Hey everyone! In case you haven’t heard No-Buy July is a thing. No-Buy July is exactly what it says, a month where instead of buying into mass consumerism we hit the pause button.
Gasp! Not making a single unnecessary purchase?
It’s hard, trust me I get it. We’re constantly bombarded by new beauty products, fashion, tech etc, and in this Millennial culture of FOMO it’s hard not to get swept up in the madness. But it IS possible to resist, my friends! This month I’m bringing you 7 tips to help you survive No-Buy July that will hopefully help you readjust your no-buy mindset.
How To Survive No-Buy July…
Tip #1: Decide what kind of No-Buy You’re Doing
Not every No-Buy is the same. For example, you NEED to eat. You NEED to sleep. Basic needs should not be included in your no-buy for obvious reasons.
You need to decide what is considered a need or a want for you. For some people a no-buy may include all food that isn’t purchased at the grocery store, for example fast food & restaurants. However, for others the social aspect of eating out with people is very important to their well being so they may not want to include restaurants from their No-Spending budget.
For me my No-Buy July is completely for all beauty products. I don’t want to add a single new product to my already cluttered collection. For you it might be not buying new clothing, or the latest tech releases for a month. Decide what works for you and stick with it.
Tip #2: Don’t look at it
If you aren’t aware of new products, you probably won’t want to buy them! I have been resisting scrolling through TrendMood and am working on spending less time on instagram and brand websites this No-Buy July.
If you spend too much money at the mall, don’t go to the mall. If you spend too much time online find another way to divert your attention. It does no good to continuously lust after products you can’t buy.
Which brings me to my next tip…
Tip #3: Focus on other interests
For me beauty is one of my main interests, but since I focus so much time & energy on my blog I forget that beauty isn’t everything. Read that book that you got for Christmas two years ago. Take up scrapbooking. Learn a language with Duo Lingo — Do ANYTHING that doesn’t involve scrolling through the Sephora app on your phone!
Tip #4: Do A Project Pan
A Project Pan in the community is the idea of using up what you have. It’s called a project pan because you are committing to using a powdered product until you see the metal at the bottom of the makeup compact.
I find doing a project pan very satisfying because I’m focusing on things that I’ve already spent my money on instead of buying new things and wasting the old.
This doesn’t just apply to makeup. Give yourself a goal. Read 3+ books this month! Use up the produce in your fridge before it goes bad. Finish the tv shows you’re already watching before subscribing to another TV service!
Tip #5: Set a budget and stick to it
Budgeting is really helpful for me because it keeps my spending in check. When my husband finished school we got a little lax on the budget.. but now that we have a mortgage we’re analyzing our spending again.
At the start of each month we allocate spending for utilities, groceries, fitness, and personal spending. Now here’s where you need to be real with yourself about what you can reasonably cut back on.
Here’s what I’m NOT allocating money for in my beauty No Buy:
- Makeup
- Skincare
- Nails
Tip #6: Cut yourself some slack — But not too much!
It’s hard to curb your shopping habits cold-turkey. If you slip up or can’t resist a sale cut yourself some slack. It’s okay. The world is still turning. But don’t give up all together just because you made one purchase.
I am so guilty of this! After three months of my 2019 No-Buy I made a purchase. And then I made another. And another. Instead of just brushing it off and keeping my spending low I was kind of like, yeah my no-buy is broken, I might as well just blow another $100. No, no no. Don’t do this! Don’t be like me! Don’t give up halfway through just because you bought one thing you meant not to.
No-Buy July is only one month after all!
Tip #7 Ask yourself if you really need it?
Do I really need another eyeshadow palette, even if it’s only $12? One walk over my eye eyeshadow palette box shows that I have over 20 palettes already… so more eyeshadow is definitely not a need.
However, if you told yourself that you wouldn’t buy clothing In July but then you realized that every pair of socks you owned was full of holes, well then I think you should buy some more socks my friend.
A good rule of thumb is to wait 30 days to avoid impulse buys. Do you want it as much after a day? A week? Three weeks? A Month? If you still want the product in question after 30 days then by all means go for it.
How do you survive No-Buy July?
If you’ve never done a no-buy or low-buy before and want to curb your spending then I challenge you… Leave your credit card at home and go a few weeks to a month without shopping. Better yet, two months! It takes 66 days to build a new habit, or so they say 🙂
These tips are perfect! Didnt know that No Buy July was a thing. Wi have to take part in it next year or perhaps just do it another month lol.
Also, it’s funny, as I was reading I realized I already do a lot of this 🤣 “do I need it or do I want it?” “Is there something else like this in my closet or vanity?”
I agree it’s hard not to buy into a lot of things, but I’d say I’ve been fairly well.
Author
I didn’t either until this year, I saw the hashtag going around on instagram. July rhymes with buy but there’s no reason why a no-buy can’t be any other month!
I think you have a pretty good budgeting system in place! There are people out there though who impulse buy everything, I have a lot of friends like that and it baffles me lol
I will have to come up with a plan and pick a month, lol. OMG I honestly don’t know how people can afford so much makeup every month! I actually had a friend who had a BUNCH of beauty subscriptions, and I literally mean a bunch, like over 6 or more AND she still would buy other stuff here and there it was crazy!
Author
It’s so crazy! I don’t think that people can necessarily “afford” it more but maybe they’re less focused on saving for larger goals? I could technically spend all of my spare money on makeup every month but then we’d never move forward in saving for retirement, our home etc. Over six subscriptions omg! I think the most I ever had at one time was 4 and I quickly reduced it to one.
that might be true, i’m desperately trying to save for other stuff so I’m not spending my money on everything i see, as much as I would like tbh XD
oh gosh I had three at most, two were $10 ones and after a year of accumulating so many samples i had to call it quits.. i’m actually excited about cancelling my boxycharm when i receive my last boxyluxe in september LOL
Author
It will be nice to just work on the products you have already then! Boxycharm can be so overwhelming!
These are really great tips for anyone wanting to save some money! I definitely missed that No-Buy July was a thing (lol), but we want to start saving for a house, so I will be coming back to these tips for sure!! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Author
Thank you for reading! How exciting that you’re saving for a house! That’s a great goal to keep spending in check. I hope you’re able to get the house of your dreams one day 🙂
It would be really nice to start making payments on our own property instead of someone else’s! 🙂 Thank you, I hope so too! I’m also inspired by the fact that you guys just bought your own house!!
Author
Yes exactly, that’s where we were at too. And depending on the mortgage term owning often has a similar payment to renting. Good luck! 💛
I’ve seen several mortgage payments that are actually less than our rent, so that would be a bonus for us for sure. Thank you so much!!
I’m rooting for you this month! This is a great idea to really curb “unnecessary” spending but it’s so, so hard to not even quickly stroll the aisles at your local drugstore! I’m in and out of drugstores sometimes a few times a week for little life purchases (toilet paper, mouthwash, stationary), and those darn displays are right when I walk in! Constantly being tested!
Author
Thank you! I’ve almost caved several times 😅 But doing a no buy is helping me to at least let the hype of new products wear off before I buy anything. Oh my gosh isn’t it hard!! Our grocery store has makeup and really affordable brands too, it’s hard now to be drawn down those aisles. Stay strong!
Hype is deadly to my wallet!
Author
haha mine too unfortunately!
I’m doing a low buy this year and trying to use up what I have before buying more but I’m not totally restricting myself to nothing. I have been doing pretty well, I’ve been super busy lately I haven’t thought about buying much at all. Although I did cave today and place a Colourpop order… 😛
Author
I think low buys are much easier long term than a strict no-buy! I always end up splurging after a long no buy 😅 I can’t wait to see what you got!
Totally already blew it at Mac this month, but I really like this concept! I think i might give it a go in August!
Author
I love the Idea of July for no buys just because it rhymes lol but really any month or time period is good! I’d love to hear how it goes for you if you try it this Summer 🙂
Thank you for reading!
The hardest part of a no-buy for me is getting promotional emails from companies. I can avoid Trendmood, avoid Instagram, avoid the mall…but I have to check my email. All those “40% off entire ColourPop website!” or “Check out this week’s Weekly Wow sale!” emails get me every time. Once I see those, my self-control is usually done for, LOL.
Author
Oh yeah I forgot about all those emails! The ColourPop ones are the hardest to avoid because they send so many 😂 And I always look at the weekly wow. Could you sort promotions into a seperate folder?
They already go in a separate folder! I just need to be better at not looking at that folder, LOL.
Unsubscribe! You can always resubscribe later, but it really eases the temptation if you just don’t even know to begin with.
That’s a great idea!