I often choose a word of the year as a general guide. And I usually do a no-buy January. For 2025 I’m sort of combining the two into a “low-buy” year. I’m intrigued by the underconsumption core trend and its focus on a reduction of excess consumption. Let’s take a look at what that all means.
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Underconsumption Core
and a Low-Buy Year
My Term Definitions:
Underconsumption Core – A social media trend that encourages people to buy less, reuse or repair what they have, reduce waste, rediscover the value of what they already own and to live more sustainably.
Low-buy Year – Limiting purchases to the necessities including paying regular bills, food, fuel and the replacement of essential items.
Why I’m Doing This:
Each time I’ve done a no-buy January I have experienced a number of positive results. It saves money, helps reset my buying habits after the usual “spendy-ness” of the holiday season and inspires creativity on my part.
If all that occurs in a month, how much greater will the results be if I do it for an entire year?
- Save money for home improvements
David will be retiring in a year and half so I think this is a great time for us to begin keeping a closer eye on our budget and saving where we can. There are a number of improvements we’d like to make to our home and property in the next couple of years. We are looking ahead to life in retirement and one of our goals is to make our home and surrounding land into a kind of personal resort for us and our family. We plan to put in a pool and David would love a woodworking shop. By envisioning how we want to spend our time after he retires, we hope to create a place to nourish our creativity and enjoy our leisure time pursuits.
2. Encourage creativity in homemaking
Cooking from my pantry and freezer stock, baking homemade bread, making my own yogurt, canning and preserving, etc. are all things I’ve done from time to time but not with any consistency in recent years. By limiting my food purchases and focusing on using what I already have, I will get back to these kitchen practices that I’ve enjoyed in the past and are often healthier as well.
3. Use up the excess and declutter
I must admit I have a bit of the prepper mentality when it comes to stocking up on food and household supplies. Living out in the country, having experienced a number of power outages and being snowed/iced in, means it’s wise to have a reasonable stock of food and supplies on hand at all times. But when the supply chain issues associated with the pandemic plagued us off and on for a couple of years, I took it up a notch or two. David built extra shelving for me in our storage closet and we jokingly refer to that as our grocery store.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m a firm believer in having a well-stocked larder. But we’ve exceeded the quantity I believe to be reasonable for our particular situation. I plan to make a determination of just how much we should have on hand for everything I store and then use up anything beyond that quantity.
4. Reduce waste and consider environmental impact
I was MUCH better about this at one time. But when the pandemic began some of my previous eco-friendly efforts were discarded or at least not as carefully adhered to. There were a number of reasons for this but I’d say the main one was that it just took too much mental energy at a time when things were very stressful. I can’t honestly say life is less stressful now but it’s different. And I’m going to look at it through a different lens.
5. Opting out of fueling rampant capitalism
This may be controversial to some but I believe that capitalism and conspicuous consumption are way out of control here in the United States. While I can’t change the economic system, I *can* lessen my participation in it.
My Personal Guidelines for this Challenge:
- Weekly menus will focus first on foods we already have on hand. I’ll be using those dried beans I have stored in buckets.
- Begin baking our own bread. I have a few buckets of wheat, a wheat grinder and a Bosch mixer. I used to do this and there’s no reason I can’t do it again.
- Explore the world of sourdough. Again, I used to have a sourdough starter and it made wonderful bread. David isn’t as fond of sourdough, though, so I’ll need to bake both types.
- Make my own yogurt. I have a yogurt maker so this is super easy to do. Just need to get back into the habit.
- No new purchases of toiletries, nail polish, hair care products, makeup, etc. as long as I still have some on hand. I’ll use up those less-favored options, little bottles brought home from hotels, etc.
- Clothing – I may purchase one new dress per season if desired. I’m not one to spend a lot on clothing so this isn’t a big issue for me. I already have two nice coats and several cardigan sweaters so I don’t need any more.
- Shoes – I can replace my beloved Birkenstocks if they wear out but I don’t anticipate that.
- Handbags – I have four quality bags for everyday use and a small, black purse for dressy occasions.
- Jewelry – I have plenty and my mom keeps giving me pieces from her extensive collection so I won’t be purchasing any.
- Home decor – I have plenty. If I want a different look I will rearrange things and use what I have.
- Holiday decor – I tend to use the same items each year anyway and have plenty.
- Cleaning supplies – I have a ridiculous supply. Dishwasher detergent is probably the only thing I’ll need to replenish.
- Candles – I have way more than I could possibly burn in a year.
- Cards and stationery items – I have a large stock of these items. If there’s an occasion I don’t have a card for and a homemade version wouldn’t be appropriate, I can purchase one. Unless we have a lot of graduations or weddings this year, I should be fine, though. I buy my favorite ink pens by the box and should have plenty for the year. I think I have enough notebooks to see me through, as well.
- CDs/DVDs/vinyl albums – We have a lot in all of these categories. In fact, we need to spend more time listening/watching what we have. We are also taking a look at our streaming services and may drop a couple that we aren’t utilizing.
- Flowers and plants – I’ll buy a few annuals for the front flower bed as usual although I may try to grow some from seed. I’m also allowed to buy vegetable plants for my garden if I plant one this year. As for fresh flowers, I won’t buy myself any but if David chooses to, I’m not going to complain. 😉
- Books – This is the one that’s going to be more of a challenge for me. But honestly, I have way more in my home library than I could ever read in a year. We also have Audible which David and I enjoy on road trips and listen to a bit each night in bed together. And of course, there is also my local library. The only exception I’ll make is to purchase new releases from a couple of author friends. I know at least one of them has a book coming out this year and I like to support them.
- I am allowed to purchase gifts for others on regular gift-giving occasions. I don’t, however, need to buy any wrapping supplies. I have a huge stash of gift bags, wrapping paper, ribbon, and tissue paper. I tend to re-use gift bags and my supply seems to grow for some reason.
- When possible, utilize my local farmers market, local shops or companies whose ethos more closely align with my own.
- Explore bartering. Can I trade homemade bread for eggs from a neighbor who raises chickens?
Exceptions: A friend who has done a similar challenge several times shared her insights with me. She advised that a year is a long time and I should allow some exceptions here and there so I don’t drive myself crazy. I get a modest amount each month from Amazon as an affiliate. This money comes in the form of a gift card. If there is something I really, REALLY want then I will allow myself to use some of my gift card balance. But since this is limited I plan to save up until I’m quite certain of what I want to purchase.
We have a vacation already planned in May and there will likely be a couple of trips where we will combine work and pleasure.
We are also in the middle of remodeling our master bathroom so there will be purchases for that. For instance, I still need to buy towel bars, toilet paper holder, wastebasket, shower curtain, switch plate covers, and probably several other things I haven’t thought of yet.
Finally, this is MY personal challenge, not David’s. He’s free to purchase whatever he wants but he’s not usually one to buy a lot of random stuff.
In conclusion:
I’ll try to do periodic updates on how this challenge is going and if you’ve ever done something similar I’d love to hear about it!
Additional Resources:
I’m sharing a few books here but in the spirit of encouraging less consumerism, I recommend checking your public library rather than purchasing from Amazon. You can always purchase your own copy later if you determine it to be something you’d like on your bookshelves for future reference.
The Day the World Stops Shopping
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The Frugal French Housewife ~ Saving Money With Style
5 Reasons to Do a No-Spend Month
We’re basically at the same stage of life and on the same wavelength as you. We’ve lived in this house almost 35 years and have only done some basic updates. Right now we’re needing to update the kitchen, both bathrooms, and need new siding, too. The roof will need to be replaced again in the next year or two. We are both pretty darn frugal and I’m good with using what I have and neither one of us are big into clothes. We both have a basic wardrobe and I get a lot of our clothes at thrift shops. But whew…this home improvement stuff is expensive.
I know, right?! We are in the midst of an unplanned bathroom remodeling due to a leak. My husband is doing all the work other than the tiling but it’s still expensive. We just had our roof replaced after having hail damage in the spring. Fortunately the exterior of the house is stone on the first story and David re-did the top floor with log siding about 10 years ago. It needs to be re-stained but that’s not too expensive. We gutted and remodeled the kitchen over 20 years ago but I still love it and it’s in great shape but the downstairs bathroom needs to be done. Our carpet is over 25 years old and while it looks fine, I’d like to put in wood floors in part of the downstairs instead. It all adds up, doesn’t it?