How to Stop Shopping: My Experience and Tips for a Successful No Spend Year
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I didn't buy anything for a whole entire year. You read that right. I did not buy any clothes, any home goods, any candles, decor, nothing–no physical item for an entire year. This year really helped shape how I think about my spending—what I really need versus what I want.
It all started back in 2017, which was my year of sustainability. It was my new year's resolution to be mindful of my impact on the environment and reduce my impact where I could. But instead of doing it for an entire year, which I felt like was a lot for me to cut things out of my life, my plan was to do it for a quarter, so three months at time and have four different resolutions. For the first quarter, I decided to not buy anything.
These were my rules for not buying anything:
1. No Clothes
My first rule was not buying any clothes, period. No clothes. I did not need anything–no dresses, no pants, no hair accessories. I could make everything that I had in my closet work.
2. No Home Goods
The second was I could not buy any home goods. I have been known to go all out on Christmas decorations, Halloween decorations, seasonal flair. Tchotchkes to make your home look cute with whatever was the trend at the time...probably chevron or something. So I could not buy any home goods or candles or anything like that.
3. No Makeup/Skincare
I could also not buy makeup or skincare. So if I saw a bright red lipstick that supposedly looks good on every lip according to that one blogger I wasn't allowed to buy it. I had to use all of the things that I had.
4. Can buy Necessities I run out of
The things that I could buy were stuff that I ran out of like shampoo. If I ran out of shampoo obviously I'm not going to not wash my hair for the rest of the three months. I was allowed to buy things like that.
5. Can buy Experiences
I could also buy experiences, whether that was dinner out with my friends or a night out on the town. My friends and I would always go out and I would never not want to experience making memories with my friends. So experiences—travel, food, things like that, I really did not hold back on. Only materialistic items experiences were off limits.
The first few months…
So the first few months were really hard, I'm not gonna lie. I have always been a person who really loved to dress up, to be trendy. My clothes have always felt like a form of self-expression. Even when I was growing up in a small town in Texas, I always tried to wear what was cool or be ahead of the times. Back when skinny jeans weren't really a thing, I would wear them. I wanted to be trendy and cool. That's how I defined myself, so it manifested itself in shopping and I felt the need to be accepted by wearing what was “cool.” I used to define myself self-worth through clothes and because of that the first month and a half or so was honestly really freaking hard for me. I'm not gonna lie, it wasn't easy, it was like going through withdrawals.
Sometimes you just wanna mindlessly scroll through Zara and online shop. A favorite pastime of mine is literally going to a mall and wandering through every single store and seeing what I was gonna find that day. I could spend seven to eight hours at a mall, no joke, me and my mom all day. It was a marathon! Shopping was my exercise. So it was hard. I would still go to the mall with my friends because that's kind of a bonding experience in and of itself. (I know these days during the pandemic we don't even go to malls really anymore or hang out with friends, but it was such a bonding experience at the time.)
I told myself at the end of those three months I could buy whatever. So if I really wanted that shirt, that top, that dress I could buy it. So for me, it was very hard. But after about a month and a half I lost the overwhelming desire and urge to buy and because of that it really made me reflect on all of my purchases. Do I really want it? Do I need it? What will it replace in my closet? Or do I have anything like it?
All of my wants became a lot more conscious and front of mind. So at the end of the three months, when it ultimately came down to it, I had things that I wanted initially and I didn't want them anymore. Even in that period after when I said I could buy anything, I didn't buy anything for the next three months. I loved the experience so much. Instead of adding something you have to remember, by not shopping at all it's much easier to take something out than it is to add something in. So it was easy in that sense. The third quarter of the year I actually did another three months of no buy.
Transitioning to A year
Because I did the no buy Q1/Q3 in 2017 I decided I was going to go the full year in 2018. Even my closest friends were like, “No way, Catie, you can't do that. There's no way you're gonna make it a whole entire year.” Everybody knew how much I loved to shop and they didn't think I could last a whole year. But I knew that because I had gotten over the urge to shop and I was a lot more mindful, I was able to roll those skills into a whole ’nother year. It was not honestly as hard as one might think.
I still kept the same 5 rules that I did for my initial quarter of no spending, so no materialistic items, only experiences. Because of that, I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything. Things are things and at the end of the day nobody's going to remember what you were wearing two years ago. You're going to remember the things that you did, the trips that you went on, the nights you had, and the memories you made.
That mentality came into focus for me in the year of 2018 when I didn't buy anything. You're not going to remember that lavender candle, you really won't. It might smell nice at that moment, but you don't need it. You're not going to be thinking about that candle you were sitting there sniffing. No, it just doesn't work like that...life doesn't work like that.
Keys 🔑 to success
A key to my success of the year was going in and testing it out for a quarter. During the year I wore the same clothes over and over and over again. Honestly, I don't think anybody even noticed. Before the no spend year, I was defining my worth by the cute outfits I was wearing, but I don't feel that anybody noticed. I was wearing the same clothes over and over again and they still thought, “Catie, you look good. You still are a stylish person.” It made me realize that buying the latest fast fashion does not make you any cooler.
People will still like you and they won't notice if you're not wearing the latest and greatest fashion or the designer labels or anything like that. I used to want a Chanel bag, but things like that did not matter to me anymore and they still don't. If I need a trusty old bag I will wear my leather Madewell one that I've had for the last five years and it still feels timeless.
The way I made it through the whole year without feeling the need to buy but still keeping my wardrobe fresh or “new” to me was by reaching out to my network. The very first thing I did in January was organize a clothing swap. I invited all of my friends to my backyard and said bring clothes, bring what you would donate. I had everything organized and hung up everybody's clothing. Then people could take whatever they wanted for free. People would come with their old clothes, hang them up, and then take whatever they wanted. At the end of the clothing swap I donated everything that didn't get exchanged. People felt like they got new clothes. I got some cute new tops for free and saved a lot of money and then donated to people who really needed the clothes.
I did the clothing swap and then I tapped into my network of friends and family who were getting rid of stuff. By sharing with everybody my goals and what I was trying to do (not buying anything for the year), friends and family would offer clothes to me. I have three sisters and we're close enough to the same size, so if they were getting rid of stuff, I'd ask them to save stuff for me. Whenever I would see them they'd have clothes that they didn't want and I would pick through them and get “new to me” clothes.
Same with my grandma. I wear a ton of my grandma's clothes and even my aunts and uncles. I wear dude's clothes too, anything is fair game. I will take whatever people don't want and try and give it a new life, a new home. That helps me curb my want to buy new things for the sake of buying new things. I still feel like I'm getting to experience a new wardrobe every time I get a new piece of clothes.
Fashion (And Mindset) Evolution
My style has definitely shifted. In 2020 big puffy sleeves, the squared off neckline or things like that are very in vogue right now. I probably dress more like a grandma because I literally have clothes from my grandma. Even though I do wear old lady clothes and my uncle's men's clothes, my dad's clothes, whoever it is, I try to stick to pieces that are timeless. My color palette has definitely ranged down too. I used to wear brighter, bolder colors and now everything tends to be in a very navy, white, black, gray,—a neutral palette. Those colors stand the test of time. A bright yellow will come and go. A bold marine blue will be in trend for a season, but neutrals are timeless.
My Takeaways 2 years later…
It's been almost two years since I actually did my no buy challenge. The thing that has stuck with me is that I literally do not have a desire to buy new things. My sister asked me today if I wanted to buy anything to add to her order and I was like nah, I'm good. I know lounge sets are so popular right now, but I also have so much clothes. That’s the thing, I still have a lot of clothes.
I'm totally and perfectly happy with what I have now. I did buy one thing this year and that is my biker shorts because that's a big trend right now too and I've been thinking about that purchase for a year. So finally back in April I was like, I'm gonna buy these biker shorts. We're staying at home and I want comfy pants, so I'm gonna buy these biker shorts and I did. That was the one thing I bought this year. A lot of the things that I buy, I try to buy secondhand or thrift it.
If I do buy new stuff, it’s from companies that I believe in their mission and who I believe care about like the world and the kind of world that we are shaping for our children. At the end of the day I feel like consumerism wants you to buy, buy, buy, and that creates a lot of waste. I'm not trying to get all environmental, but I do care about that and that's what is important to me. I don't try and push that belief on anybody else, but I'm trying to do what I can to do my part.
My no buy year was really amazing. It helped save a lot of money for me, helped do a little bit of good for the environment, and it was just an all-around great experience. I totally recommend you try it, whether it's for a week, or a couple months, or a quarter ldid initially, or a whole entire year. If you've tried it, let me know how it went. And if you have any more tips on how you did it, also leave that in the comments below.
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