The year is drawing to a close and as we take our trees down and put the Christmas decorations away, many of us are starting to think about what we want from the year ahead.
A new year signifies a fresh start, so it’s only natural for us to reflect on the 2024 and start thinking about how we can make 2025 better, whether you have had a good or bad year!
Many, like to set goals or resolutions that they aim to achieve for the year ahead and people on TikTok are participating in the ‘No Buy/Low Buy 2025’ challenge, whereby we stop buying unnecessarily and start thinking about our choices as consumers and spending habits.
I bet you can admit that at some point, you have wasted money on things you don’t need. We buy clothes, make-up, and shoes we barely wear and purchase appliances or products we hardly use. Some of us even buy things we cannot afford!
Well, you are not alone, most of us are guilty of overconsumption and statistics show that humanity is consuming resources faster than the Earth can regenerate them and our consumption is negatively impacting the environment and contributing to climate change.
Whilst I don’t know for certain what has led to our overconsumption, I am highly suspicious that it is linked to trend-driven culture, technology (we can get a new outfit on our doorstep the very next day), status and even our emotional well-being, for example, shopping often leads to temporary happiness.
The good thing is we can change our spending habits and start to think about whether we really need to buy brand new and as a new year approaches, it’s the perfect time to do so.
What is no buy 2025?
No Buy 2025 or Low Buy is a commitment to avoid buying unnecessary things or participating in impulsive shopping. The reason Tik-Tokers are doing this challenge differs for different people, but the main reasons people are participating are:
- To save money
- Break poor financial habits
- Be more mindful about spending
- Environmental factors such as sustainability and climate change
- To learn financial discipline
The great thing about the No Buy 2025 goal is that it is completely personal to the participating individual and you don’t have to follow a specific list of things you are not allowed to buy.
It’s your challenge so you set the rules, whilst some people aim to be more restrictive in their spending others are not. Some people may commit to not buying any clothes, some will just cut down.
You can also commit to the whole of 2025 or maybe even just 6 or 3 months.
How Can I Participate in No Buy 2025?
As this challenge is personal to you, identify what you set on achieving from setting the No Buy 2025 Challenge. Do you want to save money? Do you want to contribute positively to climate change or be more sustainable? Perhaps you want to learn discipline and become in control of your finances. Whatever the reason, this will set the foundation for the challenge.
If your goal is to save money, then ensure you tally up what you are saving, this will give you motivation to keep going for the whole year or as long as you want to do the challenge.
Secondly, you will need to work out where you may overindulge and how you can make changes to your spending habits or overconsumption. For example, do you have so many clothes you are struggling to store them and yet continue to buy more? Or do you waste money on takeaways instead of cooking?
The last thing to do is to make a list of ‘rules’ of what you will not buy or cut down on in 2025. Keep this list in your phone.
Things you can commit to not buying/low buying in 2025:
Clothes:
You can commit to buying no new clothes or footwear in 2025 or just buying items you need for a specific event if you don’t already have what you need. If you do need to buy clothing, you can think about buying second-hand for sustainability. Either way, you will save money and be more disciplined about buying into the trend-driven culture.
To simplify things, try deleting clothing apps so online shopping isn’t so accessible! This simple act will make you think twice about buying impulsively.
Make-up
Brits spend 6.4 billion a year on cosmetics so it’s unsurprising that we have make-up boxes full of items we barely use. You can commit to not buying any new make-up for 2025 (if you plan to participate in the challenge that long) or you only buy a product when you have run out and need a replacement.
Skin care products
Okay, we need our skin care products, because who wants to spend 2025 ashy with bad skin? Although you will still be buying it, you can still include skin care products in your No Buy 2025 challenge, you just have to commit to not buying other products until you have finished the ones you are already using, this way you save money, avoid over-consuming and be disciplined with our spending habits.
Perfumes:
I guarantee that you do not need any more perfume this year, save your money and commit to not buying any more!
Jewellery & Accessories
After realising they have more than enough, many Tik-Tokers are cutting back on buying jewellery and other accessories.
Eating out/Takeaway
Are you guilty of eating out multiple times per week or getting a coffee on the way to the office every morning? If so, then you should commit to stopping ordering food and drinks or eating out. Not only will it save you money, it’s also an opportunity to eat more healthily.
Subscriptions
This is your reminder to cancel those subscriptions for things you never use or barely use! My general rule is when it comes to subscriptions, if I don’t use it at least 5 times a month then I don’t need it.
Although this challenge has positive benefits there has also been some criticism that it is restrictive, so people will be less likely to stick with it. However, we believe that it’s only as restrictive as you make it and if you set your rules to be manageable and doable, you won’t set yourself up to fail.
The fact that people are beginning to think about their consumption, and how it impacts negatively on the environment and wastes our money tells us that we can change our behaviours to make positive impacts on the world and the quality of our life.
If you are planning on participating in No Buy 2025, you get a thumbs up from Daisy In The Dust!
