There are 99 days until we say goodbye to 2024 and hello to 2025. Before the new year, I’ve made a new financial resolve to cut back on my expenses and save money. How? By creating my no-buy and low-buy list for the rest of the year.
The Difference of No Buy and Low Buy Rules
You might ask if there’s a difference between the two rules. They’re not new concepts. Many of us including me have practiced these in some way when trying to save money.
With the no-buy rule, it means not spending money at all and using only what you own. The low-buy rule is a little less restrictive since it allows room for some shopping when certain conditions are met. I watched this particular vlog of Thea Sy Bautista where she talked about her low-buy rules. Then I read more about these two concepts online so it inspired me to do my own.
For this blog post, I’m only talking about my no-buy list.
Items in My No-Buy List
Perfumes
First on my no-buy list are perfumes.
I don’t often wear perfume but I have so many! Some were gifts from abroad while others I bought. I still have perfume I bought from Salvos when I went to Melbourne last year that remains hardly used. It’s not from any known brand but it smelled so nice at such an affordable price that I bought it. I was in Melbourne for a month but I didn’t use the perfume so much. And so I brought it home and now it’s just sitting there on my dresser. I also bought Maison Margiela perfume December of last year when I bought a Christmas gift for a friend. The perfume remains unopened.
So yes, I’m not buying any more perfume or body mist. I’ll use up all the ones I have right now.
Laundry Detergent and Fabric Conditioner
At the start of the year, I found myself buying my own laundry detergent and fabric conditioner. It’s not because we don’t have any at home. I just wanted to be a little fancy with my laundry. The ones I’ve been buying had a fruity scent and made of natural ingredients which is a plus.
But I want to grow my savings again and get out of debt. So I’m letting go of this fancy purchase for now.
Bath Soaps and Body Wash
I’m also including bath soaps and body wash in my no-buy list for the rest of the year. Why do I have a lot? Some were gifts while some I bougth. Then plenty of little ones came from when my grandmother stayed in a serviced residence for over two months. My mother kept bringing home the tiny bottles.
I also have a lot of little bath soaps that were given to us by my aunt who lives abroad. I thought Id use them for when I go to the gym and have to shower there. But I mostly shower at home after a workout so I have not used up a lot of those soaps. Plus I also kept buying tea tree soaps from For Keeps, another clean beauty brand, this year. But just like laundry detergents and fabric cons, buying these clean beauty soaps are just kaartehan of mine. Nothing wrong with good ol’ Safeguard! It’s just as effective for good hygiene. So until I’ve used up the soaps we have at home, I’m not buying any more.
Hand Soaps
Handwashing is very important for good hygiene. I’ve been buying Watson’s hand soaps because they’re on a Buy 1 Take 1 basis. Steal, right? Well right now it’s more of an additional, unnecessary expense because of all the soaps we have at home. I’ve resolved not to buy any more hand soaps and just use the soaps we have.
Bags
I’ve resolved to include this fashion item in my no-buy list for the rest of 2024. I already have a lot of bags, some of which, I haven’t used in a long while. So no buying new ones until I’ve sold or donated those I no longer like or use.
Books
Another item I’m including in my no-buy list are books. I love reading. But I rarely read nowadays.
I bought plenty of books over the years thanks to book sale events like Big Bad Wolf Books. And when I was down under, I went on a book shopping spree. Books at Kmart are way cheaper than the books in the Philippines. I have a shelf full of to-read books! So I promised myself that I would not buy any more books. Not until I’ve made a dent in my books-to-read shelf which will mostly likely be not until latter of 2025. Most of the books I want to buy won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. When I finally decide to buy, they’ll most likely be there at the bookstore.
There are so many new books with interesting plots coming out. But for now, I’m only putting them on my to-buy, want to read list. No buying books will motivate me to make time to read more so I can buy more in the future.
Cosmetics and Skincare Items
During the pandemic, plenty of the makeup items I owned went to waste. After all, I was hardly going out because of the lockdowns and for safety. But then the world reopened and somehow, I found myself hoarding makeup, especially lipsticks/lip stains and blush ons!
After deciding to go back to a non-minimalist skincare routine, I’ve also kept on buying a lot! Serums. sunscreens and even tinted moisturizers. There are so many skincare brands out there that sound promising and I’ve been giving in. Plus I’ve gotten so many samples from when I bought my skincare items.
Cosmetics and skincare can both be expensive and an unnecessary spending when there’s too much. My current stock of cosmetics and skincare items are more than enough to last me through the rest of 2024. Possibly even til early 2025. That’s why these both go to my no-buy list for the rest of the year.
There are about 3 months left for 2024. Hopefully, I will be able to stick to not spending money on the items in my no-buy list. I’ll write about my low-buy list on a separate post.
If you guys have a no-buy or low-buy list, I’d love to know what items are part of them. Share them with me by leaving a comment on this post.