Easy Low Buy Year with a Twist

Hi everyone!  For 2024, I’m going to try to limit my spending with a low buy year, but with a twist.  And that twist is supporting local and small businesses when I do want or need to spend money.  I definitely think a no spend year is out of the question, but I can save money by doing a low spend year.

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It’s important to set a goal so you have something to work toward when you do a low buy year. My goal is to be more mindful of what I’m spending my money on.  I also want to support more local businesses instead of impulse buying from Amazon.

What I am and am not spending my money on in 2024:

Cats

I have a bunch of cats, so their food and medications and litter supplies are essential, so those are things I will still be buying as needed.  

Bills and Subscriptions

Obviously, I’m going to be paying my bills this year and every year. I did cancel my tea of the month club subscription since I have way too many teas as it is.  I’m keeping my tv subscriptions because this is a low buy challenge, and I don’t want to restrict myself so much that I don’t have anything to do.

Food and Groceries

I buy the majority of my groceries from Walmart and our local Giant.  I’ve bought some Giant gift cards that benefit my spay and neuter nonprofit through the Giant Cash for Causes, so I’ll be using those for my groceries.

Also, for the recipes I want to share for Iris and Honey this year, I want to use at least one locally grown or made ingredient, whether that be fresh fruit or veggies, seasonings, specialty olive oils, etc.

I am disabled so sometimes it’s easier to order Doordash.  I’m keeping my Doordash membership, but I plan on only ordering from locally owned restaurants, like the diner down the street from my work.  They have the best dippy eggs and bacon and they cut my toast in triangles when I ask.  

I think one thing we don’t talk about enough is that as a single and disabled person, I sometimes can’t even use fresh groceries before they go bad, so honestly, ordering Doordash saves money by reducing food waste.  Win-win.

Charitable Donations

I donate $10 each month to the local food bank, a TNR group, and my spay and neuter nonprofit.  I will continue to do that since it is important to me.

Clothing

I have enough clothes right now.  I don’t anticipate needing to buy anything in this category this year.  My wardrobe is pretty simple.  Scrubs for work, pajamas and sweats for home.  I have a lot of shirts and a few sweaters and a good pair of jeans if I do need to go out.  

Books

I have a pretty decent TBR pile, so I will try to limit the number of new books I buy.  Since I have an indie bookstore, I get a free ALC each month from Libro.fm.  If you’d like to check out Libro.fm, you can get free audiobook credits with a new subscription using code: CHOOSEINDIE.

I also use Libby through my library for ebooks and sometimes audiobooks.  It’s free with a library card.  

Beauty Products and Hobbies

One of my newer hobbies is nail polish.  I have an organizer full of nail polish, so even though I know there’s going to be a sale in the coming months, I’m going to save my money and not buy any new nail polish until I’ve used the nail polish I already have.

Another hobby I have I’ve discussed in previous videos and that is making jewelry.  I will not be buying any more jewelry supplies until I use what I already have unless I make a sale.  If I do sell some jewelry, I will most likely buy more jewelry supplies, but only if I do make some sales.  I have an Etsy shop if you’d like to see what I make.  One of the places I buy beads from is based in PA so that will count toward my buy local rule.

Do you want to try the low buy/local buy year with me?  First, take a look at what you’re spending your money on and make a budget and set up your low buy rules for the year.  Set a goal for what you want to accomplish by doing a low spend year.  Let me know what your favorite local businesses are, too!

My goal is to be more mindful of what I’m spending my money on.  I do want to support more small and local businesses this year and bring you more videos that focus on that, so please check out my YouTube channel and subscribe so you don’t miss a video.