I’m attempting a year-long no-shopping challenge. Here’s how it is going.

So, here's what's new with me: I'm now 35 (almost 36), I've been running this blog for over a decade, and I'm recently divorced. 2021-2022 was very much a “season of yes” in terms of my finances and what I spending. I felt good, so I wanted to look good and I spent accordingly. And while my overall clothing spend stayed beneath my tried-and-true 5% rule that I wrote about in this post, with a new mortgage and my single-mom energy, I thought it was high time to attempt a year-long no shopping challenge in order to reset my “spend-spend-spend” habits of the last 18 months or so.

As I'm writing this update in February 2023, not shopping for a full 365 feels truly impossible, but we're going to roll with it anyway. The goal is to spend more mindfully, consume more consciously, and keep my spending well below where it was in 2021 and 2022. I'll update this post each month to keep track of my progress. *winks*

First, The Steps How to Do a Year Long No Shopping Challenge

How do you do a year-long no-shopping challenge? Basically, you set a goal and commit to it.

No shopping for a full twelve months.

But what does this mean? Like any good challenge, you have to set up guard rails and exceptions. A full year without buying anything is improbable, and we want to set ourselves up for success here. It's about changing patterns, not punishment.

#1 – Define your “why”

Any good goal has to start with a clearly defined why. Why, exactly, are you attempting to spend more mindfully for a full twelve months?

For me, my “why” is to allocate more money to goals that really mean something to me – travel, time with my kid, and fixing up my house. But it can be different for you!

#2 – Choose your exceptions

Like I said, not shopping at all for a calendar year is really, really hard. You're going to need something at one point or another. The trick is to shop mindfully, so create an exception list for yourself of things it is okay to shop for. I typically go through my calendar and look at events I have coming up (like my son's birthday) or wedding and plan around that.

My exceptions for shopping are as follows:

1. Anything for my son, who is a toddler and outgrows clothing every other week it seems.
2. Exceptions on my foundational wardrobe list (A list I keep every year of the “gaps” I have in my closet that I need to fill.)
3. Replacement items (Sad little sports bras and ratty barre socks, I'm looking at you.)
4. If I can buy/thrift/shop for free or with a gift card.
5. My Rent the Runway subscription, so I can access items when I have an event or occasion (but I'm not going to do it every month like I did last year.)

#3 – Choose your rewards for the no-shopping challenge

I write about the power of rewards in my viral post about debt payoff, but it works for any type of money challenge – debt payoff or otherwise. It's important to build in (inexpensive) rewards for yourself to help build positive momentum and have something to look forward to.

You can choose to reward yourself every month you complete the challenge, or something a bit bigger once you get to the end of the twelve months. Up to you!

#4 – Strategize what you'll do with your savings

Obviously, if you're not spending as much money, you're going to have money to save. My biggest tip is to decide what you'll do with this extra cash so it doesn't get frittered away on things outside the no-shopping challenge (concert tickets, dinners out, etc. etc.)

My favorite place to put short-term cash wins like this is in Qapital, which has “rules” you can set to automatically save when you pass on spending at certain retailers (like Amazon, for instance.) Click my link below to get $25 for signing up.

Additional Resources

• The Year of Less – An entire book about a year long no shopping challenge by Cait Flanders.
• My Year of No Shopping – [The New York Times]
• 5 Small and Smart Ways to Shop More Sustainably this Year [ ApartmentTherapy]
• A Life Less Throwaway –  For people who want to buy items that last a lifetime. By Tara Button.

January 2023 Recap

Again, I'm writing this in February 2023, so I'm already cringing at what I've done this month, but let me tell you – in January I did really, really well! In January I spent:

$30.61 on a new “Mom backpack” (Full disclosure: I did not need this)

$222.48 – Rent the Runway subscription. (I normally do not spend this much per month but I ordered some extra items for NYE and forgot to return them before they charged me for keeping the extras.)

And that's it for now!

LBee Note: Below is the original post from 2014 from my then-staff writer Michelle Jackson about what she learned after not shopping for 365 days. If you're interested in what you might accomplish with a no-shopping challenge, feel free to keep reading. 

Michelle's No-Shopping Challenge Journey (2014)

On April 1, 2014 it will have been a year since I’ve gone shopping for anything that adorns the body. I haven’t purchased a single thing. Embarking on a “no shopping challenge” like this one not for the faint of heart.

You have to look a couple of things in the metaphorical eye: greed, desire, lust, and envy were all things I had to address. I’ve learned a number of things about myself during this time and so I’d like to share a few things with you.

5 Important Things I Learned from the No Shopping Challenge

Your clothes reflect your mood

I noticed a lot of people walking around looking like crap. They are wearing pajamas to Costco, not combing their hair, and not bathing. I think there are a lot of unhappy people out there. I’m not saying that you need to be wearing a suit or dress every day, but taking the time to put a little makeup on, put on some cute clothes, and groom yourself goes a long way. Remember, I’ve been wearing the same clothes for a year. Making sure that I’m ironed and put together helped me feel pretty good and the days I didn’t take time to put myself together well had a noticeable affect on my mental health.

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The Classics Are Classics For A Reason

It’s important to invest in classic pieces such as black riding boots, a cream sweater, white collared shirts,  or a little black dress.  The key to making your outfit pop is using trendy items strategically. For example, I have a pair of zebra-striped black kitten heels. I wouldn’t necessarily wear a zebra-striped shirt. But, those shoes with a simple outfit POP! Invest in your classic pieces. I regretted not having a number of those items throughout the year.

Inventory Your Wardrobe Before Taking a No Shopping Challenge

Have you ever wondered why you have 5 black shirts that are all similar to one another? Or, 5 coats but one gets more usage than the other 3? Really take some time to figure out what you have and get rid of what you aren’t using.  Get rid of what you aren’t using.

There's Too Much Cheap Clothing

Quality before quantity. We are surrounded by so many cheap options for clothing. Forever21, H & M, and T.J. Maxx are a couple of the stores that come to mind. It’s so difficult to not buy new pieces when there are so many tantalizing items out there. Eggplant jeans, aqua blouses, blinding white tunics, and so much more.

The thing is cheaply made clothing….is cheap.

Whenever I go to Europe I am very aware of the difference in textile quality. I actually wear my best clothes when I go to Europe. I’ve decided to stop buying cheaply made clothing and investing in quality items.

I’ve also decided to practice conscious spending in all parts of my life. I want to make sure that my spending makes sense from a life-hours expended standpoint. I also have become pretty committed to buying from American manufacturers. I want my dollar to circulate in the U.S. economy for as long as possible.

Additional No Shopping Challenge Resources

Taking a year off of shopping ended up being a lot more challenging than I ever expected for completely different reasons than I expected. I didn’t realize the how emotional the experience would become.

I’m currently in the part of the challenge I call “resignation.” I am resigned to finish this challenge with as much dignity as possible.