As you may know by now, I’m a fan of grand gestures — at least when I have to start something new that might not be that easy for me. Back in early July, I wrote about wanting to start another Low Buy because I hadn’t reached my savings goal yet. Spoiler: Several months later I still haven’t. Which makes me less than pleased with myself, to put it mildly.
My time to shine (again)
While I usually don’t care about the almighty symbolism of the new year, it worked wonders for me back in 2020 when I did my Low Buy year. It feels natural to make a clear cut at the beginning of a new year. Everything feels fresh and looking forward to a promising future seems easy — easier than deciding to not spend money on stuff I don’t need in July. At least to me.
So off I go into the new year with another budgeting plan to finally reach my savings goal from 2020… in 2022. Better late than never, as my gran likes to say. Contrary to my Low Buy Rules of 2020, I’m now going into a NO BUY challenge, meaning that apart from items I actually need, I will buy nothing — not even books — for at least 6 months (I will post my updated rules in the coming days). There will be no book budget for me this time, for good reason.
I have bought tons of fantastic books in 2021 thanks to excessive book shopping (see exhibit A in the picture below). I have been buying tons of excellent books for years, and somehow never found the time to read them because there are always NEW outstanding books to buy… Book budgets only perpetuate this endless cycle of book hauls so I need to be a bit more drastic in this matter. Instead of constantly getting new books, I plan on ‘shopping’ and rediscovering my bookshelves, an endeavor I am excited about and that will take significantly longer than just 6 months.
Hence why a NO Buy.
Back to square one
I’m less of an emotional spender than I had been before my first Low Buy, but it’s not like I’m scoring high in the impulse control department either. There’s much room for improvement, and while I know that some of this relates to my fuzzybrain ADHD issues — impulse/self-control is not our forte — this doesn’t mean I can’t work on improving whatever small chance I have of improving the issue.
Apart from that, I did a No Spend November back in 2020 and I really enjoyed it. Everything I wanted I put on my wishlist, wasting little time even thinking about getting something because it was out of question that month. I had so much time on my hands to do things I love — or needed to do, like work on my thesis. Everything was so simple. I want that back.
Which is why I start anew with a No Buy.
Why not for an entire year?
It may turn into a year-long adventure. But my primary incentive for this No Buy period is to reach my savings goal. Additionally, I’m happy to recalibrate my shopping routines once more — as stated before, there’s much room for improvement — and if I realize that this may take longer than just 6 months, I will extend my No Buy for as long as I need/want it.
For now, I need a break. And since I seem to be too immature and incapable of taking this break whenever I need it, I use the advantage of a typical new start — the new year. Let’s see what it will bring…
Wishing you all the best for 2022! Thanks for stopping by, take care 🙂