 2023 and 2024, I set item limits for myself where I could only buy a certain amount of items. both years, I got close but I ultimately failed—still learned a lot, though!
This year, I’ve got some stricter rules about what I’m allowing myself and not allowing myself to buy, and it is more like a traditional no-buy.
What are my spending rules?
No stickers/stationary/pens.
No new items of clothing (except for a few pre-determined items)
1 item per trip is okay, but no new books (unless it’s something exclusive, like a book published in a foreign language in that country)
No subscription boxes/subscription items
No new digital subscriptions
No new Patreon/Substack subscriptions (sorry, a person’s got a budget and limited income)
No new audiobook credits (because I have a backlog of audiobooks)
No new technology—no new dumbphones, no new gadgets of any kind unless something breaks except one item I have pre-paid for
No cosmetics (sometimes I get really excited about a bar of goat milk soap, okay?!) until I use up all the stuff I’ve got
No new “hobby” items (both new and existing hobbies)
No tea, water bottles, spices, kitchen items, mugs
I am allowed to buy tea once I use up all the tea I have, and I’ve got some tea I’m really excited to get once I use up what I’ve got… a tea tour is coming soon!
No hats :( - I love hats, so this will be really hard. (There’s also a hat I keep asking my partner to get me, that he doesn’t, which I still really want…)
The biggest challenge: no buying items online except for gifts, medically needed items, and dog things! I’ve got a whole post about this coming soon.
Waiting periods
If an item is over $40, I have to wait a week
If an item is over $100, I have to wait a month
Are there any allowed items?
Pre-determined clothing items—but otherwise, no new clothes.
Items used to repair/fix other things if I need to—like I just bought some secondhand jeans for $4 that I’m going to make patches out of, to fix my actual jeans that have holes in them but are perfectly wearable otherwise.
5 physical books per year
$100 ebook allowance (put on a gift card so I don’t have to keep tally; once it runs out, it runs out)
If I lose something—like I just lost a scarf I bought only three fucking months ago (ugh)—I can buy a replacement (and I did!) if I don’t have an adequate replacement available
Gifts are OK
I’m mostly focused on avoiding problem items here, which for me tend to be hobby-related (when I get excited about something, I buy items related to it), or fall into one of my few triggers (pens, notebooks, yarn, tea, and other goblin-related items)
I can buy 1 class this year (unless I start making more money, in which case I can also sign up for foreign language lessons)
Wedding-related items — see below!
Why are these my goals?
First, I’ve got a much more limited income this year than I have had previously—I’m looking at, pre-tax, about $30K if my income holds steady, which it might not! The joys of freelancing! (I’m searching for a job and/or freelance clients—if you know any company that needs a writer or a writerly assistant type person, hit me up!) I’m trying to amend that, but just for practicality’s sake, I’ve got to be on top of my shit.
Secondly, I tallied up roughly how much money I spent on just fun stuff in 2023 and 2024—and it was totally within my means, but it was still more than I wanted it to be. It’s the kind of thing that makes me roll my eyes at myself. I’m trying to be kind to myself about it (not my strong suit), but also honest.
Thirdly, I’m getting married this year in the fall. That’s exciting! We have a pretty tight budget for our wedding, which will be a small, intimate affair. I want to funnel away what extra money I do have to pay for this wedding and/or our eventual honeymoon.
Fourthly, I found that a theme over the last year was still a struggle with online impulse shopping. And that just kind of sucks… so my goal is to really kick that habit to the curb. If I want something and I want it so bad and I am not willing to go out into the city and find it, physically, then too bad. (This is totally a me rule, I’m not saying other people should do this. I’m an able-bodied person with access to relatively affordable public transit and a bicycle.) Online shopping is such an empty, soulless experience—granted, online shopping from small businesses is a little bit better, but shopping in-person at those businesses is preferred.
How will this impact the posts you can expect in 2025?
I’m not fully decided on if I’m going to be posting monthly purchase recaps or not. (I still have a December one coming up!) I have to admit that they’ve started to feel a little rote, and I’d like to focus on writing more introspective, longer-form essays. Even though the recaps probably don’t look that effortful, they take a good amount of time and energy.
I think at this point, if you’ve been reading this (which, thank you, by the way) for more than a couple posts, you’re with me on the general train of mindful consumption, limiting consumption, etc. In order to keep this from feeling repetitive for readers, and for myself, I’m probably going to explore branching out into less purchase-focused things—though I will still be sharing when I buy something, and what it is, etc.
I have to admit that I’ve been feeling like I’m in a bit of a rut—with my last couple posts and my vision for this space. It’s not a you problem, it’s me, so I’m spending some time really brainstorming ideas that I’m excited about. Part of the plan is allowing me to funnel the energy of the monthly recaps, which still take a bit of time, and use that to delve deeper into writing that requires more deep-thinking and research.
If there are things you’d like to read about, please leave a comment below with your ideas!
I don’t want to spoil what I’ve got coming up, but I’ve got 5-6 posts in the works that I can’t wait to share with you all.
Since there won’t be as many monthly recaps and more longer-form essays, those are likely to also be pay-walled. I am trying not to paywall too much of my writing, but as mentioned above, I’m in a place where even $50 makes a visible difference in my month.
To that end, if you’ve been thinking about becoming a paid subscriber, it would make a huge difference in my actual life if you signed up! Plus, you get access to paywalled content, chats directly with me and other folks, and the chance to share your thoughts directly with me in comments. To those of you that are, and have been, paid subscribers—thank you so much. It’s truly a blessing and I’m grateful for it.