Happy No-Buy July!

Rainbow jackets header photo via Unsplash.

Inspired by Elaine along with a few of my friends, I’ll be participating in a No Buy July, potentially with extension into August & September – we’ll see! 

I’ve purchased quite a bit in the past three months at the prospect of things opening up and returning Back To Normal. While exciting, I’d like to slow things down and make sure I’m actually wearing and using everything I have. Thankfully, the handy Stylebook app will be a big help in keeping me accountable.

My No Buy Rules

To make a No Buy July realistic and achievable, it’s important to set rules that work for you personally. Here are mine:

• Rule 1 (Priority): No net new clothes, shoes or accessories. Even if I re-home items from my closet, those inventory ‘slots’ are gone, no backfilling.
• Rule 2: I can purchase to replace something that has completely worn down. For example, I have a pair of… holey no-show socks that I suspect may need replacing soon.
• Rule 3: While I am not including home goods, sewing materials and skincare & cosmetics, I will generally try to follow rule #2 and avoid purchasing unless I need to replace something. I mainly want to avoid simply transferring all the shopping activity and $ from clothing into another category. After all, my goal is to reduce my overall consumption.

And that’s it!

I still have several items up for review – so I’ll continue posting those through July. Additionally, one of the biggest sales of the year, the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is starting soon, and I’ll share favorites from that. I have items from prior anniversary sales that are still going strong now years later, so I do think it’s a great opportunity to save on pieces that will get a lot of wear.