On January 1, 2020, I declared that this would be my year of buying nothing.
This year has been nothing like I expected. Nothing like any of us expected. Here’s what a younger, naive version of myself wrote about my year of buying nothing in January:
I will still buy:
- Food (groceries, dining out, including lattes)
- Gasoline (for my car and gas money for others who give me rides)
- Electricity/Natural Gas/Water (all utilities will proceed as normal)
- Any medications I may need
- Services – I will pay to get my teeth cleaned, doctor’s appointments, haircuts, get my oil changed, etc.
- Memberships – I will pay for my gym membership
- Experiences – I will buy tickets to concerts, plays, etc.
- Tickets for planes/trains/buses, Uber/Lyft rides
- Necessary consumable household and hygiene items
I will not buy:
- Clothes
- Books
- Household Decor
- Technology
- Random impulse purchases from Target
There is one exception I’m going to make here. I’ve been working on building a patio in my backyard for about six months now (that is a story for another blog post) and I plan to finish that project, which will definitely require me to purchase some items. I will only purchase the items that are necessary for the project, and nothing else.
How has it gone?
I still bought food, gas, utilities, medications, services, memberships, and necessary consumable household and hygiene items . I paid for very few experiences in 2020 – I went to see one movie in theaters in February, I visited MOCAD in Detroit in January, and I went on a trip to Little Rock and Hot Springs Arkansas right before the pandemic hit us. In terms of planes/trains/busses and Uber/Lyft rides, I think I took one Lyft ride this year, in total, because my car broke down.
In February, my boots that I was wearing to school every day were broken beyond repair (I had already repaired them with hot glue) and I bought a new pair of Vans.
In April, when it became clear that the pandemic was going to last a while, I bought a new pair of leggings and a new sports bra. In May, when it became clear that we were going to be wearing masks for a while, I bought some cloth masks.
In May and June, I started browsing more Instagram thrifters – I bought a pair of cutoff jean shorts, a top, a red fleece-lined quarter zip, and a purple zip up vest. I’ve gotten a lot of wear out of the fleece-lined quarter zip and the zip up vest, very little wear out of the jean shorts and the top.
In July, I wanted to return to the gym, so I bought some more masks that were more intended for working out. Working out with a mask on is not ideal, but it’s better than getting COVID.
In August, the black button down shirts from Uniqlo that I wear every day to school were on sale, so I bought five. In August, I also bought some small hoop earrings because I wanted them.
In November, I bought a sweatshirt (which is very comfortable and I wear all the time) and a button down shirt with dinosaurs on it from Dirt Cheap. In November, I bought new nose studs, since I lost the hoop I was wearing. My personal rule is to never buy expensive nose rings, because they will inevitably get lost.
In December, I bought a package of new socks from Costco.
All in, in 2020, I’ve spent $304.25 on clothing.
I bought two books about racism in June, and I bought four used books on election day. In 2020, I spent $54.92 on books.
Me having listed Household Decor on the list of things I would not buy in 2020 implies that at some point, I was buying household decor? I’ve never really decorated for the holidays, or much decoration at all. However, if we’re talking about household renovations, then whew – I redid my bathroom in 2020 and painted my office and had some exterior stucco work done on my house.
I bought a new pair of wireless headphones in 2020, and they’ve been great. They were around $30.
I bought a lot of supplies for my garden this year. Early in the pandemic, I started a vegetable garden. I included all of this on my backyard exemption, but is it really? Or is it pandemic panic gardening?
One area that I generally don’t spend a lot of money is cosmetics – I rarely wear makeup, my hair approach is very simple, I tend to keep everything low maintenance. However, this year? This year I actually spent some money on nail polish. And makeup. Not much money, but a bit.
I don’t think that my year of buying nothing was a success or a failure. Instead, like most things, it was somewhere in between – it made me more conscious of what I was buying. I own two pairs of jeans right now, and both of them have holes in the upper inner thigh – I need to patch them before I wear them again. If it wasn’t for this, I probably would have shoved those jeans in the back of a drawer and bought a new pair.
The Vans I bought in February are looking worn out, because I’ve worn them nearly every day since I got them. I’m going to try to make them last a little longer and then probably get new shoes in late January. If it wasn’t for this, I probably would have bought another new pair of shoes at some point this year.
I’ll probably buy a new phone next year too – my current phone is a low-end Android, and it’s not working terribly well. I’ll use this one until it stops working, but I’m aware that it’s probably on it’s way out.