I tried a no-buy year - here’s how it went.

I have the opposite problem. I just can't bring myself to buy new clothes because I have panick attacks and I feel guility whenever I spend money😞. I should do like a "buy at lest 10 new clothing pieces this year, please!" challenge, but even thinking about it makes me feel sad.

I would like to implement a no buy month every other month 😅 that's my goal for 2023. Sounds silly, but i think it's a good start. I'm not a huge consumer anymore, I've managed to keep under control my shopping habits in the past 2 years and I'm ok with that. 🙂

I truly appreciate your honesty about this challenge of not buying anything and not succeeding.

Thank you for helping shift my mind away from guilt. I'm pregnant right now, and we're pretty poor at this current time, so it was a strain just to get a handful of pregnancy items; and pretty soon I'll be post-partum! I've been so guilty over every cent I spend, regardless of how needful. So taking a "no-buy year" into a "rationally try to work with what you've got, but if you need it, you need it" was very freeing

Doing a no-buy January to start. Feels great!

One thing that has helped me buy less is I am only in the current season. If I see a cute summer blouse in January, just No. Because in January, I have most likely forgotten that I have a similar one in my summer storage!

I did a low buy challenge in 2021. I'm a fashion and style addict, but during the pandemic working from home I've realised, my wardrobe is enough for 3 lifes. I was "allowed" to buy replacements only for essential pieces, which wasn't the case, as even after decluttering few items I still had plenty to wear. I've got weak 2 times. Now I don't need any challenge as I become a better consumer, not at least thanks to your inspiration, Signe. I buy way less, but higher quality pieces, which I choose carefully without compromises. I'll never become a minimalist, as style is my passion and the way to express myself, but now I'm fine where I am. After this video I've counted my new items from 2022 out of curiosity (which wasn't had as I pin them to have all my wardrobe digital some day): 11 pieces (clothing, shoes, scarfs, gloves).

I’m 64 and since my early 40’s I started investing in good quality long wearing classics. Being true to a colour palette I love and works for me. I can’t think of a year since then that I’ve bought over a dozen pieces of clothing. The exceptions are underwear and socks. Even socks though - I invested in Falke cashmere blend for winter and a pair can last over 5 years. Jeans felt problematic as the styles change so much often: low rise, Mom jeans, skinny legs, wide legs but I realized a good classic cut Jean never really loses its style. I have a collection of scarves to add colour and liven up outfits. I’ve been wearing the same blundstones for 8 years - almost time for a new pair. I have a giant very furry dog that I spend a lot of my life with so as clothes wear they become clothes to wear when adventuring with the dog. I can’t tell you how light it feels to get up in the morning and love everything in my closet. It took a journey like the one Signe is on to get there but I love the results. I, too, will buy second hand but only to get exactly the quality and item I’m looking for. Great video Signe with lots of good information.

I love seeing your kitty napping, sunk down into that fluffy bed. To me, that’s domestic peace and joy.

Thanks for your frank discussion of this topic. For my personality and context, 'no buy' tends to evoke a sense of scarcity which I find not particularly wholesome. What i do instead is to take it slow (like, I can stalk an item and leave the window open on my computer for a month), be aware of cycles (we moved somewhere new, needed to redecorate and buy more winter clothes but now that's mostly done), and also purchase with the flows of nature (I tend to try to stock up on anything I buy online before the worst of winter hits, so I don't have to be retrieving and processing packages in minus 30 Celsius). All of that sort of naturally leads to a 'low buy' situation at certain times, and more abundant 'feast buying' at other times. It's an experiment.

I started a no buy year and failed on day one. I've got a second hand scarf saved that I really want to buy but I'm resisting it. I'm thinking of changing my no buy to a low buy and giving myself £1 'pocket money' each day. That way, for every pound I want to spend I'll have to wait the same number of days before buying that item so a £50 item of clothing will require a 50 day wait to evaluate whether it's still something I want to buy.

I love doing capsule wardrobes and putting away out of season clothes. Then when I get out the new ones every 3 months they feel fresh and I have forgotten about them and I can just enjoy them for 3 months or so and then put them away. I now just buy clothes on purpose rather than just impulse shopping. I now see the gaps easily. This year it will just be a couple of pairs of jeans in the next month for my winter here in the southern hemisphere.

I started a no buy (clothes) year in 2023. I managed by June and in July I bought 2 tops and in August I bought a scarf. Then I realised I should start a no buy month that would be easier to finish and accomplish. But I’m not regretting over the things I bought. ❤

I like the tactic you mention of switching the habit from buying new pieces to trying new things with the wardrobe that you already have. It's still wardrobe-related and new, just in a different way, so hopefully gives the mind at least some of the same sense of satisfaction and joy. I think this would definitely make it easier to stick to a low/no-buy :)

I took part of the challenge a little bit. Mine was more of a low to no buy. I did buy but it was low. No buy was harder for me, but I would love to try again at a later time. Thank you for challenging me!

I would never succeed in a no buy challenge. Im never going to short myself the joy it brings when i buy something i know i love and will get use of it. Im used to be an shopping addict but even then i didnt buy senselessly. I very rarely had regrets because im very conscious of being wasteful not just with clothes,shoes etc but food and life in general. The difference now us during and after the pandemic when i wznt able to shop in store my shopping (ive had many bad experiences with online shopping)slowed and it didnt make any impact on my life. Ive always shopped second hand as well because i love vintage and knowing my items have a story so i enjoy wearing them even more. But i love you for your discpline and enjoy content creators who are conscious buyers. Plus it helps me to find new ways and views in the conscious life to use and style my items.

Thank you for including the comment about postpartum body. After my first, I wound up back at the same weight, same size, but different proportions (I joke my hips dropped 2"...but it's true!). I've always struggled with jeans fitting, but now that it is exaggerated, I know that I CANNOT buy jeans/pants that have less than a 13" front rise - and back rise needs to be pretty lengthy, too. I appreciate channels like yours and others that talk about fashion in a sustainable way, so I can change the programming of "consuming more is the way to find the perfect clothes" to being patient, loving what I already have, finding things that work for me (NOT making "me" work to fit into things), and - as you mentioned today - learning that I might need to finetune my "enough is enough" mentality. Hard to do in the current culture, but sounds like it could refresh my soul.

I did a no buy in 2018 as a shopping detox. It worked! Plus I saved a ton of money. I realized how much I have. My style has changed ( going to retire soon) and I tried to do a low buy in 2022 of 12 items but I bought 30 but mostly second hand. I think a no buy is better for me. This year I made a list of what I need (4 items) and I will see if I stick to it. Bottom line, bring mindful about what we buy is the key objective. I think we have to forgive ourselves, especially when we enjoy fashion. I highly recommend clothing swaps! Fun way to get “ new to me” items and save clothing from landfill. Thanks Signe for what you do! 💚💚💚

I totally respect what you did/ tried! 2023 for me was a year of great change and I bought A LOT, partly because my old wardrobe did not suit me anymore, partly as a stress relief. I think I’m going to try to do far less and more mindful consuming next year.

As my body does not change significantly through years, I’ve found approach which suits me the best. It is to buy with future in mind. If the piece at a first glance is not going to last at least three years in my wardrobe, no matter why (poor quality, discomfort, overly exaggerated trendiness, out of my general style), I won’t buy it. I usually wait before buying to make up my mind, look through my wardrobe and think if new item will work well with my other items. This also means I prefer to buy less items of better quality. It doesn’t mean I have little to no clothing, in fact throughout years I’ve accumulated enough to wear different looks and be happy about myself. Most of items live in my wardrobe 5 years, some are here longer than decade now. Some of my handbags are about two decades old. If maintained properly, clothing and accessories could last quite a lot. The only thing that can affect this approach is significant body change. I had to replace most of my shoes two years ago, because my feet changed with age and became wider, so all of my made-to-order high heels were no longer wearable. Also, I no longer can wear very high heels which I was a big fan of back in 2000-2010. So I decided to let go. I gave away 20+ pairs of shoes and replaced them with 11 new pairs, which included classic pumps, open toe sandals, ankle boots, knee high boots and winter boots. Those fit me great and will keep me covered at least five more years, I hope so.