Young adults are increasingly pledging to make 2024 a “no-buy year” amid cost-of-living and climate crisis concerns. From Brooklyn to San Diego, young adults have decided to take frugality to a new level, from refusing to buy new clothes to swearing off sugary drinks. This is a part of the popular challenge that encourages people to enter a “no-buy year,” in which they choose to spend their money only on necessary purchases.
The no-buy challenge consists of self-imposed rules: participants must pledge to stop buying non-essential items, be they unneeded shoes, additional beauty products or other impulse buys for a set amount of time. A few years ago, the challenge began as a blogged-about experiment in budgeting and mindful spending. Eventually, it gained traction on social media, with one Reddit group where people share their experiences having 51,000 members.
The challenge has since become widespread on TikTok , in which a community of accountability has grown as more people post videos of their journeys and seek support from their fellow participants. Elysia Berman, a Brooklyn-based creative director, explained that she chose to adopt the “no buy year” after realizing she needed to change her spending habits drastically. With a penchant for collecting vintage designer clothing that has resulted in a five-figure credit card debt, her no-buy pledge includes no new clothes, getting makeup and hair products only after she finished the ones she had, and limiting soc.
