Overspending and climate concerns have led more people to vow to “a year without buying.”

NEW YORK (AP) — A 35-year-old man from Brooklyn has stopped buying new clothes. A 22-year-old man from San Diego has stopped doing retail therapy. At TargetA 26-year-old woman living in the UK has removed fizzy drinks from her shopping list.

The three women, who did not know each other, Spending money Participate in the so-called No Buy Challenge, where participants only buy what they need. The rules of the challenge are simple: participants promise not to buy anything they don’t need, such as unnecessary shoes or extra items. Beauty Products or any other impulse purchase within a period, usually a 12-month period.

What started as an experiment in budgeting and smart spending introduced on a blog a few years ago has become a popular trend. On social mediaA Reddit group where people are sharing their experiences has 51,000 members, and the challenge has mainly taken off on TikTok, where videos of users holding themselves accountable have garnered hundreds of thousands of views.

After accumulating a vintage designer clothing collection and five-figure credit card debt, Brooklyn-based creative director Elicia Berman decided she needed to make some major changes to her spending habits. Her No Buy pledge includes: new clothesBuy makeup and hair products only after you’ve used them up, and limit outings to things that cost nothing or nothing.

For Berman, Living a simpler life It serves one purpose: paying off her debts. Credit card debt“It’s not that I wanted to challenge myself, I’m just in a position where this is a really necessary next step for me,” she said.

Sticking to her pledge and making progress toward her financial goal has proven harder than Berman expected. Within two weeks of starting the challenge, she was compelled to buy a new beret. Then she bought a new pair of boots. The challenge has helped her spend less, but because she’s living within her means, her savings haven’t increased.

“We expected that this lifestyle adjustment would make a big difference in our ability to repay debt,” Berman said.

While talking about personal financial woes is difficult for most people, Berman addressed her issues head-on by discussing her financial woes with friends and family and then posting about them on social media, the latter action garnering more attention than she initially expected, and she now has over 60,000 followers. On TikTokA video of her showing off her empty skincare and haircare products has been viewed more than a million times.

Courtney Areb, consumer finance advocate at personal finance firm Credit Karma, said the trend has been growing for a while, but the start of 2024 offered a new opportunity for people to regain control of their finances after the “catastrophic spending” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“People are just trying to break the cycle of wasteful spending that has been so prevalent, get their finances in order and save money,” Alev said.

Not everyone who chose to participate in No Buy Trends was in debt. After graduating from college and moving back to San Diego, California, Ameer Wadsworth wanted to use her first full-time job to save money. environment And money for her future.

Since moving in with her mother, she’s started to realize how much stuff she has, and working on a sustainability app has also made her more conscious of her possessions. Personal contributions To the world’s waste piles.

“I keep track of everything I spend. I write it all down,” says Wadsworth. She also writes down times when she wanted to buy something but didn’t. At the end of the month, she reviews her log and decides whether the purchase was a true necessity or a last-minute purchase.

Mia Westrup, a PhD student from Southampton, UK, is also using TikTok to hold herself accountable for going a year without buying things. Currently paying rent monthly, her goal is to save up three months’ rent. While Berman’s weakness was fashion items, Westrup’s weakness was food and drink.

“I realized I was spending four-figure amounts just on soda and Pepsi Max,” she said.

Because social activities like going out for dinner or drinks are expensive, Westrup has decided to take a break from dating for the year-long no-shopping challenge.

“I don’t want to go on a date and expect the other person to pay for it,” she says. “And I don’t want to go on a date and meet someone and have them think, ‘Look, I’m doing TikTok for free.'”

Other non-spending participants allow themselves some leeway: Wadsworth, for example, doesn’t buy any physical items, but allows herself the occasional meal out with friends or a trip to see her long-distance boyfriend.

Sabrina Paré, 31, of Detroit, Michigan, has been trying to cut back on her shopping for the environment. A lover of sustainable living with a large social media following, Paré decided to participate in No Buy Year as a way to limit her contribution to global waste.

She started by organizing her closet and looking for ways to build an eco-friendly, minimalist wardrobe, including hosting clothing swaps. Avoid fashion trendsPare takes his followers along every step of the way by filming short videos and sharing tips.

“If we buy less, it’s better for the planet. Overconsumption is a big problem in our society,” she said.

However, social media can not only be used for accountability and support when taking part in the No By Year Challenge; One of the reasons Many people spend too much money. Berman, for example, unfollowed many fashion influencers to curb her urge to buy things.

Avoiding impulse buys involves examining your habits and noting your triggers, says Carrie Ruttle, CEO of financial coaching firm Behavior Scents.

“(Challenges) help you resist the urge for dopamine. We all get a little bit of dopamine every time we go shopping,” Ruttle said.

The challenge is scheduled to last for a year, and participants say they are learning new techniques that will help them avoid excessive spending in the future.

Westrup now carries a bag large enough to hold her reading material when she leaves her apartment so she has no excuse for buying more books; Paré stopped subscribing to newsletters that tempted her to buy clothes or skin-care products; and Berman dyed her hair brown because the cost of salon visits to maintain her bright blonde color was too high.

“This has really changed my consumption habits,” Berman says, “because when I see the waste, I think, ‘Why do I need this? Why do I need to buy millions of little things when I can just buy one big thing? Even better if they’re refillable.'”

After drastically reducing her credit card debt, Berman wants to start saving and investing, Wadsworth plans to focus on spending money on experiences with loved ones rather than material things, and Pare wants to pay off her student loans.

Wadsworth advises anyone who hears about the No Buy Challenge and can’t imagine actually doing it to just give it a try, even if just for a month.

“People always say it sounds really hard, and it certainly sounded really hard to me, but if it sounds really scary to you, it probably is,” she said.

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