rethink: no buy/ low buy check-in

In the last few years, I started the year by setting my No Buy/Low Buy list. And while my goal is still to reduce my spending + consumption this year, my overarching mantra this year is Use What We Have, Mindfully Rehome What We Can’t.

At the beginning of the year, I took stock of things around our house, and I began noticing a trend of mine. To be frank, I am diagnosed as bipolar (plus a bunch of other fun stuff) and, while I manage the diagnosis with medication and therapy, I often will hyperfixate or have a burst of mania that slips through, and I end up with stuff. What kind of stuff? All kinds! Beauty products. Craft materials. Books. Trinkets. Clothes. You name it, I got it.

I’ve also realized the “no buy” thing can have an unassuming impact on me during the year: If I buy during a manic blip, I feel guilty, which can lead to more, usually secondhand, purchasing. And even secondhand purchasing can lead to overconsumption. So to prevent spiraling and guilt, I am switching gears to start enjoying what I already have.

Here has been my plan for the year:

I still have a bunch of beauty products I need to use up, but I am allowed to reorder the products I know I like and will use. Heavy in my rotation are products from Dieux. I use four of their products religiously; I appreciate their commitment to science + explaining the science behind their products; I appreciate their cost transparency; I appreciate their commitment to reducing waste with their products (switching as much as they can to aluminum, sending free products to scoop out all the products, sending squeeze keys to get every last drop out of the tubes); and I appreciate their commitment to social justice + speaking out on important issues. And my other products of choice come from our local to Akron refill store, The Ash House, who makes some of my all-time favorite products + I cannot go without them (bar soap, deodorant, oil of ouroboros.)

I always give myself the excuse that books are the exception to the no buy rule. Except I buy them and don’t read them. During the last few months of 2025, I had some health issues happen that forced me to slow down, which led to my return to avid reading. I was the kid that read all. the. time. Through the chaos of my 20s and grad school in my 30s, my regular reading habits and attention span evaporated. In recent years, I tried to read more, and I did, but not as much as I wanted to. These past few months, I’ve made a concerted effort to put down my phone and pick up a book. I’ve started keeping a book with me in my bag so I’m not tempted to scroll incessantly. I’ve been using my ten-year-old iPad for ebooks when I can’t wait patiently to go to the library. In addition to using the library for physical and ebooks nonstop, I am in the process of organizing all the books I manically ordered. I had them teetering in stacks on my dresser in my bedroom, looming over me as I slept. To make my TBR less daunting, I culled the dresser stack to about eight books and my library stack on my nightstand to about four. This is a marked improvement from the approximately three dozen that were there until recently. (And yes, I read a lot of books about public health.)

And speaking of the library, we are on a mission to visit all the branches of the Akron Library, so I check out a couple books at each branch we go to, and I’ve started checking out DVDs again because I don’t necessarily need to own the physical media version. Note: We are making a move to have more physical media (books, movies, vinyl) so we can scale back streaming costs and divest from things we don’t believe in. If you’re in Northeast Ohio, I donate monthly to PBS Western Reserve and get PBS Passport and we get Kanopy and Hoopla for free through the library. I would also encourage checking out your library to see what additional resources they offer. I use LinkedIn Learning for work-related learning and Mango for languages, and we also have a Library of Things and a Seed Swap.

Lastly, the craft supplies. My God. I really have imagined myself as some sort of creative craft witch. It’s true, I do enjoy making. I like trying new things, even to be bad at it. I spent my youth thinking I wasn’t creative or capable of art. (Currently unpacking this in therapy.) I was always anxious in art class, even when I got to high school and could take photography, the medium I felt most comfortable in. But in the last few years, I’ve pushed myself to try. Some things come out wonky, some I feel good about, and always the process is a mess. It’s been fun to try, and yet it’s a slippery slope to hoarding new materials I never do anything with. It’s also been a catalyst to invite people over to enjoy and make with me, even if there’s no plan, no direction, and no idea what we’re doing. It’s been a delightful way to get to know people outside of limited social interactions and relax. But I do not need to buy anything else for a while.

Now that we’re midway through the year, I feel like I’ve lived up to these expectations. It’s become more manageable to hit my goals without guilt, and I’ve managed to use what I have. It’s also allowed me to part with things that no longer spark joy (thank you, Marie Kondo) and clean out our clutter a bit. I’ve purchased a couple things at an estate sale (I finally found vintage oil + vinegar cruets!) and I’ve picked up books at independent bookstores, including Fungus Books and Stay Gold Books in Pittsburgh and Woven Words in Akron. And for what’s checked out from the library currently in our household, we’re estimated to be saving over $400.

Hey, I think we’re doing just fine this year.