How to do a No-Buy or Low-Buy Year in 2026 (Our firsthand experiences!)

Summary

Frugal Friends Podcast – How to do a No-Buy or Low-Buy Year in 2026 (Our firsthand experiences!)

Hosts: Jen Smith & Jill Sirianni
Date: December 16, 2025

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Overview

In this deeply practical and motivating episode, Jen and Jill dig into the realities and strategies for embarking on a no-buy or low-buy year in 2026, sharing their own experiences, the experiences of their community, and actionable tips. The aim: to help listeners break impulsive spending patterns, realign with their values, and make lasting financial change without shame or perfectionism. The hosts emphasize using these challenges as tools for self-awareness, habit change, and building a stronger, more creative approach to spending, not just as deprivation exercises or quick fixes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Are No-Buy and Low-Buy Challenges? (05:36-07:54)

• No-Buy Challenge:
  • Only spending on pre-approved essentials like housing, bills, and food.
  • Not about never spending any money, but sharply limiting purchases to the essentials.
  • Intended as a short-term, intense reset, not a permanent lifestyle.
• Low-Buy Challenge:
  • A longer-term, more flexible challenge focusing on reducing consumption and impulse purchases.
  • Involves seeking creative or lower-cost alternatives before making new purchases.
  • Focus is on habit and mindset shifts, sustainable over time.
• Jen: "No Buy is meant to be a short term, very intense challenge, whereas a low buy is more of a lifestyle shift." (06:02)

2. Why Do a No-Buy or Low-Buy Year? (07:54-11:00)

• Financial Reasons:
  • Fast debt payoff
  • Building a financial buffer for emergencies or goals
• Deeper Benefits:
  • Building awareness of spending triggers
  • Developing creativity in meeting needs
  • Cultivating mindfulness around consumption
• Jill: “If done right, I think that these are the types of results that we can see... understanding more about ourselves, our values, getting creative towards meeting our needs, and not necessarily always pulling out the credit card.” (08:04)

3. Real-Life Experiences: Successes and Struggles

• Impulse Control & Wish Lists:
  • A participant describes using a wish list to delay purchases and examine true desires (08:42-11:00).
  • “It puts space in between impulsivity when you see something that you want and actually making the purchase. It was almost like a dopamine boost when I added the item to my wish list.” — No Buy Challenge Participant (10:30)
• Jen’s Experience:
  • No spend challenges revealed previously hidden shopping habits and values misalignments, not just financial opportunity.
  • “I had not tapped into this, this habit part and this values part. And so those were the things that... kept with me.” (11:25)

4. No-Buy vs. Low-Buy: Which Is Right for You? (12:20-15:53)

• No-Buy:
  • Excellent for breaking cycles and saving a lot quickly.
  • “The answer is gonna always be no. I don't buy it if it's not like getting gas in my car to get me to work or a bill.” — Jen (13:53)
• Low-Buy:
  • Better for longer-term lifestyle changes and reining in consumption.
  • “Low buy teaches you... it's harder. Arguably a low buy is harder than a no buy. Not as strict... you have to think more about the consumption.” — Jen (14:06)
• Jill: “A low buy year would be really great for you if you need to just rethink the way that you consume.” (12:56)

5. Meticulous, Imperfect Progress Is Still Success (30:01-35:10)

• Relapses and Accountability:
  • Participants share stories of “relapsing,” learning from triggers, and getting back on track—perfection is not expected or required.
  • “You are going to make mistakes. It’s not a linear journey... In the past, I would beat myself up... But I’ve learned, I’ve grown and I’m not doing that. And this is just part of the journey.” — Podcast Host 2 (30:01)
• Jen: “Don’t stop when you make a mistake and you will make a mistake... If it’s not a challenge, then why are you doing it?” (31:46)
• Jill: “The biggest disservice... is just to be like, oh, failed, nevermind, we’ll try again... then we’re robbing ourselves of that learning opportunity.” (33:38)

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Practical Steps for a Successful No-Buy/Low-Buy Challenge

1. Do a 90-Day Transaction Inventory (20:45-22:45)

• Review all spending from the past three months, looking for habits, triggers, and regrets.
• Approach with neutrality—no self-judgment.
• Use insights to anticipate needs and avoid repeating patterns.
• Quote: “This is simply a fact-finding mission.” — Jen (21:18)

2. Set Your Parameters (22:45-24:55)

• List what you will and will not buy.
• Base “no” choices on what’s unnecessary or impulsive.
• Plan for upcoming events or exceptions (birthdays, weddings).

3. Create a Creative Alternatives List (25:40-27:19)

• For each “no,” brainstorm ways to fulfill the need for free or at low cost (regifting, secondhand, borrowing).
• Employ this especially for gift-giving, social experiences, etc.
• “When we have fewer spending decisions on our plate, we have more capacity to think creatively.” — Jen (25:54)

4. Eat from Your Pantry, Fridge, Freezer First (27:40-29:31)

• Before buying groceries, plan meals using what you already have to cut food costs.
• Learn to stretch, get creative, and find satisfaction in resourcefulness.

5. Embrace Imperfection, Document, and Keep Going (30:01-35:10)

• If you’re “inconsistent,” don’t quit—restart with new rules and plan.
• Use slip-ups as learning opportunities to adapt for next time.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Triggers and Relapse:
  “Every time I fell down, I allowed myself to indulge... Does that mean I’m doomed? No. It’s February. I can still do this. You can still do this. We can do this.” — No Buy Challenge Struggler (19:35-20:35)
• On Setting Boundaries:
  “This is boundaries 101, my people. Okay. We are just defining what is okay and what isn't okay. You get to decide.” — Jill (22:45)
• On the Deep Impact:
  “What a lifestyle of frugality gives to us is truly priceless.” — Jill (39:35)
• On Learning from a Challenge:
  “If it’s not a challenge, then why are you doing it?... We’re not in this to just deprive ourselves and hoard money. We’re in this to learn more about ourselves, to improve our habits.” — Jen (31:46)
• On Personal Growth:
  “You’re gonna make mistakes... That’s the lesson that I just wanna give to you.” — Podcast Host 2 (30:01)
• On Lasting Change:
  “Greater levels of self-confidence and self knowledge I think is the antidote to consumerism.” — Jill (39:35)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Explaining No-Buy vs. Low-Buy: 05:36–07:54
• Participant: No-Buy Month Reflections: 08:42–11:00
• Jen’s No Spend Realization: 11:00–12:20
• When to Choose No-Buy or Low-Buy: 12:20–15:53
• Five Step Process Starts: 19:07
• Dealing With Relapses: 19:35–20:37
• Transaction Inventory: 20:45–22:45
• Setting Parameters: 22:45–24:55
• Creative Alternatives List: 25:40–27:19
• Pantry Challenge: 27:40–29:31
• Imperfection and Getting Back on Track: 30:01–35:10
• Powerful "No Buy 2025" Testimony: 35:52–36:41
• Personal Stories of Life Change: 36:41–39:35

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Podcast Tone & Approach

Jen and Jill blend honesty, humor, and practical wisdom, using their own stories and listener input. The tone is non-judgmental, encouraging, realistic, and accessible, emphasizing progress over perfection and centering the power of creativity in financial life. They stress that lasting financial change is possible for everyone—messy, imperfect, and utterly worth the effort.

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Final Encouragement

• Jill: “If we can also learn more about ourselves and how to meet our needs in some really creative ways, that’s life changing.” (39:08)
• Jen: “We’re not in this to just deprive ourselves and hoard money. We’re in this to learn more about ourselves, to improve our habits.” (31:46)

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For further resources, books, and to join upcoming community challenges, listeners are encouraged to visit frugalfriendspodcast.com/debtfree and check out related past episodes (especially their one on values-based spending) for deeper inspiration.

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Produced by: Eric Siriani

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Transcript

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[Podcast Host 1]

To do a no Buy or Low.

[Jen]

Buy year in 2026.

[Jill]

Welcome to the Frugal Friends Podcast where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity.

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And live a richer life.

[Podcast Host 1]

Here are.

[Jill]

Your hosts, Jen and Jill. If you're planning to do a no buy or low buy year in 2026 or you're just no spend curious you found the right episode. We're going to break down exactly how to do it without the guilt, shame or giving up in two weeks energy.

[Jen]

This isn't theory. This is our real life experience our successes, our struggles and the experiences of other people on social media so that you can insight and actual steps to build no buy and low buy rules that work for you. Let's get in. Hey Frugal Friends, I'm Jen. I'm Jill and if you have ever felt like this, I think there's something.

[Guest or Listener Sharing Experience]

Severely wrong with me because I am so good at saving. Mentally I'm like, you know what? When that pay comes in, I'm going to put this much aside and I'm going to budget it all. And I've got it all down on my list and I know exactly what's going out, how much I can save. But the second, the second that money hits my bank account, I'm like, you know what?

[Jen]

What?

[Guest or Listener Sharing Experience]

I've not been on a holiday in.

[Jill]

A while on my roots there. They're a little bit long.

[Guest or Listener Sharing Experience]

Maybe I should go get my hair done. And while I'm at it, I might as well get new extensions as well. And also my foundation is like halfway full and I saw there was a sale on, so I may as well top that up while I have the money as well. And it's coming into summer, so I'm probably going to need to start thinking about like bikinis because the UV is finally sick. So I should probably get myself a couple of those. And I also haven't had a takeout in a while, so I might as well just treat myself to like a nice dinner tonight. I'm thinking Mexican, maybe something Thai. I'm not sure. Also, I just saw this girl's nails on my Tik Tok feed and they look unreal. And they're only $70 for like acrylic nail set and that's on sale. So like, maybe I should get the acrylic nail set as well. Like just as like a little bit of a treat. And then I'll spend all of my money and then be like, okay, that was really silly. How about we wait until next payday and as soon as next payday comes around then, then we'll save and, and we never save, do we?

[Jen]

Then this episode is for you. We're going to talk about this phenomenon, about why we make these perfect budgets, have these perfect savings plans and can't seem to stick with them. And we really believe a very powerful tool to overcoming that is a no buy or a low buy challenge.

[Jill]

We're talking about a no buy or low buy year. But we generally like to approach it in, in like a 30 day challenge. That's typically how we do it. And you wrote a whole book about it.

[Jen]

We are self proclaimed no spend or no buy experts. I wrote the book the no Spend Challenge Guide and it is a bestseller on Amazon. It's been purchased over, gosh, 20 or 30,000 copies, which is insane. So yeah, and people have found it very helpful. So I have been talking about no spend challenges since probably 2016. And so 10 years I've been talking about this and we include it in our book Buy what yout Love Without Going Broke as a section on how you can Essentially visit an extreme to find your radical middle on spending. And so we're talking about both no buy and low buy in this episode, but they are not the same. So. But they are similar and I think that they go together. So we're going to help you figure out whether you should do one or the other. But first we want to define what they are.

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah.

[Jill]

So with a no buy you are not spending on anything except pre approved expenses. So you do still get to decide what am I spending on. But it's usually going to include only things like bills, your housing, food, kind of like bare essentials would be, would be a true no buy.

[Jen]

And I would include in this. If you have a pre planned event that you're going to like a wedding or a Christmas party or something, doing a no buy around the holidays is not a good strategy. But if you have to, then those things can be pre approved. You're not going to be if you have to pay for parking at an event that you agreed to like you're, you already agreed to help with it, but you have to pay for parking. Like that's, I wouldn't consider that like failing a no buy month. Right. But it is a little different from a low buy, which a no buy is meant to be a short term like very intense challenge, whereas a low buy is more of a, a lifestyle shift. And if you wanted to make it a challenge, then I would say it kind of aligns more with like an extreme frugality sort of like lifestyle shift. So it is, you can think of it as really prioritizing creativity over consumption. We are looking to get as creative as possible with how we meet our needs. And sometimes that involves spending money, but we are trying to spend as little as possible. And so that's why you can kind of think it, think about it on this extreme frugality level. Again, should not be sustainable. I think when we're talking no buy and low buy, these are more challenges and we want them to get us into this values based spending mindset and habit. And that is long term, that is a lifestyle that you should be honing and growing and living in. Long term.

[Jill]

I think a lot of people will approach a no buy or even a low buy solely for the money that they can save. And I would say that's a great reason. It can certainly help us to find areas where we can free up some cash to put towards a certain goal. But I also think it's really important to recognize all the other benefits that do come with it. Primarily recognizing our Own spending habits and being able to shift some of the ways that, that we do spend, understand more about ourselves, our values, getting creative towards meeting our needs, and not necessarily always pulling out the credit card. And so if done right, I think that these are the types of results that we can see.

[No Buy Challenge Participant]

I just finished a one month long no buy challenge, and this is how it dramatically improved my impulsivity when it comes to shopping. The biggest things that came out of it was definitely helping my shopping habits. During this no buy challenge, I didn't purchase any clothing. No new skincare products, no new home gadgets, only necessities and refills. At first, because I knew it was such a strict no buy, it almost made me want to purchase things more. I would see things and I'm like, oh, I can't buy it. I want it so bad. But honestly, after a week or so, I never thought about it. And once I got to the end of the challenge, I still didn't want to buy anything. It was not for like three weeks that I purchased like my first clothing item. Even then, it was something that I had on my wish list for quite some time. So that's another big thing that came out of it. This is something that I did prior and I continued through, I continued during my no buy challenge was a wish list. So every time I would see something that I really wanted to buy, instead of buying it outright, I would add it to a running notes list that I had. And so whenever I felt the urge to purchase, I would add it to this list. And then once a week, once every other week, I wasn't strict on what I checked. I would kind of run through it and see where my desire was for these products. Nine times out of 10, when I would go back and look at it, I'd be like, I really don't care about it that much. There are certain things that are on there that I'm like, oh no, I definitely want this. And it makes getting it a little bit more satisfactory. And you know that you've put thought into this. This is something that's gonna be, if it's clothing items, something that's gonna be really used well in your wardrobe. Because I find myself just buying random stuff that I see when I'm. When I come across a sale or when I just see something random online that I thought was cute and I buy it, I find myself wearing it once or twice and then not really using it a whole lot. Either the quality is not great or it's something that I can't really wear again and again. And so putting some thought in behind how much I'm spending, the quality of it, and how much use I'm gonna get out of it. These are all things that having the snow buy month me think about. It puts space in between impulsivity when you see something that you want and actually making the purchase. It was almost like a dopamine boost when I added the item to my wish list. It's similar to like actually putting it in the cart and checking out, just adding it to that list and knowing that I could potentially have this if I think about it long enough. I typically like things to say in my want list for like at least a week or two. Majority of my stuff stays on my want list for like at least a month. But I always tell myself if it's something that I really want and it's been on there, I can purchase it. Overall, doing the no buy month really helped me shop better, buy less and just be more content with my purchases.

[Jen]

Yeah. That is the reason why I became so passionate about no spend challenges. Because I went into it initially with just like, we need to pay off debt fast. We were in the process of paying off $78,000 of debt in two years. Me and my husband and I wanted to put a little extra money towards debt for one month. And the couple hundred dollars I saved was whatever. But the things that I was realizing about my shopping habits, the way I viewed consumption, the way I consumed, the way I thought about things that maybe was I didn't think when I wasn't like putting myself in this challenge. And that stuff blew my mind. Like just the unawareness. Even with all the budgeting, even with all the things that we had been doing, I had not tapped into this, this habit part and this values part. And so those were the things that I that kept with me. And those are the benefits of a no spend challenge. When done right, that's what's going to really benefit you. Those are the true benefits of doing one.

[Jill]

Yeah. And so I think when someone is considering should I do this, what's best for me? Should I do a no buy? Should I do a low buy? I think it really does depend on what are your goals. And we're kind of outlining what some of your goals even could be like definitely do it if you are trying to pay off debt and you're trying to pay off debt fast. We are doing a no spend challenge in the month of January because we think that a no buy is a really good way to kick off Some of these goals, like truly kind of going very bare bones, can help you to really find some of that extra margin in your budget to be able to put towards a goal. Whereas a low buy is going to kind of help you reduce your consumption. Overall, I think that this will definitely help us become aware of our impulse spending. It allows for a little bit more longevity. Like we could do a low buy year. I think that's far more realistic than a no buy year. We could do a low buy three months. So low buy can go longer than one month because we're not being so, so stringent with it. It's not as much of just like a challenge that is not meant to be for very long. And so if you are really thinking I need to just rethink the way that I consume, I really need to kind of dial in these impulse pur. Then a low buy year would be really great with you or for you.

[Jen]

I think both are good and both should be done. So the no buy will get you. You will say no. Just you won't have to make the decision of do I buy it or do I not? The answer is gonna always be no. I don't buy it if it's not like getting gas in my car to get me to work or a bill. You know, like the answer is always no if it's a question. Whereas a low buy, the answer is not always no. The answer is, okay, is how do I get this in a different way? Is there a way to get it for free? Is there a way to get it low cost, secondhand? Is there a deal? I can get it? And we go through these in order. And then if none of those three work out, am I buying this full price? Is it in my values? Am I doing it guilt free? So this a low buy teaches you it's harder. Arguably a low buy is harder than a no buy. Not as strict of low buy because you have to think more about the consumption. Whereas the no buy, the answer is always no. Right. So that's how we can think about the difference. And so we are doing a no buy in January with our community. You might have heard we're doing the 90 day debt free fast track, which is a three month, month program. The first three months of any goal are the hardest. They are when you are the worst at your new habits, you are the worst at the new skills that you are doing or maybe like getting back on the bandwagon, you're just the worst you will ever be at any given time. Honestly, if we're being honest, like if you're intentional, you will get better. And so we want to be with you for those first three months so that you see stick with it. Because I am convinced if you can stick with it for three months, then you're going to be able to stick with it for six months, a year, 18 months, whenever it is that your goal is or build the habits that.

[Jill]

Will help to support that. I think that these types of challenges can really jumpstart us towards these goals, which is why we're doing a no spend 30 days as part of those 90 days and then two other challenges that are meant to help you find even more cash to be able to put towards debt. We believe that it's totally realistic for anyone who participates in the challenge to find an extra $1,000 to put towards their debt in three months.

[Jen]

Maybe not an extra, but like a total thousand dollars in three months. We want our community to pay off $100,000 of debt in the first quarter of 2026. That is our goal and we want to be with you on that goal. So we have four calls with us at the beginning and then at the beginning of each month or at the end of each month. And then we have the three challenges that will build skills. The no spend meal prepping side hustles. And you're going to get my book, the no spend challenge guide for free as long as my as well as pay off your debt for good, which is another book that I wrote. And it's all for this one goal to pay off as much debt as possible in three months. And so head to frugalfriendspodcast.com debt free and check it out and join us. You will only be Doors will only be open through December 31st because we start January 1st and today. If you're watching this or listening when it comes out today, December 16th is the last day to get early bird pricing. So check that out if you're interested in it. Get it by the end of the day because you'll save a little money.

[Jill]

Can't wait.

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[Jill]

Okay, so we do want to give some tips on how to do a low buy no buy.

[Jen]

We've got five tips and honestly, you don't need more buy than this. Like, keep it simple and you will thank yourself for immensely. And, and I think this, this experience from this creator really does exemplify that. Oh, have I run a marathon.

[No Buy Challenge Struggler]

But I can't. I can't do this. I am failing my no buy because I'm not taking it seriously. I have a shopping addiction and five figures of credit cards. I started this year off and made a pact with myself to do a year of no buy. That quickly changed to a low buy because I relapsed three times. We are now in February, and I have relapsed more times than I can count. I'm scared to tally up how much I spent in January. I fear it's over fifteen hundred dollars. I didn't have a solid plan in place. Every time I fell down, I allowed myself to indulge. As someone with adhd, I'm not a good planner and I did not stick to my rule. I'm someone who says, oh, I'm gonna do a no buy. Then I realized I'm having a bad day and those rules don't apply today. I am consistently inconsistent. Does that mean I'm doomed?

[Guest or Listener Sharing Experience]

No.

[No Buy Challenge Struggler]

It's February. I can still do this. You can still do this. We can do this. I'm starting over and creating a new set of rules and actually sitting down and creating a plan that's going to work for me. Most importantly, documenting the process, writing everything down.

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah.

[No Buy Challenge Struggler]

So it's not over for me.

[Jill]

It's not over.

[Jen]

It's not over. And yeah, you're right. Start with a plan.

[Jill]

That's the best tip.

[Jen]

And so that is that, that is the first three tips essentially. So part one of that is starting with a 90 day transaction inventory. Before we create the plan for the future, we have to know where we are at in the present. And we find that out by looking at what we've spent on in the past three months. And I don't care if you're like, oh, I don't want to do the last three months because like Christmas was in there and prime day. No, no, no, no. There's always a sale, there's always a reason to spend. And so we always look at the last three months because those are going to be most indicative of what our habits are right now. So we go through our transactions in the last three months, every single one. And we are looking for patterns, we are looking for recurring transactions. We are looking with a neutral mindset. We are not looking to judge ourselves. This is, this is simply a fact finding mission. So we're going to look at. Okay, when I spent on takeout on this day, is that, was that a, like, did I love that or do I kind of regret that? I kind of regret that. Okay, what was happening on that day that caused me to get takeout? Was it a rough day and I didn't feel like cooking? Okay, then we can write that down and be like, okay, I need to make a plan for when I don't feel like cooking. Was it that I'm treating myself because I had a bad day? Okay, I need to figure out how to treat myself when I have a bad day that doesn't cost money. Was it because a friend asked me out and I value community, I wanted.

[Podcast Host 1]

To go out with her.

[Jen]

Okay, I have to figure out a way to still connect with my community for free. This is what we are doing in the 90 day transaction inventory. We are looking at these transactions so that we can make notes on what we will need to put in our plan.

[Jill]

Yes. Oh, love. Love how you described that. Okay, here for it. Next you're gonna wanna set your parameters. Meaning what will you spend on, what won't you spend on? This is boundaries 101, my people. Okay. We are just defining what is okay and what isn't okay. You get to decide. So that's where the freedom comes in. Certainly, if it's no Buy we're going, but pretty bare bones. If it's low buy, you're going to have a little bit more leeway. You get to decide though, and literally make that list. What am I saying yes to? Yes. Say yes to your housing, say yes to your bills, say yes to feed. Continuing to feed yourself. And then make your no list. And the no list can come from what was on the 90 day transaction inventory. You know, we're going to say no to impulse purchases, no to anything that I haven't like considered for at least 48 hours, or saying no to going out to eat. Whatever it is you decide. Also in this planning phase, we need to look at our calendar, what's coming up, because month to month life changes. I know, Jen, you already mentioned, is there a wedding this month? Is there a birthday party? Is there some sort of commitment that you've already made? I know a lot of times people might plan their no buy around a month that is more low key. I think it can happen whenever. But you just get to decide, you know what, we've already had this weekend away planned. Still gonna do that. But what will the parameters be when you're on that kind of weekend vacation?

[Jen]

Cause there's never gonna be a perfect month to do a no buy or a low buy. There's never gonna be a perfect year to do a low buy.

[Podcast Host 1]

Right.

[Jen]

We have to work within where we are. And if you are committed to the goal that you want to reach, then it behooves you to not waste time waiting for the perfect month and just do it and set these parameters.

[Jill]

Yeah, it could mean that before you start the no buy that, that's when you've the gift for the thing. Or maybe you, you've set aside a certain amount of money that you can spend and, and so you can do that guilt free. You get to decide. But you do need to decide what's the yes, what's okay, what's not okay.

[Jen]

And we can kind of combine the no spend and the low spend in this. In that when we set a parameter that's like, okay, I'm going to my best friend's birthday and I do want to get her something. Instead of just where habit would have had. You head straight to Amazon or Target to buy something, then you're employing these low buy creativity techniques of okay, can I get something for free? Is there something in my house that I'm not using that she might like that I can re gift? Let's normalize re gifting, please. Can we find something secondhand poshmark eBay treasure troves for, for beautiful secondhand items.

[Jill]

Or buy nothing groups.

[Jen]

Or buy nothing groups. You know, then looking at, you know, deals and, and whatnot. But we can start to employ these when we have fewer spending decisions on our plate. We have more capacity to think creatively about our spending decisions. And so that comes into our next step is to create the creative alternatives list. So you're going to take that list you compiled when you made your 90 day transaction inventory and this is where we're going to get into how can I get these things for free? So we're focusing solely on free. If you're doing a no buy, if you're doing a low buy, then we're focusing on free. But then also we want to have secondary low cost and deal options. If you are on the friend letter, which is our bi weekly newsletter, then you got a list of 100 online like secondhand shopping sites. We just send that. We send like supplemental stuff for episodes out all the time. But if you're not subscribed, you miss it because we only send it out the day we publish the episode. So head to frugalfriendspodcast.com and sign up to get on the friend letter. It's right there on the homepage. But so we try to help you with these like this creative alternatives list in the capacity that we can.

[Jill]

And if you're participating in our 90 day debt freedom fast track, that all that type of stuff, even like creative things that you can do for free within the no buy challenge is going.

[Jen]

To be in the challenge.

[Jill]

So many ideas of what you can do, how you can have fun. Because the thing is, is during a no buy or a low buy, we're not saying no, absolutely so fun. We're saying so fun.

[Jen]

High fun, low spend. It's probably our other motto.

[Jill]

If it's not fun, it's not frugal friends.

[Jen]

That is our model.

[Jill]

We're not here to cut out social interaction or good times and laughter. We're just going to be more creative about how we do it. Okay. And then the final tip is to eat from your pantry fridge freezer. We know that this is one of the categories of spending that can get most out of hand. And during a low buy or no buy, we're still saying yes to spending on food. But we know that there's all sorts of ways that we could be spending money on food, right? We could spend money on food by just buying groceries that are going to last us for a week or we could be buying all the fancy ingredients going out to eat. And I think that's where some of the justification of this rising line item in our budget can happen. And so to really rein this in and keep our food spending within some of those parameters of no buy, low buy, and to cut down on some of that impulse spending that can happen at the grocery store is by shopping your home first and creating meal plans around what you already have. That's gonna be another part of our 90 day debt freedom fast track is meal planning. How to create meals with what you already have, how to create meals with some of these crossover ingredients. In season ingred really beginning to implement the things that are going to help you to still eat well, but not expensively. And that's a whole other skill set that once the no buy is over, they carry with us. We've now become more adept at knowing, oh, okay, I've got this can of beans and this thing of salsa and I guess a little bit of rice leftover. Oh, that can become a meal.

[Jen]

Right?

[Jill]

I did just describe rice and beans to you, but it is good.

[Jen]

It's just mind blowing. The things that you're gonna learn is mind blowing. Revolutionary. Things you've never heard before. Definitely in ways you've never heard before. So, okay, so I have a bonus step.

[Jill]

Give it to us.

[Jen]

Yeah, that. But I think it was. It's really well personified by this video that I saw on social media.

[Podcast Host 2]

I broke my no buy. So let's talk about it. It was somewhat accidentally, which I'll explain, but I still did it. And that's okay. You are going to make mistakes. It's not a linear journey to like budget better and stop impulse shopping and do a no buy challenge. And in the past I would really beat myself up over something like this and I would have stopped the challenge and been like, well, now I need to start over. I need to start next month. I need to start on a clean slate, start fresh. Cause I already broke the no buy. And then maybe I would go and I would info spend on a ton of other things. But I've learned, I've grown and I'm not doing that. And this is just part of the journey. This is what I broke my no buy for. It's a vintage coach bag that I bought on ebay. And the reason that I made this purchase was because I was actually scrolling on my TikTok following page and a creator posted a video about how to use ebay for like vintage shopping and she actually like laid out a bunch of search terms, keywords that you can use to find things. I've been wanting a brown vintage bag that's like a medium sized one for a while. And so this fit all of my requirements and it was a bit pricier than I like wanted to pay. I put in a low ball offer because I was like, it was late at night, I was bored, I was just scrolling and I was like, oh, like it's probably not going to get accepted anyway. And as soon as I hit it, I was like, oh, like I probably shouldn't have done that. Like I didn't need the purse right now. I could have waited, but the offer was literally accepted in like two minutes. Like it was accepted so fast. I had that buyer's remorse like a second later. And I barely had time to think about it and cancel my offer before it was already accepted and a done deal basically. Could I have put it off and waited until after my no buy challenge? Yes. But you're gonna make mistakes. You're gonna make purchases that were a little bit more careless or break your rules that you set yourself. And it's okay, you live, you move on. And that's the lesson that I just wanna give to you.

[Jen]

And that I think is the biggest takeaway that I want you to leave this episode with. So if you've tuned out, come back to me for a minute. Don't stop when you make a mistake and you will make a mistake. I have said over and over, I've done so many no spend challenges. I've written a book on no spend challenges and I have never done a perfect no spend challenge. Because if it's not a challenge, then why are you doing it? Why are you just not spending to not spend or you're not learning anything if the way you're doing your no spend challenge allows you to do it perfectly. And we're not in this to just deprive ourselves and hoard money. We're in this to learn more about ourselves, to improve our habits. So you will make a mistake on your no buy or low buy journey. And the biggest piece of advice that we can give you is to not let that derail you and just say, I'll start again next week or I'll start again tomorrow or next month. Stick with it, get back immediately, make a note, because maybe it's something you just didn't catch it in your 90 day transaction inventory so that you can prepare for it. You can't prepare for everything, right? So we're making a note of, of what happened, what am I going to do next time this appears and maybe it's scrolling less on TikTok. Because even if you're scrolling like, like girly got a deal on a bag that she wanted. Right. Like obsessively. Obsessively. Not a bad like gig. Right. What she got. But it was in the no buy challenge. And yes, she could have waited and she realizes that she takes accountability and, and she's back on it and she's realized what she's done. And I love that and I want that for you.

[Jill]

I think the biggest disservice that we can do for ourselves is just to be like, oh, failed, Nevermind, we'll try again. We'll wait for the blank slate because then we're robbing ourselves of that learning opportunity. So much of this is meant to, yes, not just save money, but to be able to find out what prompts me to spend. When am I spending on the things that I'm going to later regret? What are the impulse purchases that I'm making? How do I shift those behaviors? This was a wonderful. Because she chose to continue to, to sit in it rather than just move on. She learned about herself. Oh, I'm scrolling at night. I was bored. I did this thing that I thought wouldn't work. Then I got locked in. Then I experienced buyer's remorse. Like you're saying, now I know what I could do differently next time. Now I know when I am most tempted to impulse spend and what I can replace that with. Because it's not just about deprivation. It's about finding better coping mechanisms, caring for ourselves and all of the ways better. Because this didn't actually solve her boredom. Right. Like all it did was end up with her feeling anxious.

[Jen]

Yes.

[Jill]

And then how do you go to bed after that? She's in bed scrolling.

[Podcast Host 1]

Yeah.

[Jill]

Probably going to interrupt her sleep. Like there's just so many other things that this is impacting. So but because she didn't stop, she was able to dig into the why make some of those shifts and, and stick with it and probably create some of those better habits for the long run.

[Jen]

Our brain wants to. Wants to be perfect. It does not want to learn. So we have a propensity to no. Right. Let me know in the comments if your brain is different. We want to be perfect because it's efficient to do everything. Right. Right. And to not think about it and to not make a mistake. It is not efficient to make a mistake and then have to learn from it and so lean into the discomfort of learning and making Mistakes and then getting back. Diving back in.

[Podcast Host 1]

Yeah.

[Jill]

And wrapping up. Speaking of we wanted.

[Jen]

Yeah. There. I think there's another video that really sums up this. What a no buy challenge or a low buy challenge can truly do for you if you stick with it. It. I'm doing no buy 2025 and the main takeaway from this is that I am so much stronger than I thought. And let's be clear, I definitely thought I was strong already. I've given birth unmedicated before, but this even tops that. And that might sound like an insane statement, but this has required me to have discipline every single day for over 300 days back. It takes a lot of willpower, but it also takes a lot of love for yourself and the desire to get better and have better for you and your family and whoever else. Depends on your financial. So if you've been kind of thinking about doing a no buy, take this as your sign because it truly is life changing. Mic drop. I think, I think that really well sums it up.

[Jill]

Yeah, it is life changing. I mean I've done even low buy things just for the. Primarily to be able to save money. Right. Like there was a year, our listeners who have been with us for a couple of years now will remember, I think it was January 2023 when I really needed to crack down to be able to put as much money as possible.

[Jen]

You called it the month of poverty.

[Jill]

Well, I didn't actually call it that on screen because it was a little offensive.

[Jen]

But. But now it's an insight and we've learned from it. And it was just a month behind the scenes.

[Jill]

I did, I called it my month of poverty, which is so maybe don't.

[Jen]

Share everything that comes into your mind as soon as it comes into your mind.

[Jill]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We weren't, we were, we were choosing to not spend a lot of money so that we could put as much money aside. That was right around the time too when I had kind of gone full time with frugal friends. I'd let go of my other full time job. So there were some shifts financially that were happening and so it was really reigning it in. We weren't traveling, we were staying local and, and not wanting to do like spend a ton of money but for that time, for those specific goals. But what that ended up teaching me was how to find free activities. The things that I can do with friends that don't cost a lot of money. And those things now have stuck with me even two years later. You know, we're going to, you've heard me talk about the free comedy shows that we go to and the events that are happening in downtown St. Pete and having friends over, going to friends houses, sharing just whatever we happen to have in the fridge, pantry, freezer and recognizing what I actually enjoy, like still getting to try new things and have fun with people. And so yeah, again to kind of underscore this idea of how life changing it is, it's not just for the catapulting nature that can happen, which is also life changing. If we can shave a few months off of our time horizon for paying off debt, that that's life changing.

[Jen]

Yeah, that's significant.

[Jill]

But if we can also learn more about ourselves and how to meet our needs in some really creative ways, that's life changing.

[Jen]

Because then even after the debt payoff, then you're able to invest more, then you're able to save faster for vacations or for car upgrades or for whatever you want to do with your kids. Like these habits that you build now in trying to reach whatever, you know, debt payoff is what we're focused on right now. But like any financial goal, it is going to transcend the goal.

[Jill]

Greater levels of self confidence and self knowledge I think is the antidote to consumerism. I think that a lot of times we buy into consumption like literally and figuratively because we're uncertain of who we are and we think we can buy that, this identity. But when we're able to find that in other places that are more life giving, we're not going to be impulse spending as much, we're not going to be buying as much and we're going to feel more sure inside of ourselves like truly what, what a lifestyle of frugality gives to us is like, is truly priceless. And you know what else is priceless and free.

[Jen]

So values aligned as well.

[Jill]

The bill of the week. That's right. It's time for the best minute of your entire week.

[Jen]

Maybe a baby was born and his name is William.

[Jill]

Maybe you paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. Ducks, Bills, Buffalo Bills, Bill Clinton. This. This is the bill of the Week.

[Jen]

Save money, embrace it. Living my life.

[Guest or Listener Sharing Experience]

Hey Jen and Jill, this is Stacy from Salt Lake City and I just wanted to send in my first bill ever. And it's about insurance. I finally was brave enough to shop around for different insurances and was able.

[Jen]

To find a car Insurance that was.

[Guest or Listener Sharing Experience]

$585 for six months compared to the $1,800 we were paying. Don't ask me why we were paying that much. I guess we thought it was normal.

[Jen]

So, yeah, now we're saving around $250 every month because we also bundle it with our home insurance.

[Guest or Listener Sharing Experience]

Thank you, ladies.

[Jen]

Ah, Stacy, Stacy, Stacy, Stacy.

[Jill]

You got it going on.

[Jen]

$250 a month is so significant.

[Jill]

That's huge. Huge. What you can do with $200 a month is massive. If it came to debt payoff, if it came to investing, if it came to setting aside money for your sinking funds, like you name it, that is no small amount. And I love that. Brave. Because it does feel that way.

[Jen]

Oh, my gosh. The calling. There's a call that you have to.

[Jill]

Make that you have.

[Jen]

You haven't made it yet. You're waiting. You heard me. You've heard me say this and you still haven't made it. I need you to go make that call and let me know in the comments that you made it and then.

[Jill]

Make your call to us and tell us your bill of the week.

[Jen]

But worst takes place because nobody's on the other end of that line. It is literally voicemail.

[Jill]

I need to stick with Stacy for a minute in saying that insurance can feel so overwhelming. It is one of those very complicated, very complex. And you know why? Because there's a lot of money wrapped up in insurance. And where there's a lot of money, there's a lot of complexity. But we are smart, confident people. We can do this. And actually, resources like policy genius make this easy. We. They are an affiliate, frugalfriendspodcast.com policygenius but we do recommend them. If you are in that, that phase where you need to be shopping for insurances, they can help you find the best quote for you. They can help you figure out what you could be bundling, who you could be bundling with. So you could maybe be like Stacy and save 200amonth. It's possible. Stuff like this is possible.

[Jen]

And you can call, see who you have for home insurance and see if they do also offer auto insurance to see if there's a bundle check there as well.

[Jill]

Yeah, make the call. There's a call you need to make.

[Jen]

Make the call.

[Jill]

And if that call is just, just go into frugalfriendspodcast.combill to share a bill with us about saving money, spending money that you don't mind spending. Your name is bill. Do it. Frugalfriends podcast.com Bill December is the month where I classically lose track of my finances. Between travel Gifts, hosting. It all adds up so fast. And it's easy to blow through my holiday budget without one place to track it all in real time.

[Podcast Host 1]

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[Jill]

Now, seeing all my holiday spending in one place is keeping me on track to not overspend this month, which January Jill will be very pleased about. We all know it's a crazy season, and thankfully Monarch is built for people with busy lives.

[Podcast Host 1]

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[Jill]

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[Podcast Host 1]

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[Jill]

This open enrollment. Take back your power. Join crowd Health to get started today for $99. For your first three months, using code code [e-mail] that's JoinCrowdHealth.com code FRUGAL. Crowd health is not insurance. Opt out. Take your power back. This is how we win. Join CrowdHealth.com and now it's time for.

[Jen]

The hiking round Pew. All right. Sorry if I yawned there.

[Jill]

Oh my gosh. I put you to sleep during my lightning rounds. You just love chaos that much.

[Jen]

No, I'm just. I'm tired from life. And as a result, will you be doing no by January with the 90 day debt free fast track?

[Jill]

You bet your bottom dollar I will be absolutely 100%.

[Jen]

I actually do need it because of poverty.

[Jill]

Jen.

[Jen]

Yeah, here's another reminder. There's something inside of you that you want to say out loud. Don't. I saw, I saw a YouTube ad the other day that's like, if you've got a message inside of you that needs to come out. And then like, I just skip because I'm like, probably shouldn't. It probably shouldn't come out. So I'm just gonna be honest.

[Jill]

I'm too tired and I'm too angry.

[Jen]

Yeah, I'm too tired. I did say I was angry earlier today.

[Jill]

36 and I'm angry. That was the exact, exact quote.

[Jen]

That's exactly what I said. Yeah. I won't say what I was angry about though. It wasn't Starbucks this time.

[Jill]

No, no. It was something worth being angry about.

[Jen]

We do have a fantastic Starbucks rant on our channel that's not in the podcast RSS feed. This was a YouTube exclusive, so check it out if you also are mad at Starbucks.

[Jill]

Okay, we digress. Why do you need why do you need no buy in January?

[Jen]

I am, I am. I feel very confident in my values based spending practice. But it has been probably two years since I've done a no spend challenge. I did no spend January two deers two years ago. And I think it's a really useful tool to inspect your habits. So to just do one month, no spend, no buy will be good to kind of just reset. I don't feel like I'm out of control, but there's always things like you don't know if you don't know. Right. And that always comes up for me when I do a no spend challenge.

[Jill]

The thing about it, and we talk about this even when it comes to budgeting, is that our lives shift and change and we shift and change with them. Which is one of the reasons why when we say do the 90 day transaction inventory. Yes. Do it now, do it right after the holidays because that you've built habits over the holidays. Right. It's been a month of just schedule and routine is all over the place. The kids are home, lots of ads, lots of sales. You actually do want to buy gifts marketing. And we've probably just kind of become accustomed to that and that it takes the reigning in. And for me that feels compounded by having recently moved like we moved and August. But we've kind of been spending the past couple of months still getting acclimated to this new lifestyle, purchasing the things that kind of help us to make our apartment more efficient and optimized. And so. But now I'm in this place of okay, we're done. And I need to remind myself that I'm done and I don't need to just keep going out and purchasing things that, that I need a reset on these habits. So I think even for people like us who we've done no buys before, but that doesn't mean that life hasn't and we haven't collected new habits along the way that we need to just rein back in. So yeah, I'm gonna be doing it with the rest of you. I'll be doing it for that 90 day debt freedom fast track and we gonna find some money.

[Jen]

Frugalfriendspodcast.com debt free. Please check it out. Please join us and you know what.

[Jill]

Even if you're not paying off debt, even if you're like, ah, yeah, I have renovations coming up, I have investing goals this year. I wanna max out my Roth ira. Like, like, yeah, maybe for you too.

[Jen]

Maybe you want to do $1,000 to Roth IRA because spoiler or reminder rather you can invest in spoiler. I like that.

[Jill]

Spoiler alert.

[Jen]

On your Roth IRA, you can invest in 2025's Roth IRA up until April 14th of 2026. So if you did not max out or you did not get an opportunity to invest in your IRA for 2025, you can do that in the first quarter of 2026. And so please, we'll count it towards our $100,000 debt payoff goal. And I am so excited. I'm going to be making some extra investments. Like that's what I'm going to be doing. So that is what I'm excited about because I did not max out this year's Roth ira.

[Jill]

This was the first year I did ever in life.

[Jen]

I know, that's wonderful.

[Jill]

I know.

[Jen]

I'm so proud of you.

[Jill]

Thank you.

[Jen]

But I haven't. So I'm gonna be put, I'm gonna try to put a thousand dollars into this year's.

[Jill]

Perfect.

[Jen]

Yeah. So thank you so much for listening. We really hope that you join us for the 90 day debt free fast track. If you like this episode, please like it, give it a thumbs up and subscribe. Half of the people that watch our videos are not subscribed to our channel. And so if you want more stuff like that, this, please subscribe because we definitely use those subscriber counts to kind of gauge the content that people like and we make more of it. So please do that and leave a rating and review if you're listening on Spotify or if you've read our book Buy what you love without going broke. We like to read those on the show, like this one from Katherine. It's five stars. She says Buy what you love without going broke is an absolute game changer. One of my favorite parts of this book is the 90 Day Action Inventory Plan, which I think she is talking about the transaction inventory. It's practical and easy to follow. It will help me pay down debt and get a clearer understanding of my spending habits. What really stood out to me was how the book encourages mindfulness in spending. When I take the time to pause and think about what I need versus what I want, I make much better decisions. This book has already made a positive impact on my financial life and I know I'll keep referring to it for guidance and inspiration. Thank you so much Katherine. And and I think that perfectly translates into a 30 day, no spend challenge or low buy. So. Oh, we hope to see you there.

[Jill]

Yeah, please, please do support us if you're still here. That means like that means you're digging this. That means we're friends, we're vibing. So hit that subscribe button. Leave Us a Comment if you're listening just to the podcast, leave us a rating or review. If you have read the book, leave us a review on Amazon. It helps other people kind of know whether the book is going to be for or not. If you've not gotten the book, buywhat you love book.com and if you want.

[Jen]

More, then if you've decided a low buy or no buy year is really good for you, then check out our episode on values based spending because you'll get even more of that insight like Catherine was talking about in the review. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Siriani.

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