We’ve all heard about Dry July, but what about No Buy July? While Dry July is all about giving your liver the month off booze, No Buy July is an initiative from ME that encourages you to give your wallet the month off unnecessary spending. Essentials like food and transport and bills = necessary purchases. A cowboy costume for your Cavoodle? Very cute, but very unnecessary.
To help you kickstart the new financial year and supercharge your savings account, check out our top tips for spending nada this No Buy July.
1. Something borrowed.
Get involved in the sharing economy and borrow instead of buying. There are all sorts of lending libraries now – think books, toys and tools – but for something specific, put the feelers out on your local community Facebook groups – you’d be surprised how many people are happy to lend out their stuff.
2. Live-in department store.
Wondering how you’ll go 31 days without retail therapy? Then go shopping in your own cupboards. Rediscover forgotten clothes, fire up that unopened kombucha kit and dust off discarded homewares. Same goes with the pantry – challenge yourself to turn shelves of ingredients into days of meals, sans supermarket trip.
3. Mending before spending.
Don’t buy new if you can fix, upcycle or repurpose an item. The internet is full of handy tutorials and resources for this kind of thing, and there’s even repair cafes where volunteers will assist you to mend your item for free. We LOVE a second chance story.
4. Drop the F-word.
Welcome to 2023, where fees are a dirty word. So if your savings account is still lumping you with f-bombs left right and centre, it’s time to say ‘bye Felicia’ and hello to an account like SaveME, with zero monthly fees.
5. The great unsubscribe.
Addicted to adding to cart? Remove the temptation by unsubscribing from marketing emails. While you’re auditing your inbox, delete shopping apps off your phone too. You can’t want something if you don’t know it exists! Wanna find out how much subscriptions are really costing you? Click here.
6. Burn calories, not cash.
Next time you grab your car keys, ask yourself, ‘Could I walk or ride my bike instead?’ By racking up the kilometers on a pedometer instead of an odometer, you not only save money on fuel and vehicle running costs, you burn some extra calories and exercise your dog (or cat) at the same time.
7. Throw a pants party.
We’ve all got unworn clothing items lurking in our wardrobes, but instead of parting with them completely, throw a clothes swap party and admire your former duds on your best buds. (This does not include undies.)
8. Become a tradie.
Create your own system of payment by trading stuff. Like, paying your neighbour to mow your nature strip with fresh produce from your own garden. Nothing says “thanks for completing hard labour while I sat in my heated house” like some wonky lemons.
9. Get a gratitude attitude.
“The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” – Socrates.
Now that you’ve learned you can actually live on a lot less than you thought, take a moment to be grateful for what you DO have, not what you don’t. Gratitude is a proven happiness hack – who knew it could be a savings hack too.
10. Go “freegan”.
Freegan = financial vegan. But instead of going meat-free, you’re going price-tag-free. Start by joining your local ‘Buy Nothing’ group on Facebook to score free household items and work your way up to living rent-free by becoming a house-sitter.
Armed with this cheapskate cheat sheet, you’re all set to become a “Spend Zero Superhero”, where your superpower is saving dollars, not damsels in distress.
Watch your savings stack up with our high interest savings account.
With no monthly fees or confusing criteria, you’ll be crushing your savings goals sooner.
Get started
This article is prepared based on general information. It does not take into account individual financial objectives or needs and is not financial product advice.