How My No-Buy Year Is Going (Its Complicated)…

I’ll be honest – I did avoid writing this post. You can probably guess why. In summary, my no-buy year has not be a thumping success although I won’t say its been total fail either. So lets assess.

You might remember I made a bold declaration earlier in the year to do a no-buy year. This is not as dramatic as it sounds. It basically means I had some restrictions on the things I bought this year – and the things I was aiming to not buy. There were specific reasons as to why I wanted to do this – check out the post for the reasons and details.

Now I did end up buying clothes and shoes and homeware – all of which were on my no-buy list. (I will definitely do a detailed post on this later). Honestly, can I actually say everything I bought was an essential? No, not really. When can clothes and shoes ever be essentials for us with closets full of clothes already. But I do think they were thoughtful considered purchases which I think was the aim of the exercise and they are items I have already worn several times. I am not too upset about how it worked out as long as they are items I continue to use but it does stop me from having bragging rights about how frugal I have been.

So do I think my no-buy year has been a success till now?

I am not under the impression its been a 100% success but honestly, a 100% success rate is not what I was going for or expecting anyway. Its definitely made me think and rethink about every purchase I make and that’s definitely a good thing. The things I did buy I thought through for sometime and was perfectly happy to have bought it. The cardigan I am wearing in the photo was one of them which is already something I have worn a number of times so I know its something I will make maximum use of.

Do I plan to continue my no-buy year?

Of course! Honestly, I am not beating myself up over it or stressing out over it. That’s not the aim. If I feel I absolutely need something, I will buy it. What I definitely want to cut out is any kind of spontaneous shopping which to be honest I have managed to curb almost completely.

I will report back at the end of the year as well. If you are doing a no-buy year please comment below and let us know how its going. And if you are not doing one, would you ever consider doing it?

Make sure and follow me on Instagram – I will keep posting my updates there as well as pictures of the shopping I do end up doing.

– Anisha