No Buy 2025 (What the Hack)

Summary

All Of It: Episode Summary – "No Buy 2025 (What the Hack)"

Release Date: February 3, 2025
Host: Alison Stewart, WNYC
Guests: Imani Perry, Anne Marie Alcantara, Kiana Melexada
Segment Highlight: "No Buy 2025"

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Introduction to No Buy 2025

In this episode of All Of It, host Alison Stewart delves into the burgeoning movement of No Buy 2025, where individuals pledge to significantly reduce or completely halt their consumer spending as a response to various societal and environmental concerns. This initiative has gained traction across diverse languages and cultures, reflecting a global shift towards mindful consumption.

Understanding the No Buy Trend

Anne Marie Alcantara, a reporter from The Wall Street Journal, provides an insightful overview of the movement. She notes that No Buy has been an escalating trend on social media for the past two to three years. Initially gaining momentum during events like De Influencing and specific monthly challenges (e.g., No Buy April), the movement has seen a resurgence as the new year approaches, with participants taking the pledge more earnestly.

“[No Buy] has been this ongoing trend on social media for, I would say almost two to three years now at this point.”
— Anne Marie Alcantara [01:30]

Distinguishing No Buy from Traditional Budgeting

A key distinction highlighted by Alcantara is between No Buy and conventional budgeting. While budgeting allows for controlled spending, it can sometimes falter under emotional impulses. No Buy, on the other hand, introduces stricter rules and parameters aimed at fostering long-term financial goals, such as debt reduction.

“Budgeting is useful, but we can also very quickly go past our budgets... Whereas No Buy sort of sets yourself more success by giving yourself more rules, more parameters...”
— Anne Marie Alcantara [03:34]

Personal Experiences and Strategies

Imani Perry, an author and active participant in No Buy 2025, shares her personal journey towards minimal consumption. Initially motivated by environmental concerns and the psychological allure of shopping, Perry developed specific rules to curb her spending habits. She emphasizes the psychological aspect, likening the urge to shop to behaviors like eating or gambling.

“It's the wanting that I really had to work on. It's almost like eating or drinking or gambling...”
— Imani Perry [08:41]

Kiana Melexada, a fiber artist, discusses practical strategies for maintaining the No Buy pledge, such as engaging in clothing swaps and utilizing community-driven initiatives like free pop-up stores. These methods not only support the movement but also foster community engagement and sustainability.

“Feel like they're looking new again and they're presentable... I called it renovating my clothes to... not buy more.”
— Jacqueline (Caller) [20:26]

Environmental Implications

The No Buy movement is deeply intertwined with environmental activism. Participants like Perry are motivated by documentaries highlighting the impact of fast fashion and consumer waste on ecosystems. By reducing consumption, individuals aim to mitigate their environmental footprint.

“I've seen those documentaries on Netflix and the piles of unwanted clothes in landfills...”
— Imani Perry [08:08]

Callers such as Rebecca Weiss further underscore these concerns by highlighting the detrimental effects of fast fashion, such as non-biodegradable waste accumulating on beaches.

“...seeing that things are not breaking down and these clothes are just ending up nowhere.”
— Rebecca Weiss [12:46]

Challenges Faced by Participants

Maintaining the No Buy commitment is fraught with challenges. Participants often grapple with the temptation of online ads and the pervasive influence of social media, which constantly bombard them with consumerist messages. Alcantara mentions that even with efforts to unfollow brands or influencers, ads and affiliate content remain intrusive.

“It's incredibly hard, I would almost say impossible.”
— Anne Marie Alcantara [17:52]

Additionally, life’s unpredictability—such as emergencies or changes in personal circumstances—can disrupt one’s ability to adhere strictly to No Buy rules. Participants like Diane share experiences where unplanned expenses force them to reconsider their pledges.

Community Solutions and Support

The All Of It community encourages listeners to share their No Buy experiences and strategies. Initiatives like clothing swaps, free pop-up stores, and practical tips for extending the life of garments (e.g., hand-washing, mending) are pivotal in supporting participants.

Nicole from City Island exemplifies grassroots efforts by organizing free pop-up stores, fostering a communal approach to reducing consumption. Similarly, Stephen, a 75-year-old listener, advocates for purchasing vintage items to ensure longevity and sustainability.

“...I just do it outside on a rolling rack on the sidewalk in the middle of City Island...”
— Nicole (Caller) [27:21]

Economic Considerations

A caller raises an important question regarding the broader economic impact if widespread participation in No Buy continues. While Alcantara doesn’t provide a definitive answer, she acknowledges the complexity of predicting such outcomes and suggests consulting economic experts for deeper insights.

“I don't know. That's a great question for an economist.”
— Anne Marie Alcantara [24:42]

Success Stories and Positive Outcomes

Despite the challenges, many participants report significant achievements. Alcantara shares stories of individuals who have successfully reduced their debt through No Buy practices. For instance, a couple managed to cut $2,000 off their debt in a month, reallocating those funds towards savings and other financial goals.

“...they have already cut down, I believe, $2,000 off of their debt...”
— Anne Marie Alcantara [21:30]

Conclusion: Embracing Minimalism and Sustainability

The No Buy 2025 movement represents a collective effort towards minimalism, sustainability, and financial responsibility. Through shared experiences, practical strategies, and a supportive community, participants like Imani Perry and Anne Marie Alcantara inspire listeners to rethink their consumption habits. As the movement gains momentum, it not only aims to transform individual lives but also seeks to foster a more sustainable and mindful society.

“Stay dark. Cheers to you as well.”
— Jacqueline (Caller) [21:30]

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Notable Quotes:

• Anne Marie Alcantara [01:30]: “No Buy has been this ongoing trend on social media for, I would say almost two to three years now at this point.”

• Imani Perry [08:08]: “...buying T shirts for a dollar, two dollars for a pair of jeans...”

• Alcantar [03:34]: “No Buy sort of sets yourself more success by giving yourself more rules, more parameters…”

• Anne Marie Alcantara [17:52]: “It's incredibly hard, I would almost say impossible.”

• Nicole (Caller) [27:21]: “I took whatever I had, made it look nice, make sure everything was clean...”

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This comprehensive exploration of No Buy 2025 on All Of It highlights the multifaceted motivations and practical approaches individuals adopt to foster a culture of mindful consumption. By integrating personal anecdotes, expert insights, and community-driven solutions, the episode underscores the transformative potential of the No Buy movement in shaping a sustainable future.

Transcript

[Alison Stewart]

Listener support WNYC Studios.

This is all of it. I'm Alison Stewart live from the WNYC studios in soho. Thank you for sharing part of your day with us. I'm really grateful you're here. On today's show. Author Imani Perry is here to preview her book Black in How a Color Tells the Story of My People. It's our February Get Lit Book Club pick. And Kiana Melexada is a fiber artist and she joins us to talk about how to get started knitting or crocheting. And we'll speak with author Victoria Christopher Murray. Her new novel is titled Harlem Rhapsody. That's the plan. So let's get this started with no buy 25. If you go to social media and you type in no buy 2025, you will see page after page of users declaring that this year no money will leave their cold, dead hands to buy something new. These posts are in all languages. Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese. People saying no to consumption and participants have listed different rules and different reason, like this example from Instagram user Jess Robinson.

[Imani Perry]

No purchases between 8pm and 4am if I wake up in the middle of the night, I'm not gonna shop. I'm not gonna shop on my phone. I can add things to my cart.

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

And check the next day.

[Imani Perry]

No clothing from Amazon, no shopping at all from TJ Maxx Home Goods Marshalls cause they have nothing you need.

[Alison Stewart]

Goes on and on and on. That's just the start of her rules. Some others no shopping middle aisle at Costco. No new hair care, skin care, makeup unless it's something empty. You get the idea. So for today's edition of what the Hack, where we crowdsource solutions, we are looking at no Buy 2025 listeners. Are you taking part in no Buy 2025? Why? What are you not buying? Give us a call. 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. We want to know what's going on in your rules and your parameters and how is it going? Has it been difficult? What are some of the pitfalls and challenges that you've encountered? Let us know. 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC My ride along for this segment wrote about this for the Wall Street Journal. The article was called the Americans Pledging to Buy Less or even Nothing. It was by Anne Marie Alcantara. I hope I said your last name right.

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

Yes. Yes, he did.

[Alison Stewart]

All right. When did you first notice people deciding to put a brakes on spending money on Themselves.

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

It's been this ongoing trend on social media for, I would say almost two to three years now at this point. We talked about it during de influencing. We talked about it also last spring when there was a bit of a no buy for that month of April and that sort of season. And then it sort of just started creeping up again as we got close to the new year. And it just seemed really prevalent for the first time, like people were really taking it much more seriously.

[Kiana Melexada]

What's de influencing mean?

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

So de Influencing was a similar idea in which people were like, hey, you know that viral hair product or viral hairbrush, you don't need it. You don't. It's actually not worth it. It's not good. You're fine with your like $20 hair dryer or whatever.

[Kiana Melexada]

Help me figure this out though. What's the difference between no buy and then just having a good old fashioned budget?

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

Yes. Yes. So as we all might have experienced in our lives, budgeting is useful, but we can also very quickly go past our budgets or I had a bad day, let me buy myself something to treat myself, whatever it might be. Whereas no Buy sort of sets yourself more success by giving yourself more rules, more parameters to work around and usually a goal like people want to pay off their debt or something bigger like that to really rein themselves in.

[Kiana Melexada]

How did you go about reporting this story?

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

So like I said, I've been observing the trend for almost two years. And so I really wanted to find people who seem to have set up specific rules for themselves, were trying to pay it down debt. So something that seemed a little bit more than just, you know, I and I and I fall into this category. But, you know, I wake up in the middle of the night, I'm browsing to try to go back to sleep, and I'm deciding I won't do that anymore. I wanted to find examples of people who had found some sort of success with it so far.

[Alison Stewart]

I thought that example we played is really interesting because that woman says no buying between 8pm and 4am And I thought it was interesting because it speaks to how we spend money sort of mindlessly, like maybe she spends money because she's bored, maybe she spends money because she's alone. What kind of rules have you seen?

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

So some have, have done very basic rules, you know, like no takeout because it's the easy thing to do. Right. Others have gotten more stricter with their rules. Where there's one woman I spoke to in my story who mentioned she has like certain budgets for herself per week. And only in her discretionary spending budget, she has $50.

[Alison Stewart]

So.

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

So that's all she has to spend on fun things. Granted, she said she could, you know, if she doesn't spend that $50 that week, she can increase it the next week. But it's things like that that really sort of set a tone in how you're spending and making sure, like, okay, I only have $50, so I gotta make sure it's worth it.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah.

[Kiana Melexada]

What do the rules tell you about the people that you interviewed?

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

The reoccurring theme that I kept coming across is people felt really tired.

[Imani Perry]

Tired.

[Alison Stewart]

Oh, interesting. Yeah. Tell me more.

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

Yeah, just really tired of the endless shilling that happened on social media. You know, just whether it's brands or influencers or even your own friends, you know, sort of talking about something that they like or an experience. They went to, a place, they traveled to. It's just a constant noise of you need something to make your life better. And so that sort of seemed to be what kept happening with people I spoke to is they were tired of being, like, feeling that way. So let me rein that in and give myself back some control.

[Kiana Melexada]

We're talking with Wall Street Journal reporter Ann Marie Alcantara. We are talking about no buy 2025. It's our latest what the Hack segment. Tell us, are you participating in no buy 2025? Why? What are you not buying? Give us a call. 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. We want to know what your rules or your parameters are and how is it going.

[Alison Stewart]

Has it been difficult?

[Kiana Melexada]

What are some of the p challenges that you have encounter? 2124-339692-22433. WNYC. Let's take some calls. And actually we have a super caller calling in, Rebecca Weiss. She works in listener services here at New York Public Radio. Hi, Rebecca.

[Imani Perry]

Hi, Alison. Thanks for having me on the show.

[Kiana Melexada]

So how long have you been doing no Buy?

[Imani Perry]

I think it's been over a year now. I was thinking about it for a while, seeing some of the Instagram posts that Annemarie mentioned. An account called Not Needing New had caught my eye maybe last winter. And I thought maybe I should try that.

[Alison Stewart]

So what was your first thing on your list of things that you wouldn't buy?

[Imani Perry]

Well, I think like a lot of households, we had cut back on eating out and ordering in. And of course, groceries still cost a lot. We've got teenagers, you know, growing and eating. So I really went to my wardrobe and my clothes, accessories, shoes, jewelry, that sort of thing.

[Alison Stewart]

What about your the environment? Does this at all fold into our concern about the environment?

[Imani Perry]

Absolutely. I've, I've seen those documentaries on Netflix and the piles of unwanted clothes in landfills, going to Goodwill and secondhand stores, yard sales, that sort of thing. And just seeing that I could buy, you know, T shirts for a dollar, two dollars for a pair of jeans, and take it home instead of thinking of these people ending up throwing it away or ending up forever on a beach somewhere.

[Alison Stewart]

So what are some of your rules?

[Imani Perry]

Well, I think for me it's kind of a spiritual thing. It's the wanting that I really had to work on. It's almost like eating or drinking or gambling. There was a dopamine hit, if I'm using the right phrase for shopping, going on a website, looking at the new season of clothes, maybe looking in the clearance section, having a coupon code where I could get another 30% off. And it just brought me this satisfaction or this good feeling. Now I find that I will still go to the website and fill the shopping cart and apply the coupon code and get that like, woohoo, look how much I saved feeling I just never finished the transaction.

[Kiana Melexada]

That's so interesting.

[Alison Stewart]

What do you do when you just.

[Kiana Melexada]

You don't want the dopamine hit, but you, you want something new, some new clothing?

[Imani Perry]

It's funny, since I've been living this way for a while and sharing it with people in my circle, I actually find there are a lot of networks for trading items or passing along things that you don't want anymore. A good friend of mine had bought a few pairs of jeans and they didn't fit well and she gave them to me and I've been wearing them. They're really cute and stylish. In exchange, I had like beauty products that I had bought and never used or scented soaps that somebody had given me as a gift but no one used, so I would give those to other people.

[Kiana Melexada]

Rebecca Weiss, she works in listener services at New York Public Radio. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us.

[Imani Perry]

What a thrill. Thanks, Allison.

[Kiana Melexada]

Annemarie, is anything that you heard in Rebecca's story, did it ring true with what you talked to your subjects about?

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

Yes. Also what you mentioned about the dopamine hit. Another woman I spoke to, my story mentioned how she'll be browsing online and she'll take screenshots of things she thinks she wants, puts things them in a folder on her computer at the end of the Month, reviews the folder, and then realizes pretty much that 90% of it she actually didn't want and like, deletes the folder, moves on with her life, and sort of. That's how she kind of gets. Gets through it. And it seems that's. That's one way of people are trying to just sort of get. Let themselves pretend that they may. They might want a new piece of clothing or whatever it is for the new season, but not actually go through with it.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's take another call. This is Jacqueline calling in from Queens. Hi, Jacqueline, thanks for calling, all of it.

[Rebecca Weiss]

Hi, thanks for taking my call. I recently seen a video with a beach in Ghana, and all these clothes were washed up on it. And I kind of like, took a step back, like, wait a minute, how is this possible? And I started thinking about fast fashion. Like, sometimes we buy the cheap clothes, and then two days from now, like, it snags or it's ripped or something. Like, they don't last, right? And what do you do? Like, you. You throw them away. And I'm learning that these things are not biodegradable. So I kind of like, I'm trying to get into the idea to make do it what I have and not feel shame about it, right? Like being okay with mending clothes or being okay with wearing what I have. Because I started thinking about the bigger picture. Like, this stuff doesn't last, and by the time you blink, you're just throwing clothes in the garbage, right? Like, I don't think that was a thing in the past, like, where you just, you know, collectively throw it away. But I really, to me, that. That grounded me, like, seeing that things are not breaking down and these clothes are just ending up nowhere.

[Kiana Melexada]

Jacqueline, thanks for the call. Did environmental issues come up in your story, Anne Marie?

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

Not overtly, but I think it's one of those reoccurring themes as well that almost people don't think about it because it's like, oh, well, of course it's a good thing. In addition to a good thing for.

[Kiana Melexada]

My wallet, this text says, no more retail spend. Only thrift stores for clothing. The thrift store near me, half price days Clothing is like 75 cents to $2.50. Makes me very happy. Another text says, I guess I sort of always participate in no buy. When I think there's something I want or need, I ask myself a few questions. One, do I already have? This would include trends that you see that are similar something you already have. Two, can I make it or alter it to something I already have? And three, can I get it secondhand from a friend? Four, buying it in a store. Five, online, no other option.

[Alison Stewart]

You know, a lot of people are.

[Kiana Melexada]

Making these, you know, no buy lists. I wonder if there's something about things that you can buy. Like if it's the sort of, does it make a difference in the way that you frame it? Like, I'm only going to buy this versus I'm not going to buy this.

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

Yeah. So some one woman, for example, I spoke to in the story mentioned, you know, she's not going to do takeout, but that doesn't mean she won't go to a restaurant and pick up food. So it's more like I'm not going to do the mindless ordering from a delivery service. I can still get takeout. I just need to go make the effort to go get it and make sure I'm not racking up the fees and that sort of thing. So there is those little bits of thinking that I think people have done to help themselves.

[Kiana Melexada]

Let's talk to Deborah from Jersey City, New Jersey. Hi, Deborah, you are on the air.

[Alison Stewart]

Hi, how are you doing?

Great.

Since I retired about five years ago, what I did is I repurposed a lot of my clothes. I didn't have a lot of clothes just to wear in the house because when I came home from work, I pretty much just put on my pajamas. So I repurposed, went through all my clothes, repurposed a lot of them. I donated probably over half. And basically my rule is if I want something, I've got to get rid of something. So that means donating it. So I wanted some new boots because I really hadn't bought new boots since like 2009. So I donated to pair, caught gray sale on Amazon and bought $50 boots for $18 during the holiday season. In that case, I made an exception and I bought two pair of the same boots because they were less than half price. And the problem, I have a very hard time finding shoes and boots and even clothes. So I bought two. Not even the color I wanted, but.

[Rebecca Weiss]

The price was good.

[Alison Stewart]

So I bought two so I could rotate, wear one one year, let it rest, wear another. Then there was a third pair of boots I saw. I went on and bought it because when I added up the two pair of boots, if I had paid regular price, I could actually get these three pair. But I actually donated two pair. And I did that with jewelry. I try to find nonprofit.

I've heard of all that. A lot of people call that the one in one out rule when people get stuff. So I'm listening to her talk and I'm thinking she might fall in. The low buy versus the no buy. Is there a difference?

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

Yeah. So the no buy tends to have strict rules on I'm not gonna buy xyz, whereas low buys. I live in society and I have to go to work and be presentable and things like that. And so I'm gonna just reduce what I buy, whether it's makeup or skincare or clothes.

[Alison Stewart]

We are talking about no buy 2025. It's our latest what the hack system. Our guest is Ann Marie Alcantara. She's a Wall Street Journal reporter. She wrote a piece on this. We want your advice. We Want to know one if you're doing no buy 25 and tell us, how is it going, is it difficult? Any pitfalls or challenges or any advice you can give your fellow WNYC listeners? Our number is 212-433-WNYC 212-433-9692. You can text that number or you can call in. We'll have more after a break. This is all you are listening to, all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. For our latest what the hack segment, we're talking about no buy 2025, where consumers are saying no to spending cash. Wall Street Journal reporter Annmarie Alcantara reported on this story. This one says use your neighborhood buy nothing site via their app or Facebook. On this one it says, I recently tried out Nuuly, one of the clothing rental companies that's out there. I loved it and ended up buying two items that were discounted because they were previously worn. That's an interesting take. When you think about people being on Instagram and it's just ad after ad after ad and TikTok, how is it possible to be on the social media and not be inundated with these ads?

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

Very hard, to put it lightly. I think even if you unfollowed influencers and creators or even brands, ads will still show up and a lot of affiliate content will also show up where people who seem like normal people are actually showing your projects still on these platforms. Since it's incredibly hard, I would almost say impossible.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah, yeah. Well, you talked about there are some adjacent trends. What is Project Pan?

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

Yeah, so Project Pan is sort of a similar concept, but instead of not buying clothes or other things, this one focuses on using all, all the things you already own in the sense of, you know, if you have five eyeshadow palettes or something or if you're really into lip balms, using all the lip balms before buying another one. I've also seen it used for skincare products, body sort of wash products, like basically anything you have a lot of to go through first before buying more.

[Alison Stewart]

This text message says, where are the men who want to curtail their spending on gaming and MCU stuff?

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

Great, great question. Did not speak to any of those for my story. I did speak to a different man in my piece who was a first time homeowner and so naturally was furnishing his home with a lot of things. But this year he's like, I need to cut it down. Like I furnish enough, it looks good. Let me not go to TJ Maxx and Target anymore.

[Kiana Melexada]

All right, let's take some more calls. Let's talk to Sheila and Darian.

[Alison Stewart]

Hi, Sheila, thanks for calling, all of it. You're on the air.

[Jacqueline]

Hi. How are you doing?

[Kiana Melexada]

Great.

[Jacqueline]

Good. Love your show. But I've been researching renovating my clothes, especially sweaters with the little pills I got, the little thing that swirls around and eats off all the pills on your sweaters and washing things by hand and really researching how to take care of clothes so that I can feel like they look new again and they're presentable. And then I kind of find another way to enjoy them. My problem is the kids because they want to just do the throwaway, but I try to remind them they're teenagers. Well, 120, but you know, to really be cognizant of it and then also to find out what their political stances in terms of. Do you want to support that store, namely Brandy Melville, which personally I don't want to have anything to do with that store. But you know, it's such a, it's such a grab for them and I want to teach them how to take care of their own clothes as well and learn to mend, learn to, you know, not throw them away. It's, it's very challenging. But I have found some satisfaction and sort of retaking and I call it renovating my clothes to, you know, fit the time, you know, to not buy more.

[Kiana Melexada]

Thank you so much for calling in something. She's on a trend here. We got a couple people who are writing in. My friends and I have been doing clothing swaps for 15 years. I'd to encourage other people to do it. Also look into Darn it. A group that meets to quote, artistically darn out worn clothes. This one says air dry your clothes, especially socks and underwear last so Much longer. Lint is your clothing fiber breaking down. Bonus. If you put T shirts on hangers, they look press black. Stay dark. Cheers. Cheers to you as well. What are people replacing? Are they replacing all the money they're saving with other things? Are they doing it for like to take classes or seeing friends?

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

So two people I spoke to my story are cutting down on their debt to live their lives in a different way. One, I believe, one couple, they had $10,000 of debt and they've been doing buy now or excuse me, no, buy, not buy now for about a month and have already cut down, I believe, $2,000 off of their debt, presumably, and they will now use that towards savings and other things like that. And similarly, a different woman in my story had, I believe, $49,000 of debt.

[Alison Stewart]

Wow.

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

And I believe by April she will be done.

[Alison Stewart]

That's amazing. Let's talk to Diane who's calling in from Roselyn. Hi, Diane, thanks for calling all of it.

[Diane]

Oh, hi, Alison. This is a great show. I am not doing this because I never heard of it before this show because I am a survivor of the baby boomers. You know, I'm still around, recently retired and I, although worked with computers all my life, I still don't understand and I cannot engage in Facebook or anything. I just can't do it. I mean, I'm there and once in a blue moon, you know, I see my, my nieces and nephews that way and you know, I, but I don't, I just look, just, just look. Just only looking at people, just looking at things that, and, and statements that my friends and my relatives, people I already know are sharing. It's kind of weird, but I'm really, you know, a face to face converser. So at any rate, I recently had a very unexpected and very unpleasant accident in my house. Water main went. And so I have, I was faced with this, I have dealing with this incredibly high plumbing bill and I'm thinking, why didn't I think about this, like no buy thing. This sounds real. I'm, I'm listening in. Like this is like, okay. Even with an emergency account waiting for this kind of ridiculousness.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah.

[Diane]

You know, it's like, oh, so here's vacations. I will never go on. I'm going to really enjoy my piping. I'm going to look at my new pipes under my, I think, you know, handling money is always challenging for everybody in all different ways. But I, I do definitely hang out and you know, sometimes you just can't help. I mean the advertising Is so, so.

[Kiana Melexada]

Hard the advertise your point, like being honest. Thank you so much for calling. This is interesting.

[Alison Stewart]

I am a sustainable minimalist.

[Kiana Melexada]

Excuse me, Sustainable minimalist. But I do wonder, if everyone gets on board, could our economy and retirement.

[Alison Stewart]

Account, could it suffer? Did that come up in your story?

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

It did not. No. Not at all. I'm assuming. Yeah. I'm trying to understand that question here.

[Kiana Melexada]

I think he's saying that if everybody got on the board without buying anything new, would our economy suffer?

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

I don't. That's a great question for an economist.

[Kiana Melexada]

Well, you know, I was sort of tooling around, figuring out how many people keep up with challenges. They start this in January. It's February now, and according to Columbia University, 25% of people remain committed to the resolutions in February. What are some of the challenges that people faced going forward with the snow buy?

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

Excuse me. So I think it's exactly sort of what you just said. It's keeping up with it. It's seasons come and go. And most importantly, life has ups and downs. And so, you know, you might have a new job or something comes up in your life where these parameters and rules don't necessarily work anymore. And so it's sort of then figuring out, okay, how do I keep up with it? But maybe it looks different, maybe I didn't fail, you know, which comes back to resolutions.

[Alison Stewart]

You could say, have brands or businesses, are they trying to monetize or take advantage of this no buy ness. This no buy idea.

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

Not that I've seen overtly. And I know you mentioned one of these callers mentioned Nuuly, and I feel like those services have really picked up. I know many of people I work with in the office use it, so that's probably the only thing I can think of that is in a way addressing this, but not really because it's sort of addressing a different business need. But, yeah, not necessarily.

[Alison Stewart]

Somebody just texted us. I just watched the documentary Buy now on Netflix. What's Buy Now?

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

I believe it's a Netflix documentary about sort of how companies advertise to you endlessly and make you want to shop endlessly. And I believe it premiered in November, I want to say, on Netflix. And it was something that came up in one of my conversations with people about how they saw that documentary. And we're kind of like, this is crazy. Yeah.

[Kiana Melexada]

The person says, I learned that 12 tons of plastic each second is happening. Is this no buy designed to put a dent in this? Something else I wanted to ask about your article. Did you notice Any generational or trends, any gender trends.

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

With the no buy by nature of social media, most people who are posting tend to be women. But like I mentioned, I did speak to a man who was posting about it. And the ages didn't overtly skew young or overtly skew millennial or Gen X or anything. And based on all the callers calling, it seems to be something people practice even if they haven't called it no buy.

[Kiana Melexada]

Let's chat with Nicole from City Island. Hi Nicole, thanks for calling all of it.

[Nicole]

Hi again. You're actually talking about one of my favorite topics. I had loads of stuff that I wanted to get rid of. A lot of things that weren't necessarily going to be bought by vintage buyers or. And rather than just donate it to Goodwill, because I'll be honest with you, not all of Goodwill's practices are really great. So I figured why don't I just do a pop up free store? Rather than ask permission, I would just do it outside on a rolling rack on the sidewalk in the middle of City Island. And I've been doing them every couple months for a couple of years now. So basically it just means I took whatever I had, made it look nice, make sure everything was clean and, you know, hung up, and then asked people for what do you have that you want to get rid of? Because every single person I know has a bag of stuff on the floor of their closet or in the trunk of their car that they want to get rid of, but it's just inconvenient. So when they would see a pop up free store, they'd be like, oh my God, I'm going to run home and bring you stuff. The best part is that for baby and kids, clothes every time, especially single moms who live on the island, they were having trouble finding what they needed and affording what their kids needed. So I would just hand them the whole box. I would have it pre sorted. 0 to 3 months, 3 to 6. 6.

[Alison Stewart]

That's so great, Nicole. Thank you for calling in. That's a great idea. And let's get Stephen from Cortland Manor in here before we run out of time. Hi Steven, thanks for calling all of it.

[Stephen]

Hi Alison. I'm a devoted listener for many years and nice to get on. I'm 75 years old and I learned a long time ago that things were built better when I was younger and that they're no longer. Nothing is built well, clothing, manufactured goods, it's all such junk that I now I only buy vintage and, and you know, I'll call ebay and I'll call Etsy and I'll only buy that and I give away what I don't need. And all of my. I'm still wearing today, I'm wearing a duster from Woodstock that I wore to Woodstock a long time ago.

[Alison Stewart]

I love that. Good, good suggestion. So for my no buy in 2025, I decided I wasn't going to have coffee.

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

Wow.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah, I was gonna, if I could go out with friends and chat, we could have coffee. But this whole idea of spending seven and eight dollars on just a cup of coffee, I decided no go. Still holding on to that one. Buying no clothes. We're just gonna go. If I need something, I'll go to a thrifter to Thredup or something like that. And I'm taking the rule. I'm like going down to the basics of stuff I have and then getting it. So I'll, you know, one day without concealer, I'll wait till I can get a new one. That's all. Do you have any rules for no buy?

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

Yes. Like all of my stories, I get too close to them, I would say, just by covering the Internet. And when I was reporting this out, I really started unsubscribing to a lot of marketing emails. It was my half birthday in January, so I got a lot of, you know, oh, you get $15 off or something. I was like, you know what, I don't, I don't need to buy something. I don't have to use this coupon. So that's been my curbing is instead of even thinking about buying, I'm just deleting these emails and getting myself off of them.

[Kiana Melexada]

This is funny.

[Alison Stewart]

No buy 2025.

[Kiana Melexada]

I have come to the realization that I have to throw out everything I own.

[Alison Stewart]

My guest has been Ann Marie Alcantar from the Wall Street Journal.

[Kiana Melexada]

Thanks for sharing your reporting with us.

[Anne Marie Alcantara]

Of course. Thank you for having me.