7 Low Buy Year Tips for Maximum Success (& Lasting Change)

Inside: If you’re attempting a low buy year – which doesn’t need to start on January 1st, by the way – use these tips to maximize success in scaling back your spending and hopefully, embracing a low buy lifestyle for the long haul.

It’s 2025. 

A year when fires caused by climate change are wreaking havoc on Los Angeles, right after hurricanes caused unheard of devastation in the south, and yet our president elect has vowed to eliminate climate change reduction measures and “drill, baby, drill”.

When the Buy Now Netflix documentary revealed the utter lack of concern for the planet of so many retail companies, with Amazon leading the charge. 

And I’m far from perfect.

Last year, we embraced paper plates as a necessary evil for our family of seven that is home all day, every day. 

Living in a rural area where the nearest Target or legit grocery store is 30 minutes away, we came back to the ease – and sometimes necessity – of Amazon deliveries again and again.

Related: 10 Compelling Reasons to Become a Minimalist Mom

7 Low Buy Year Tips for Maximum Success 

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Why a “low buy” year, instead of a “no buy” year? 

First, when you have kids, doing a “no buy” year is 100 times harder. We have five kids, and unfortunately, they need stuff. 

They grow out of things and wear things out on the regular. They have interests we need to cultivate, sometimes through buying stuff, especially since we homeschool. 

That being said, we are going to attempt to spread out our spending as much as possible and to stop at stores we want to continue to exist or that support our values (Costco: you rock).

We also have a few purchases we know we need to make this year, which I’ll explain later on. 

Second, maybe this is only for the perfectionists among us, but a “no buy” year has more potential for “failure” (and quitting). A low buy year feels much more attainable to me, and far less performative. 

Now let’s get into the tips already. 

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1. Find your why. 

Any kind of challenge or desire to change has to start with why. Twelve months is a long time to stick to anything, which is why most New Year resolutions fail. 

Last year a close friend lost 85 pounds. He’s tried for years to lose the extra weight, but the motivation never seemed to stick.

…until he had a blood test where he thought he was pre-diabetic.

Now, it turns out he didn’t fast for said blood test, so the results were off. But for two weeks, he genuinely thought he was pre-diabetic, and that fear kicked his butt into gear. 

You need to find your “I might be pre-diabetic” kick in the pants drive that will sustain you throughout your entire low buy year.

Personally, I care deeply about the planet our kids will inherit, and I value diversity, equity and empathy. I want to move our spending toward companies that align with our values (yay Costco!). 

We also have bigger savings goals like a second used car and alas, braces.

Parents, I learned this lesson the hard way: pull those loose teeth out before they start coming in crooked. 

Dig deep. What’s your why?

2. Think ahead about what you need to buy this year. 

I sat down a couple weeks ago and thought about the year ahead. What did we truly need to buy?

I know that I need to replace at least one pair of shoes, if not two. My house slippers are falling apart. 

We bought one set of cushions for our outdoor furniture last year, and we need a few more to complete the set. Along with that, we’ll need a deck box to keep them in. 

I also have a small book list for this year based around my word for the year, and if I cannot find the book at a library, I am ok with purchasing it. 

Think through your absolutely necessary purchases for the upcoming year, and write them down. 

3. Decide on your personal low buy year rules.

I alluded to this above, but after you’ve made your list of “need to buys”, make sure to consider your personal rules for a low buy year.

Will you replace things that break? Spend money on experiences, instead of things? 

Will you limit your eat out spending or keep it the same? Will you change your holiday spending at all? 

For me, low buy means I’m limiting the stuff that I buy, not necessarily experiences. I will replace consumable items that run out and matter to me, like candles, and essential items that wear out, like slippers or running shoes.

And again, we have kids, so we will buy Christmas gifts and birthday gifts for the kids, though we will likely scale it back.  

If we truly need something, we’re committed to shopping secondhand first and to repairing whenever possible.

Deciding in advance on your low buy year rules can eliminate guilt on purchases you’ve already deemed necessary.

Related: 12 Small Changes I Made Last Year That Made a Big Difference (10/10 Recommend)

4. Declutter your social media.

I was tempted to say “limit your social media”. But social media can be a huge source of information, connection and community. 

What I will encourage you to do is to declutter who you follow on social media. 

Unfollow anyone who tempts you to buy things all the time, or is making you feel bad in any way for refraining. 

Recently, I’ve enjoyed moving a lot of my social media time to Substack, though I still check in with Tik Tok occasionally.

5. Create wish lists. 

Wish lists have been the most powerful tool I’ve found to avoid the temptation to buy things.

Writing something down on a physical wish list or adding something to an Amazon wish list can actually give you a small amount of dopamine, sometimes comparable to the amount you’d get from making the purchase. 

Especially with something like Amazon where the siren call of the “Buy Now” button is so freaking powerful, wish lists can be an equally powerful way to fight temptation. 

6. Unsubscribe from store emails and delete apps.

Is anyone else frustrated by the inability to change how many emails you get from companies you love? 

You want to stay subscribed, but can we not get one email a day telling us about the latest sale?

If you’re doing a low buy year, it’s time to unsubscribe from store emails. Especially if they’re your favorite stores, you know exactly where to go to sign back up. 

You don’t need temptation lurking in your inbox every single day…or hour.

If you have the Target app or the Amazon app on your phone, now would be a good time to consider deleting those as well. 

Any barrier you can put between yourself and easy shopping is a win. 

7. Come up with a list of activities to replace shopping.

The final component of a successful low buy year is having go-to activities to replace a shopping habit. 

In my home, when I’m tempted to buy something new, I rearrange. 

If I’m tempted to buy something for my wardrobe, I do laundry and am reminded of all the clothing I already have.

If I’m tempted to buy a book and access it right away, I order it from the library, download a sample on Kindle and wait patiently for the book to come in. 

You could commit to walking more, or watching a show from the streaming service you already pay for, cooking a new recipe or calling a friend. 

You could arrange a clothing or home decor swap mid-year with friends.

The possibilities are endless. Brainstorm a few, so you’re ready when the shopping temptation strikes.  

What If a Low Buy Year Could Lead to a Low Buy Lifestyle?

A low buy year could completely change your life.

If you’ve been hesitant about embracing minimalism, this could be your chance to try it on for size. 

You might find that your savings account grows, that you have less stress in your life and that you love this low buy, minimalist lifestyle.

Or you might find that your temptation to buy stuff correlates directly to your stressful, hustle-driven, capitalism-designed lifestyle.

Maybe you’ll decide it’s time for a change. To get out of debt, declutter, downsize, and slow down. 

When you want less stuff, you might be able to get off the capitalist hamster wheel of “earn more, buy more, hustle more, move up, repeat”. 

And if enough of us embrace a low buy lifestyle, we might actually be able to save this planet we live on. 

I’m usually a glass half empty kind of person, but I’m trying to be more optimistic and hopeful lately.

We’ll see. 

“‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo. ‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.'”

Are you doing a low buy year? Share your “why” in the comments!

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