What does it mean to do a no buy month, or even week or day. Let’s dive into this approach and I’ll give you my take.
If you are looking for a way to redefine your approach to money, spending, and saving habits, you’ve come to the right place. I love talking about personal finance, and while the concept of no buy month may not be a traditionally covered topic under that umbrella… It has had a huge impact on how I spend money.
I’ve been doing no buy months for years now. Maybe 5 years or so, and I get a lot of questions from friends or anyone who hears me talk about it. So I thought, why not share this with you if you are curious about this topic.
If you are looking to implement a No Buy Month, let me tell you all about how I do it and what I’ve gained from it.
THE HISTORY OF THE NO BUY MONTH
It’s been forever since I thought about how this trend came about. I have been a long follower of Jen Im on YouTube. There are few people who I have followed as long as I have followed her. She talked about doing No Buy Days, and for her (at the time) that meant she would not spend money (or swipe her card) on anything that day. I gave this a try and it didn’t work for me. Almost always, I would be in a situation where I had to buy something out of necessity. So for a while, I kind of forgot about it.
But the pros, as they were presented to me, kind of haunted me. As I started saving money before I buy my apartment, I was looking for something that would change my habits drastically. So this idea resurfaced again and I made modifications to it – it would span over the entire month for things I didn’t need. Yikes.
LET’S DEFINE THE NO BUY MONTH
For the entire month that I decide to do a no buy month, I would not purchase anything that I fancy. This includes clothing, shoes, bags, and jewelry. Anything and everything that is a planned purchase for the year is of course included. Now, if I need something such as socks, underwear or other necessities, I can go and buy those items and that would not be a problem.
BREAKING NO BUY MONTHS
If you follow me on Instagram, you know that there are months that I plan to do a no buy month, but fail. I’ve gotten really good at this but there are times when a unique vintage, or second-hand item comes along, which would be ridiculous to sit on ‘just because I’m trying to prove a point’…. So I buy what I want, and then make sure I do a proper No Buy Month, the following month.
HOW TO IMPLEMENT NO BUY MONTHS
If I shop for things quite a bit during a given month, the following month would be an automatic No Buy Month for me. As I write this, I did some serious shopping this month, I automatically thought about doing a No Buy Month over the next month. Sometimes, for a variety of reasons such as just being tired of shopping or trying to boost my savings, I’ll do two consecutive months of No Buy. Summers are usually easier for me as I do not shop as much as I do in the Fall and Winter.
ADAPTABLE STRATEGY
You can take this and apply it to any sort of thing you enjoy too much of – let’s not call it an addiction, shall we? I do it for luxury items, but really if jewelry is your thing, or shoes… whatever it may be. You can choose to let go of it for an entire month. See what happens!
A MOMENT FOR DOPAMINE NATION
As we talk about this topic of shopping, overconsumption, excess… I have to mention this book I’ve read that pushed me even more to adopt these No Buy Months. This book talks about overconsumption and the reasons behind it in the western world. The author makes a case for the centers that control pleasure and pain being interconnected, and when one is very actively being attended to (pleasure), it tips over the balance and causes more pain, setting the stage for a vicious cycle. Honestly, this book was so interesting and very easy to read. I highly recommend it.
CONS: IT’S TOUGH
This isn’t an easy task. I mean it’s an entire month of walking around New York City, where the streets are flooded with designer items that a trained eye can spot (hello there), but also because of my blog and Instagram account, I am constantly exposed to what’s out there, what’s new… etc. You get the point. But, it has gotten easier over time. The first month felt the hardest, but over time, I’ve gotten used to it and I actually enjoy the process. There is so much out there, and trust me things can wait.
PROS: RESET
You know how people juice for 3 days or a week? Some use it as a weight loss strategy. This No Buy Month is the equivalent of that in terms of finances. It’s my reset. It’s my way of holding on to my credit card and not swiping for all the things I like and do not need for an entire month. So my brain resets.
PROS: QUESTION ALL FUTURE EXPENSES
Building off of the last point, after the reset, I find myself questioning all future purchases. So in a way this has had a long lasting impact, where it has made me more considerate and more frugal. I think I am far more considerate now, having done this No Buy Month thing for many years now.
If you are looking to implement a No Buy Month, let me tell you all about how I do it and what I’ve gained from it.
As always, thank you for stopping by and reading. If this content interested you, you might want to follow my Instagram account @girlontheues
See you next time,
Girl on the Upper East Side
Xx
If this interests you, you might enjoy reading my blog post on Frugal Chic, 2026 Wishlist, Underconsumption Core.
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