#Low buy year

[gothmuppetenthusiast]

So I'm planning on doing a Low Buy Year mostly to curb my consumerist impulses, reduce consumption and environmental impact overall and just save a bit of money and I figured I'd post my manifesto on here mostly to hold myself accountable and maybe inspire a few people!

1. No new clothes - I don't want to fall into the trap of fast fashion - I am already decluttering, and while I do want more masculine clothing since coming out as transmasc anything I do get is exclusively secondhand, but ideally I shouldn't be buying clothes at all. My exception to this is if I go to a concert or show I may allow myself a t shirt.

2. No new bags. I have plenty of bags. I don't need anymore.

3. No new products until empty - this is mostly for things like aftershave, moisturiser, shampoos and most difficult, hair dye. I'm not going to buy new bottles unless I've ran out

4. No yarn purchases until I have used up a fair amount of my stash.

5. No new art supplies or journals unless I completely fill my current ones

6. As a general rule, nothing new unless to replace something. No replacing something if it's repairable

7. Don't buy anything that I could make with supplies on hand (as in, I already have the materials to make such a thing, no loopholes to allow myself to buy things just to make the thing I want to buy)

8. I am allowed to buy fabric and haberdashery to support my costume degree.

9. A personal allowance is set each week to be spent on essentials, what is leftover will be split into a savings pot and a fund for experiences - ie, going out with friends

10. Unless I seriously read through everything on my to be read, no new books

11. Try to replace time looking at products with other habits - instead of walking on the high street, walk in nature, read instead of looking at social media with adverts. This is less no buy but more me trying to spend less time on my phone and with stimulation because I think it's an actual detriment to my mental health and ADHD

13. I will allow myself to buy accessories such as jewellery second hand

14. I will allow myself to buy art prints at comic con and pride, but will set a specific budget for myself

15. I will turn to modifying and making my wardrobe before I consider buying anything - do I need to buy that, or is there something I own that could work?

16. I will allow myself to buy gifts for others, but will aim to be sustainable and get items I know people will use and are thoughtful.

I love maximalism, I love clutter, but there's a big difference between what I love, built up of heartfelt items I've collected, things I've made, and falling into the trap of buying to fulfil dopamine. I am definitely an impulsive buyer, and for some these might not sound like tough restrictions but for me I know they will be. I will maybe update this blog with how I get on with this throughout the year with little reflections. I don't know. I just know I can't be a punk and keep letting myself fall into the trap of constantly buying and spending and it needs to stop.

[bekahgoeslowbuy]

Why a low-buy year? My two main goals!

First of all, I need to save some money. My long-term financial goals include paying off my car and purchasing a house. As for short term goals, I'd like to be able to rent an apartment for my boyfriend and myself to move into. I also want to spoil my cats by purchasing a giant cat tower for them to sit in and scratch on. So by the end of 2025, I will have enough to support a new apartment.

I also want to reduce my mental clutter. Ideally, after a low-buy year, I will be less focused on purchases and be more comfortable with and grateful for what I have.

[arvaelstyle]

Going Through My Makeup

Due to my New Years’ resolution/challenge I really wanted to devote some time to go through my makeup to categorise and evaluate what I have.

I also wanted to highlight the items that I will probably need to replace due to using them up.

I will also highlight items that I will probably get rid of.

Primers

1. NYX Bare with me Hydrating Jelly Primer - I enjoyed this primer, it really softened the skin and gave a smooth base. I believe NYX discontinued production of this product, so I will have no chance of repurchasing.

2. Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched face base - Surprisingly, this product did not give me a result that I really liked. It also caused small breakouts, so once I used it up, I will not buy it again.

3. NYX Honey dew me up primer - Best of the best, this is the primer for me, so I will repurchase once I will use up all the others.

4. NYX Hydro Touch Primer - Second best primer I have, but I like a bit of stickiness on my skin after using a primer and this does not work the way I would like it to.

5. NYX MarshMellow Primer - This is not bad either, however it is smelling too heavy. Not gonna repurchase.

Foundations

1. Chanel Vitalumière Aqua - Well, actually not my favourite one for some reason, although I did not give it enough chance yet. I will need to keep using it and later evaluate.

2. Dior Forever Skin Glow - Like this foundation, probably will need to repurchase later during the year.

3. Chanel Les Beiges - Ultimate favourite, no question about this one.

4. It Cosmetics CC Cream - Will need to repurchase very soon, because it has a very small amount in it already.

5. Erborian CC Red correct - This one, I want to repurchase, because I really like it when I need only just a hint of coverage, I like to use it at home as well.

6. Erborian Super BB - No, this one I do not like, it causes horrible breakouts, so I am thinking of tossing it.

Concealers

I think I am still searching for ‘the concealer’, but until I will use these up, I won’t buy any new ones.

1. Catrice Liquid Camouflage (015 Honey) - Use this for concealing breakouts, because it is the same shade as my skin.

2. Catrice Liquid Camouflage (005 Light Natural) - Use this for under eye, but not a favourite

3. Maybelline Instant anti age eraser - Use this for under eye again, I like this a little bit more than number 2 because it does not set into the fine lines

4. It Cosmetics Bye Bye under eye - disappointment, the cream consistency is just too heavy, and it cannot be blended properly. I would like to sell this one, it is just not for me.

Eyeshadow Primers

1. NYX Glitter Primer - Having this for obvious reasons, will replace if I use this up.

2. NYX Ultimate Base - Not my favourite, I will not repurchase.

3. Mac Painterly Paint pot - Yes, yes and yes, will probably not need to repurchase this year, but will do once it runs out.

Powders

1. Maybelline FaceStudio setting powder - I am not a powder girly, if I will use this up or it will expire, I will not buy this product or any products like this again. Not because it is unsatisfactory, but I simply do not need it.

2. Mac Mineralize Skin Finish - This is a great product, but again, not sure if I really need this to be honest. I will probably not repurchase it.

Contours

1. Mac Studio Fix Contour palette - The best contour palette I tried, would buy again if I needed to.

2. - 4. NYX Wondersticks - They are just great, easy to blend sticks, the light medium color however just looking a bit orange on me when I have no tan, so I like number 3 and 4 way more. Fortunately, I do not think I need to buy anything in this category during 2025.

Blushes

I just have too many blushes it seems, so I would like to get rid of a few. As they are quite old items, I will get rid of number 2 and 10. I am very likely to get rid of number 4 as well, it is just not my vibe.

Highlighter

I only have this one highlighter, apart from the ones that are included in palettes. That is Why I do not need more.

Bronzer

1. Catrice Sun Glow - This is an old item, I will get rid of this, because it is already expired.

2. Estèe Lauder Bronze Goddess - Favourite bronzer, if I would not have purchased the others, I would only use this one.

3. NYX Matte Bronzer - Really nice bronzer as well, but I just recently realized that I like bronzers with a little bit of shimmer in them.

4. Revolution Blush Palette - Although it should be a blush palette, it is more f a bronzer, blusher, highlighter palette. It is very versatile, with really nice colors, but would not repurchase it.

Mascaras

Apart from the SkyHigh and Lash Princess mascaras, the other 3 were basically purchased for only trying them, so once they will run out, I will not repurchase them.

Brow Products

I just have too many prow products as well, but there is basically no products here that I would not like particularly. Almost each piece has different colors, so until I use them up, I won't buy another one.

Eye Pencils and Eye Liners

I like using different colors of eye pencils, what I will need to be more careful about in the future is trying to avoid buying duplicates. I currently have duplicates of dark blue and dark brown eyeliners, and the reason for that was me thinking I have lost them.

The same happened to the brown NYX Eyeliner as well.

Lip Liners and Glosses

I will need to declutter my lip liner "collection" - there are too many of nude lipliners, although I do not really like to use them to be honest.

Lip glosses - I prefer natural colored lip glosses. I rarely touch the Essence lip glosses (number 5-6) - they are too sparkly for my taste so I will probably toss them.

Lipsticks

Although I am not really a lipstick girl, I have quite a few in my collection. I mostly love using nude colors - light and dark versions as well. I will get rid of number 4, 5 and 6 (The NYX Long Lasting Lipsticks) because they are just too matte for my taste.

I have the following MAC Lipstick colors :

Modesty

Creme in your coffee

Media

Brave

Amorous

On Hold

Verve

Eye Palettes

Lastly, my eye palettes. These are the eye palettes which remained in my possession after decluttering a much bigger collection - I owned almost the double of the below, which was to be honest ... crazy. If I were a makeup artist (which I am not) the below collection could even be called crazy. I am expecting to get rid of 2 or 3 in the next couple of months, so it is unlikely that I will purchase an eye palette in the near future.

[sabinadraws]

it's always "~create~ [buy pieces for] a capsule wardrobe"

and never "listen here motherfucker, what you have in your closet already is your capsule. you don't need any more clothing staples. that shit is the real you, embrace it"

[imkaitmae]

Anyone else trying to finish most of their TBR this year?

[p0stcardsfromnowhere]

One year I read The No Spend Year by Michelle McGagh and the following year did it myself. It was good that one year and helped me end debts and cancels cards. I’ve never been able to replicate it so I’m trying a different tack this year.

I follow a YouTuber called Immy, a Brit living in the US. Since moving there she has seen a change in the way she spends and her relationship with consumerism.

I was watching a recent video about her desire to attempt a low buy year and when she said she wanted to heal her relationship with consumption that hid hard for me.

The year past I feel I have increased my consumption in a way that is filling in for the horrors I was experiencing especially from the bullying and harassment I experienced from anti-social neighbours (since moved).

I felt very trapped and so turned to the comforts of consumption where I had lost all choices and autonomy elsewhere. In truth this was a form of self harm in that buying what I didn’t truly need to mask the pain of my living situation was denying me the experience of better quality of life.

I did try to address that towards the end of the year and especially once they were moved out and I had safe access again.

I won’t be engaging in the level of low spend Immy is since I am disabled and have additional, essential costs, I do want to address the elephant in my budget though: needful things.

With that in mind I will be changing the way I spend, monitoring it better whilst simultaneously not depriving myself of essentials.

My main motivator is to clear debts to 0 and free up money for essential as well as experiences. I want my life back.

This is very much part of my list project this coming year. January is set aside for reflecting, planning and realigning. I have no intention of starting anything major except this particular project since it would be better actioned from this month, since financially this is always a difficult and long month.

With that being said I’ve no plans to do more than this aside from planning and aligning.

[coffeecatsandhealth]

Doing things on tiktok before it disappears.

There's a trend for low buy and no buy on tiktok for the next year and this is mine!

[petitmortadella]

Sins 1/13-20

I didn’t even wanna look at it this week, but it was honestly not that bad. one of my fiancés gifts and my passport renewal were the biggest offenders

1. 3 Coffees

2. Red Bowl delivery

3. Deposit on tattoo

[anger-ranger]

Okay but I am not going to be the one to tell my grandma* that we're doing a low-buy year

[growinggoblin]

Last week I did an intentional purchase for my new home. I also took pictures of other things I might find useful, but I don't want to rush things.

I got these cute hooks for my kitchen. I'd seen them a few weeks back and now that I've picked a cute colour for my kitchen, I want to try and pick the nicest looking items when there are options. I prefer secondhand whenever possible, but stick on hooks aren't really avaliable in that way lol. So I allowed myself to get these :)

I also bought groceries I did not intend to get (ice creams... They were on sale big time...) and while I do try to also shop carefully in the supermarket, I am not putting up specific restrictions atm. Just that I shouldn't buy new sweets until I've finished the stuff I still have :p

My new place is getting along nicely, but I still have not decided on the colours for the little hallway and the living room. Difficult stuff!

[tidymalism]

Minimalists buy new stuff sometimes, too. Here are four things that exceeded the expectations of one minimalist. Durable, high-quality, eco-friendly and worth every cent.

➡️ Subscribe to my free monthly newsletter, the Minimal Monthly. Get all the latest blog posts from Tidymalism plus curated bonus content delivered straight to your inbox. Woot. 🤓

[arcanemoody]

More groceries today: got some kale and carrots because we needed both. Some beets because I want to try cooking with those. Some goat cheese for my sandwiches, buttermilk so I can make cheese, some apple cider, stollen, and lebkuchen to enjoy while we decorate the Krampus tree.

The goal is to get back to a place where I am cooking regularly and making our food stretch further.

It's Black Friday

I spent $65 total. USD. $40 at the grocery store -- which I went to at 8:30 this morning because I couldn't fall back to sleep and they had some good deals, particularly on greens and chicken. $10 refilling my app for the chain coffee place (got cold brew for me and Rocket, plus a blueberry muffin). $12 on music for Bandcamp Friday (including Goths for Palestine). $3 on four 2-packs of flour sack towels at Menard's. Because they were 69 cents each and that's nice as hell.

Overall, I think I did okay. It's certainly less than I remember spending last year or the year before.

[bekahgoeslowbuy]

January 12th.

Not great-- bought shampoo for staying at my boyfriend's house (but usually i use his), makeup (i was running low on one item but bought an extra), and got starbucks (though i used a Christmas gift card)

[arvaelstyle]

What is new in 2025

I have been reading a lot about more sustainable and evironment friendly way of life, about no or low buy movement in particular. I love the idea of being more conscious about your life and spending habits, therefore I am setting some guidelines for myself for 2025. When setting these guidelines it is important to me to make myself aware and remind myself all the time of the reason why I am doing this. My reasons are the following:

I have way too much stuff around me and I am writing mainly about beauty related stuff: makeup, skincare, haircare, clothes, shoes, accessories, etc that I have the most problem with. I have more than I use on a daily basis, and I also do not have that much space to store those items.

I want to have order in my life. Untidiness stresses me out, so being more conscious with what I bring into my home helps me keep myself on top of everything.

I want to change my attitude towards shopping. Every piece of new items has their effect on not only my life, but other’s life as well so I want to be more conscious about what I purchase. Also, I need to value what I already have more.

Last but not least, I want to save money and and I wish to be more in power of my spending habits.

Then let me collect the guidelines by categories I want to follow in 2025 to reach my goals:

Skincare and beauty products - I should only buy items to replace the products that I run out of. Not allowed to have more than 2 types of the same purpose product - for example from shampoo I do not want to keep 3-4 types, it is simply excessive and unnecessary.

Makeup - I am mainly buying products that I run out of. I allow myself to buy maximum 3 new items this year given that I declutter the same amount from my makeup collection.

Nails - I do my gel nails for myself so I have many items in my collection. In 2025 I would like to declutter my nail polishes and I might need to replace the nail drill that I currently own. I am allowed to buy new color if it runs out or if I toss another, because I have no more space to store them.

Shoes - Only allowed to buy shoes to replace old ones that I do not like to wear anymore. I would like to follow the 1 in and 1 out rule here.

Coats - I have enough coats, so I do not allow myself to buy new ones - only replacement if needed.

Clothes - I am allowed to buy 4 new pieces of clothing per month, but my rule here is rather not go beyond a certain amount of money rather than quantity. If I purchase new pieces, I need to declutter the same amount of the same purpose pieces from my wardrobe and I need to be really strict with this. Also, I need to wait at least until I decide which pieces I want to declutter before I buy the new items and I need to be consistent with keeping a wish list.

Bags - I would like to purchase 1 or 2 bags in 2025 that are on my wish list for a while. But I am waiting until I find the perfect ones and until I save up for them.

Other Accessories - I have only one item on my wish list (a belt) that I want to purchase in 2025. My guideline for this category is that I am allowed to buy 2 accessories per season, unless I replace something old and worn out piece.

Jewellery - I am allowed to buy 1 or max 2 items per month in this category, but only following my wish list.

Home Decor - I am quite good with this category, I purchased only a couple of pieces last year to replace broken ones and I want to continue like this in 2025 as well. The same 1 in 1 out rule applies here, I am not allowed to buy new pieces of home decor until I know exactly which ones I want to get rid of and replace.

Art supplies - Only allowed to buy to replace ones that I ran out of or if I get a project for which I need new ones. Since one of my Christmas presents was a tablet with a drawing app on it, I no longer need as much art supply as I used to.

I think that is all. The above is my type of New Year’s resolution which I hope will help me reach my goals in 2025. Do you also plan to participate in low buy or no buy movement for 2025? If so, what are your guidelines/rules?

Happy New Year!

[obsob]

there he is......the man of the house

[cooking-with-hailstones]

To all my fellow Canadians:

If you have been putting off making any purchases, may I encourage you to do that RIGHT THE FUCK NOW.

Trump's tariffs against Canadian goods have give into effect, and Canada's retaliatory tariffs are going into effect on Tuesday. This will affect:

Pretty much any food product

Furniture of all kinds

Clothing, fabric, yarn, wool, linen, cotton...

Technology: LEDs, household appliances, phones, computers, etc.

Video games and game consoles

Board games! I wish I was joking!

Lumber and wooden items.

Paper and paper products, including books, notebooks, binders, folders...

Office supplies

Alcohol

And so much more! All this will increase in price by 25% in the very near future. So, brace for impact, stock up on necessary items, and hope for the fucking best.

ETA: well, Trump seems to have backed down for the time being. We'll see what happens in the meanwhile, but keep your eyes peeled.