Low Buy, Big Impact: How I Cut Spending and Stress
AMANDA BARROSO
If you’re anything like me, your social media feeds were full of people doing low-buy or no-buy challenges at the beginning of the year. They were sick of overconsuming, so they set rules for themselves to spend much less — or nothing at all — on nonessential expenses. Scrolling through those videos got me thinking about my spending habits and what goals I wanted to set for myself in 2025: less financial stress, a more thoughtfully curated life and the freedom to plan new experiences without guilt.
So I decided to start my own low-buy experiment in January and asked experts for their perspectives.
GET REAL ABOUT YOUR SPENDING
The goal of a low-buy or no-buy challenge is to break the cycle of overconsumption by cutting nonessential spending for a set period. “Social media has made it trendy to do no-buy or low-buy, but to be honest, as a financial expert, over the last 10 years, this is a phenomena that happens every single year,” says Bola Sokunbi, a certified financial education instructor and founder of Clever Girl Finance in Bridgewater, N.J. With a low-buy challenge, people reflect on what they bought last year and set rules based on their biggest financial struggles, she says. The purpose is to redirect saved money toward meaningful financial goals and move toward underconsumption.
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