my "spending rules" for 20 IN 2024

or the illusion of self-control

Hi hi hi. Before I go quiet for a couple of weeks, don’t think I forgot that 2024 means the beginning of 20 in 2024, which is what I’m tentatively calling this little experiment. I want to treat my brain, and my bank account, and my life, less like a vending machine.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

how no-buys/low-buys work in general

If you’re familiar with the concepts of low-buy or no-buys, the general strategy tends to be “buy as little as possible.” A no-buy, is, in essence, full-on restriction in certain categories. Someone might say, “I won’t buy any takeout,” or “I won’t buy anything non-essential” (so, no eating out, events, things, etc. outside of rent, groceries, medication, etc.).

A low-buy is a slightly stretchier restriction wherein someone aspires to buy less of something, or to only buy, perhaps, replacements for clothes which wear out, etc.

I have tried full-on no-buys for a week or a month at a time prior to 2023, and, in my experience, they went badly. In the event that I stuck to my plan, I would sometimes notice an urge to, or a sense of permission to, buy things more after the restricted period was over. Obviously, that both wasn’t financially super helpful, nor did it feel great!

how i made adapted no-buys to work for me

Because this never worked for me for more than a few weeks, in 2023 I arbitrarily made up a number of how many things I’d buy. It was 40. I set some parameters, though, because even though I could have just said “I get 40 things, whatever I want,” I wanted to try to push myself to be intentional about what those 40 things are.

Here were the mental patterns and behaviors I was trying to adjust.