Starting a No Buy Year

I have to admit that this is not the first time that I start this project, called No Buy Year. Some of you may be familiar with this concept, as it has been a popular way to save money and change habits for many years now. This blog is a way for me to document my progress along the way.

No Buy Year can be what we want it to be – we can completely cut off unnecessary spending or focus on certain categories of expenses and use what we already . The rules that I have set for my No Buy Year are simple – no unnecessary spending in all categories and focus on saving every single cent possible.

Together with my husband we recently started an exciting and very stressful journey of trying to buy our first house. I have to admit that our savings are not where I would like them to be before taking this very important step. Years of mistakes, impulsive purchases and shopping “therapy” definitely show through our savings account balance.

Fortunately we never got into significant debt, except for his student loans, and everything else has been long paid off.I won’t disclose our full financial situation while writing about my No Buy Year journey. I don’t think it is wise to share the exact numbers with entire world but one thing I can tell you about me is that I never finished higher education or trade school. I’m in my early 30’s and still work a job that is paid just couple cents more than legal minimum wage.

That’s why I thought it would be beneficial to some of you to read about my experience and how in 2026 I still can put some money aside, even working one of the lowest paid jobs.

And maybe the fact that I will not disclose the full details is going to turn some people off, but I’m going to share my ways to save on daily expenses, as well as my journey with decluttering and downsizing. This can be inspiring and still insightful, that’s why I decided to start No Buy Year blog.

One personal detail from my life – I came to The Netherlands in 2019 with one suitcase, one backpack and a sleeping bag. When I think about how I came from one plate, one fork and one spoon to having to declutter my hobby stuff “collection”, it has to do a lot with emotional spending. The fact that I met my husband here and we settled together in a pretty good rental situation didn’t help with staying frugal. I will share more about that in the future, so if you are interested in following my journey, please consider subscribing to this blog.

Till next time!

xoxo,

Aleksandra