Have you ever heard of a no-buy? Well with the new year literally just ahead- eh em… tomorrow! I’ve been taking some time to think about my goals for 2020. Specifically, how can we strategically use our time / money to our advantage. Think conscious spending, and mindfulness…
Well a few months ago I came across a few videos about this thing called a no-buy. It is what it sounds like. You have specific areas that you are focusing on, and in those areas, you’re not allowed to buy! This helps to eliminate mindless spending, and help save you money in areas you don’t care to be spending it.
So this got me to thinking. What areas are we mindlessly spending? What big goals do we have for our family for the upcoming year? Simply put, we’ve been spending more than I’d like on food out, and we’d LOVE to take a FAMILY vacation this year. And another anniversary trip. Wohoo! So how are we going to make this happen for our family? We’re going to jump start our saving with a 3 month no-buy!
Here are my no-buy rules:
NOT Allowed:
- Eating Out
- Coffee Out
- Clothing
- Accessories (Purses, Jewelry, etc)
- Shoes
- Makeup
- Skincare
- Cleaning Products
- Organization Products
- Home Decor
Allowed:
- Groceries (Within our grocery budget $125 a week for our family of 6)
- Regular donations
- Replacements of kids necessary clothing
- Replacements of makeup / cleaning / bath products if there are no backups.
- Gifts for friends / family
- Kid’s craft supply refills / toys ($100 month max)
- Books (1 per month)
- Spending of gift cards
- Brittany’s hair cut / color
- Product necessary for staging photoshoots / brand videos
- 2 date nights allowed per month with $50 max budget. (We don’t go out for date nights on any regular basis, but I think it’s important to start!)
- Babysitting
- $8 a week allowed for fresh flowers
Start date: January 1st, 2020. End date: March 31st.
What do you think of our no-buy rules? Anything you think I should add or change on the list? Maybe something I should clarify in my rules? Let me know in the comments below!
My hope is to do monthly updates on how we’re doing, and keeping track of any pitfalls / fails to keep myself accountable! Although we aren’t doing this as a super strict challenge as a way to get out of debt, I am definitely VERY motivated to make these sacrifices to make these two trips happen this year!
How about you? Have you ever considered a no-buy???
