Hello there, 

I am not the resolution kind of person but there are some things that I would like to achieve in the year 2021. Last year I tried not to travel and given that Covid was in town, there wasn't much things that I could do anyway to go against that challenge. This year, I would like to try something different. 

So what is No Buy Challenge? 

Well, as the sentence speaks for itself, I would not be buying things that brings meaningless reasons, and no, trying to fill this void does not count as a reason. No Buy Challenge does not mean that you can't buy anything at all though. There are some rules that goes with it and these rules may differs among many. 

And why am I doing this? 

Given that I would be stepping into the age of 30 years old in a year and yet I am not proud to say that I do not have a strong financial understanding. I don't know how or where my money goes and I hate it that I allowed it to happened. Fret not - I am going to bring this up with my therapist. I hate that I buy things without thinking if I really do need them or is it just a want. At times, the things that I buy are just plain ridiculous. I have a whole box of arts and craft things that I lost my attention to in last than a week. Oh and don't mentioned a mask which I thought I would use for resin business or a table that I bought thinking that would make a great art table. Any other way that I look, I do know I have some serious shit that I have to deal with in terms of handling my money. 

How am I going to do this? 

I joined a group on Facebook where everyone pours their ideas, share their struggles and motivates each other. I also started reading Figuringgitout blogpost on her journey through 2020 No Buy year and it was interesting to see that if others can make it happen, why not me? 

So what are the rules? 

Obviously, we are not going to live as a monk but we are going to focus on buying only what we NEED, really need. Besides, I think this would be a good way to declutter the house in the year of 2021. The contract of this house is coming to an end soon anyway. 

Let's categorized it to two departments: 

The things that I cannot buy 

/Technology - Unless my phone can't work in the middle of the year and I need a new phone. No thoughts of getting a camera, a kindle or whatever fancy house cleaners (Yes, I am talking about a fancy vacuum cleaner)

/Make up - Who doesn't love the Guardian or Watsons sales that they have almost all year long? During those sales, I tend to buy things that I have and just add on to it, thinking that it would make a great collection. I am always wrong. I recently bought a lip booster, something that makes your lips tingle and it will make your lips a little more juicy (It works for a couple of minutes that I would vouched). 

/Clothes - I am a sucker of thrift shopping which I get into after I figured that I am spending way too much on clothes from the stores. However, not all thrift clothes will fit you. Given that I am a little scared of trying the clothes out in the store, I tend to just "agak-agak" and buy it home and low and behold - I can't fit into it. There you go, RM10 down the drain. However, I did give myself a small leeway here. If any of my clothes gets ruin, or in any other way, I need them no matter what, I can get them but not more than RM30. C'mon gurl, you don't need that fancy romper that you will only wear for a couple of times in a year. 

/Books - When I decided to sell of my collection of books, that was when I knew that I am not going to keep a bunch of books sitting on the shelf anymore. If I want to read a book, I can get it online so there is no need for me to spend money at BookXcess anymore. 

/Random Items - I am a HUGGGEEEE sucker on this. Stickers, candles, scented oil, cute calendars, cute stamps, urgh! If it looks cute, or if there is a unicorn sticking on it, I would definitely try to have it. You guess it well - the amount of items in my house has grown a lot since I moved to a bigger house. 

The things that I can buy 

/Food and Groceries - Well, although I do know that chips and ice creams falls under this category but of course I am not going to allow that much leeway here. Food and groceries can only consists of food that gives nutrition value and if I really want chips or ice cream, it is limited to two each month. That way, I won't be buying tons of junk food and stocking it up at home. 

/Healthcare - I don't want to fall sick nor do I want the people around me to be sick so yes, I would still buy supplement (Which is only deemed necessary) besides, what is the use of saving money and decluttering the space when I do not have the health to enjoy it? 

/Gifts - This is part of my love language and although sometimes I may go a bit overboard, I will try to keep it low on this. There is no need to spend too much but there is also no reason to be unhappy just because of this challenge. 

/Travel & Activities - This is part of being me so if this part is taken away, I don't think I would be very happy. I would not worry on this as I do know I am not going to travel anywhere soon and the activities that I can do is only chilling with friends. Even if we do go travelling, I just have to focus on not buying unnecessary things. This whole challenge doesn't have to be not fun. 

At the end of the day, all I want is to let go of my impulse buying, declutter the things that I have, and focus on being happy without spending too much money. The year 2020 has been a tough year and it taught me that I need to have a strong safety net no matter what. Oh, I invited mom to join this too but I am not too sure if she is keen about it. She kept saying that she has been living this lifestyle although I highly doubt that she understood the reasons behind doing this. 

To that, let me close this post, and let's do this people! 

xoxo,

eunicegm

#nobuychallenge 2021 Updates: 

• January Update // Wigs, candles and speakers. I want more things it seems! 
• February Update // Epic failed! I bought a keyboard and tons of Starbucks! 
  
• March Update // Change of rules for books because PHYSICAL BOOKS RAWKS!