A no buy year is no small feat. It isn’t something that happens on a whim but takes a great deal of planning to make successful. If you want to see more about my no spend year check out my rules and my why.
Here is how to prepare for a no spend year:
Unsubscribe from everything. Go through your emails and unsubscribe to anything that will temp you to buy stuff. Clothing was my top one. If you see a $75 off sale during your no buy year you WILL be tempted to look, so it’s best to take away that temptation all together. An added perk about this step is your email inbox will be a lot less cluttered!
Delete all shopping apps. While you are at it, turn off notifications. You don’t need apps to every clothing store and fast food restaurant. While restaurants periodically give you free items, it’s not worth it to have the temptation on your phone and usually leads to additional spending.
Unfollow, unlike, and unsubscribe. This is for all social media. Keep up the trend of decluttering your life from any and everything that will make you want to purchase stuff. This can be influencers who always make you want to buy the products they use or businesses who are masters of marketing.
Gather up all gift cards and coupons. Go around your house and find any gift cards lying around. Figure out the balances and write the amount on them with a sharpie. Same goes for coupons that offer free items. After collecting all of them, put them in your wallet or a space in your car. This will allow you to always have them on hand. Perfect for a planned outing or if your kids are starving in the back seat (also keep your car stocked with a few quick snacks to save you or the kiddos when hunger strikes).
Prepare mentally. About a month prior to doing a no buy year, start thinking about every purchase you are making as a want or a need. Take a mental note about what things you are considering as wants and prepare yourself to not being able to enjoy some things for the next 12 months. I find this step to be one of the most important.
Rough draft your budget for the next 12 months. Doing this before your no spend year can give you an idea of how much money you will have left over each month to put towards debt or investing. It also creates a guideline for you to follow which can help you determine if you would like to add or cut out more options for your no buy year.
Set yourself up for success. List out any temptations you may have. If yours is going to coffee shops every day make sure you are stocked up on coffee and all the fixings at home. If your homebrew coffee tastes amazing, you are less tempted to go out and buy one. Don’t overlook the part about being stocked up on coffee. If you run out of coffee at home, there will be an even larger temptation (or necessity if you’re like me) to go out and purchase that latte.
Once you have completed all these steps you will be on the road to a successful no spend year!
