A Challenge for the New Year | No Shop 2020
We are well into the second month of 2020 so I thought now might be a good time to fill you in on a challenge I’ve been wanting to do for some time, which is to not shop for an entire year. I decided to start in January, so I made myself a list of rules and have really enjoyed it so far! Here’s what my 2020 No Shop Challenge will look like:
Why though?
We all have too much stuff. Bloggers literally make a living telling us what we should buy next. I wear the same 4-5 things every week. I’m really concerned about the environmental impact of constantly throwing things out and replacing them with other things; and consumerism generally feels kind of gross to me. There are people out there doing more with less. I would like to do more with less. And saving some money is always an added bonus.
The Rules
No shopping for myself unless it’s to replace something that I use a lot which is now unusable and/or not worth repairing.
No new makeup unless I run out of something.
No new beauty/skin care/hair products until everything I have already is used up.
If I do buy something not on the pre-approved list of allowed items, it needs to be second-hand or from a better quality, sustainably and more ethically made brand.
Allowed Items:
Black jeans
A black zip-up fleece jacket
New CrossFit shoes
A bra that I don’t hate
Maybe some black flats
2-4 discounted pieces from my barre studio
I took a few weeks to make this list last year based on things I didn’t have in my wardrobe that I thought about pretty regularly. Then in December I received a gift card and was able to use it to knock out quite a bit of the list, which was really nice.
I ordered some high-waist black jeans so I can stop living in leggings, found the perfect zip-up jacket that I wear 2-3 times a week, got some random Nike Metcons on sale at an outlet mall (I was wearing old running shoes to CrossFit so literally any training shoe was a huge improvement), and finally found a bra that I don’t hate! As far as the black flats go, I’m taking a note of the times I wish I had a pair and will decide in a few months (especially once the weather gets warmer) if I need them.
I also replaced my nighttime moisturizer, which I love. My new favorite weird thing is finishing something in my vanity and waiting a while before replacing it—for like two weeks I used coconut oil as my nighttime moisturizer, mostly because I wanted to stay away from Target (I am definitely guilty of mindlessly buying random crap whenever I spend any time there). This is actually where online shopping comes in handy—you can just buy exactly what you need without being tempted by the things you don’t.
We use a very simple budgeting app to keep track of our spending and it’s been fun to see the “stuff” allowance stay full. I say it all the time and I really mean it—I just don’t need any stuff! Overall, I want to be a lot more thoughtful and intentional about the things I buy and consume, whether it winds up in my closet, on my skin, or in my kitchen; and I’m excited for this challenge to really shape me into better habits over the next ten to eleven months (or more!).
Have you ever done a year-long no-shop challenge? I’d love to hear about it!
This post contains affiliate links.