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What is No Buy July?
No Buy July is a 31 day challenge where you do not make any purchases for the categories that you set for yourself. Obviously, this takes place during the month of July.
Some women may choose to not spend any money on new makeup this month. Others may decide to skip the Starbucks (or Dunkin’) stop every weekday morning. The choice is yours! Once you set your rules, you should keep them the same for the entire month.
You can make it as easy or as challenging as you’d like; it’s completely up to you. That’s the beauty of it. I mean, we’re calling it a Challenge though, so ideally, the rules you choose for yourself should be something you have to work at.
Any type of challenge can be great for improving self discipline and resolve. It can help your creative thinking abilities when you need to come up with an alternate means of accomplishing something or changing your routine to replace one behavior with a new one.
Money challenges are no different. If you’re giving up your daily Starbucks on the morning commute to work, maybe you need to brew your coffee at home in the morning instead. This could mean prepping the coffee pot and grounds every evening before bed and turning it on to brew in the morning before hopping in the shower. Lastly, you would pour it into your cup as you’re ready to walk out the door. Your entire routine has changed to enable you to still have your jolt of morning caffeine without the premium price of a Starbucks.
Repeat this process for each weekday in July and you’ll have changed your morning routine, saved a fair amount of pocket change, and given your self confidence a little boost by following through on a task that wasn’t exactly easy!
Why Should I Do This Challenge?
The premise is to curb unnecessary spending, or at least minimize overspending in troublesome areas. Maybe you have a weakness for the newest shade of lipstick. Maybe you have trouble going to the store and not coming home with a new pair of shoes. Stopping those purchases just for the month of July could be a real eye-opener for you in regards to how much you’re actually spending on those items throughout the year.
Other reasons to join the No Buy July Challenge:
- embrace minimalism without a long-term commitment
- pause the need to consume so much stuff
- be part of a community of people who are all doing this together
- be surprised by how much money you’ll save in just 31 short days
- the sense of accomplishment when completed successfully
Following through for the whole month will give you a little more money (or a lot!) that you can put into savings, or use it for paying down debt, or whatever is important to you right now. Maybe there’s a dream vacation you’d like to plan. This challenge could get you to that destination a little sooner.
You can download and print this template to use for tracking the days you successfully didn’t purchase anything in your off-limits categories.
Remember, you can do this with just one category or several. You can be completely aggressive with it like we’re doing. The choice is yours! Just realize, the more aggressive your no-spend rules are, the more financially beneficial this No Buy July will be for you.
What if I’ve Missed Part of the Month Already?
No shame and no judgement here! If you’re just joining us, start where you are! Even part of the month is better than none. You might be surprised by how much you can save by not spending on your selected categories for even just part of the month!
Alternatively, we have a different Money Challenge every month, so if you’d prefer to sit this one out and join us in August for the next one, that’s perfectly fine, too!
My No Buy July Rules
Personally, my husband and I are being pretty aggressive with our No Buy July no spend categories. We have decided that we’re going to take the month of July to curb our spending on all non-essential purchases.
Wow. I’m going to be totally honest, even just writing that is a little scary!
Non-essentials can be different things to different people. Basically, we’re going to spend only on our regular monthly bills, house and car payments, groceries, gas, and necessities like toilet paper.
We will not be making purchases of clothing, makeup, skin care products, or thrifting and antiquing finds. There will be no Facebook Marketplace goodies purchases, no Saturday morning trips to Dunkin’ for a sweet treat and an amazing hazelnut coffee, and no movie rentals through Amazon Prime. Speaking of Amazon Prime, no online purchases from any sites, no new streaming services, and no fun supplies and tools purchases for any of our hobbies.
I think if we turn it into a game (of sorts), it might make it a little more bearable. We have become too accustomed just getting whatever we want without really putting any thought into it. We get things because they’re on sale and we purchase stuff because we want it.
Limiting our spending to just the necessary items is going to be a reality check on how much we’re spending on stuff that we don’t really need. Maybe we’ll surprise ourselves and it won’t be as bad as I’m anticipating…but I doubt it!
We Got This!
I have created a template that I’m going to use and put into my Happy Planner for tracking our progress on this No Buy July 2023 Challenge. And I’m sharing that template with you! Feel free to download it and use it in your own planner or post it on your fridge or whatever you need to do to make it work for you.
Are You Joining Me?
Are you joining me for the 2023 No Buy July Challenge? What category/categories of items are you going to keep from buying this month? Don’t forget to grab your free template for tracking your progress then share it on social and tag your posts using the #ricnobuyjuly hashtag.
