What I Learned From the Spectacular Failure That Was My No-Buy Month

Spoilers: I bought stuff!

I was first introduced to the concept of “no-buys” through Christina Mychas’ TikTok channel. If you’re not familiar, Christina is a self-described “shoppaholic turned minimalist-ish” and credits a lot of her overspending to shopping. Despite pulling herself out of thousands of dollars worth of debt, she still partakes in a no-buy every now and then when she’s feeling a bit “spendy.”(Side note: Christina and a few other creators have an excellent podcast called Sustain This that I highly recommend if you’re interested in learning how to shop less while also honing in on your personal style).

For those not familiar, a no-buy is really exactly what it sounds like — a period of time without shopping. No-buys can vary. Some people decide not to purchase anything superfluous during this time period (no eating out, no new makeup, no new clothes, no new books, etc.) while others make exceptions (you can replace a beauty item if you run out of it, but you can’t buy anything new, etc.). The time period in which your no-buy lasts is also at your discretion. Christina tends to do month-long no-buys as a “dopamine reset.”

Once I started watching more of Christina’s content, the algorithm did its thing and my TikTok “for you page” was peppered no-buy or low-buy content. Some creators, like Elysia Berman, will not be purchasing any new clothing for a year due to past overconsumption and others are implementing shorter shopping bans to save up a bit extra cash.

While I never scroll past a no-buy video, I personally hadn’t felt the need to partake in one myself until recently. I already have pretty specific guardrails around what I purchase (see here), and as someone with pretty black-and-white thinking, I was worried that abstaining from shopping completely would put me in a “feast or famine” mindset — having the complete opposite effect of what’s intended.

My No-Buy Rules

So why am I here writing about my no-buy then? In July, I realized I had a lot of great summer pieces and probably didn’t need any more. Instead of taking a step back from shopping and allowing myself to enjoy my warm-weather pieces, I decided to look ahead to my fall wishlist. Fall shopping is historically more expensive for me because I like to buy leather boots, suede handbags, and statement coats. This year was no different. A quick glance showed me that my top 12 wishlist items for fall added up to easily over $2,000.

A wishlist is a wishlist and most of the items probably won’t make sense for me to purchase right now (bye bye, $500 Reformation bag), but there were some items I really did want to pull the trigger on. The biggest being the Boden Reversible Faux Shearling Coat. I’ve been lusting after this coat for two years, and with a move to NYC on the horizon, it felt like the perfect piece to add to my wardrobe. The teeny, tiny issue was it’s nearly $300 on sale. Realizing that I’d need to save up to buy this piece prompted my August no-buy.

Unlike other no-buys, I actually was participating in less consumption to have the free will to later consume. I’m not sure if that defeats the purpose, but it was my purpose. I vowed to not buy any new clothing or beauty products for August.

At first, not shopping was a breeze. I spent most of August traveling between Masachussetts, New Jersey, and Texas, so I was pretty distracted. Instead of scrolling, I was focusing on spending time with family and friends.

There were a few close calls — our vacation down the Jersey Shore proved to be pretty cold and rainy and while everyone else around me was buying cute sweatshirts in pretty pastel colors, I abstained and stayed warm in the old sweatshirt I’d brought with me. I was served an Instagram ad that the now-sold-out Donni Silky Simple Pant in navy went on sale at Miami Sample Sale for 50% off. It took everything in me to not grab those bad boys. And yet, I ✨persisted.✨

I threw money at my savings goal every chance I could get. In fact, I gamified it by trying to spend less in other areas of my life (eating out, coffee, books) and even returned some items with tags on them to add a bit more cashflow to the coat pile. The hope was I’d be able to buy my coat and have a bit of dough left over for another item on my top 12 list. By mid-August I’d saved nearly $400.

Not Me Buying Things

Then came the last two weeks of September, when the fabled capitalist season “pre-fall” began. Suddenly, my inbox was littered with barn jackets, suede coats, and chunky sweaters. Instead of avoiding this marketing, I became hyper-focused with my own fall items, namely the Boden coat. While said coat had been sold out all summer, I assumed sizes would come back in stock by pre-fall. They hadn’t. I began obsessively scouring second-hand sites like eBay daily for my size. For a month focused on not buying, I was spending a lot of time on the internet trying to find a thing to buy.

On August 21 I finally found my coat, new-with-tags on Poshmark. I immediately texted my friends, who did not hesitate to tell me to buy it, which is how I broke my no-buy 10 days early.

Just three best friends telling each other “Exactly.”

Do I feel guilty about this? Eh. The whole point of the no-buy was to save up for this exact coat. It fits well, it’s new, it’s my size, and I got it for $145 off — it’s the ideal scenario really. But the perfectionist in me can’t help but think I failed the little challenge I put in place. It reaffirms a judgement I’d made about myself that I couldn’t stick to a no-buy challenge.

Here she is!!

If I had just left my purchase at that, maybe I’d find a way to convince my rigid mind I succeeded in my no-buy month. But once again, marketing got the best of me.

About a week ago, I began to get served TikToks of girls praising the Madewell Darted Barrel Jeans — another item at the top of my fall wishlist. Most of the girls we’re curvier, like me, and I couldn’t get over how flattering the jeans looked on them. A quick search on Madewell showed that my size was already back-ordered until late November, and so a new obsession began. I finally found the jeans on Nordstrom in my size on August 27 (four days until my no-buy would wrap!) and ordered them immediately. Did I have the money to buy them? Yes. Do I like them? Yes. Did I need to buy them with the urgency that I did. Nope.

The Takeaway

Did I successfully complete my August no-buy? Some could argue yes — I saved the money I needed in order to buy, not one, but two more expensive items on my wishlist. Others could argue no, because simply put, I bought two pieces before September 1. The result depends on your level of rigidity. In the end, I don’t think it matters. What I do find interesting is analyzing my shopping habits and how susceptible I am to impulse purchases.

My main takeaway is that: Despite working in marketing, marketing works on your girl. If there is ANY sense of urgency on a piece I want (whether the brand tells me an item is back-ordered, on sale, or that there are only a few items remaining in my size) I am getting my credit card and I am swiping it.

But, honestly, what would really happen if I missed out on a clothing item? What am I trying to be a part of when I have to own something that’s clearly popular? Will I feel jealous if every other fashion girly got their hands on an item and I didn’t? Will I still want this item after the buzz wears off? Also, what does it even mean when a brand says “only a few items left in stock”? If their original stock was 1,000, then a few items could be 100 — right? The nebulousness is part of the marketing tactic, no doubt.

Although the items I purchased are not regrets, because they are items I’ve been eyeing for months and put on my top 12 wishlist, I still don’t like the buzzy and anxious feeling I got when trying to purchase them. No pair of barrel jeans are special enough to conjuring up feelings akin to being chased by a sabertooth tiger.

Like Christina says, the point of a no-buy seems to have very little to do with not buying things and more to do with retraining your brain. Separating yourself from the habit of browsing items on the internet, falling for marketing campaigns, and being influenced is harder than it seems. There’s a reason my university made me take a Psych 101 class, despite majoring in communications.

I like the idea of doing a no-buy at the start of each season to get clear on my shopping goals for the coming months and to have fun rewearing the items I haven’t been able to since the prior year — but that also seems to be the time of year marketing is most prevalent. In March we’ll be getting urgent messages about the next It item that’s sure to sell out for summer and in August you’ll be opening emails about barn jackets while sitting in the 90 degree heat.

My no-buy goal going forward is to keep my eyes on my own project. If an item I want sells out while I’m participating in a no-buy, it’s not that deep. The practice is to train my brain to want less and enjoy what I have more — while also saving for “better” items for the future.

Have you ever participated in a no-buy? Did you find yourself boomeranging into buying more at the end of it, like a strict diet gone bad, or did you find it sustainable and impactful? Sound off below.