Low Buy Year 💸 Spending Less Without Feeling Deprived (My Plan for 2026) — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00I'm officially doing a lowby year. Not a
2. 0:03no-by year, not extreme, but definitely
3. 0:06still very intentional. In today's
4. 0:09video, I want to go over what a lowby
5. 0:12actually means. A little bit more about
6. 0:14my personal why, my lowby framework for
7. 0:18the challenge, how this supports bigger
8. 0:21goals, what I'm maybe a little bit
9. 0:23nervous about, what I'm excited about,
10. 0:25my plans for staying accountable. I also
11. 0:28want to talk a little bit about who a
12. 0:30challenge like this would be good for
13. 0:32and maybe who it wouldn't be good for.
14. 0:34In case you're new here, my name is
15. 0:36Leah. I was a horrible shopaholic that
16. 0:39decided to do a no buy year in 2025 and
17. 0:42it was the most transformational
18. 0:45incredible experience. It was the best
19. 0:48thing I could have done for myself and
20. 0:49it has completely changed the way that I
21. 0:52feel about shopping and consumption and
22. 0:55money and so many other areas of my
23. 0:59life. It has genuinely positively
24. 1:01impacted almost every area of my life.
25. 1:05So this year I've decided to do a lowby
26. 1:09year and I kind of fell into this on
27. 1:12accident because at the end of my no buy
28. 1:15year, I was expecting to really want to
29. 1:19spend money and to want to shop and to
30. 1:21want to do all the things that I
31. 1:23couldn't do. But I don't feel that way
32. 1:24at all. and I went into January and have
33. 1:28had no desire to spend money on the vast
34. 1:31majority of categories that I otherwise
35. 1:34would have the the version of me before
36. 1:372025 would have loved to go shopping
37. 1:40immediately and doing all of these
38. 1:42things that I just truly have no desire
39. 1:43to do anymore. I want to start with what
40. 1:46a lowby actually means to me. And so the
41. 1:49whole core philosophy behind this
42. 1:52challenge this year for me is mostly
43. 1:55just really focusing on that
44. 1:57intentionality over restriction. I did
45. 2:02restrict myself way more heavily in 2025
46. 2:05when I was doing my no-by. Um this year
47. 2:08I really have no intention of having red
48. 2:11categories. So, in my no-by, I
49. 2:14structured things by red, yellow, and
50. 2:15green so that I could easily tell what
51. 2:19were things that absolutely I could buy,
52. 2:21what were things I needed to be cautious
53. 2:22and aware of, and what were things that
54. 2:24I could not buy. And I've decided to
55. 2:27basically remove all reds for the
56. 2:29purpose of this challenge. And the
57. 2:31reason why I feel safe doing that is
58. 2:33because I just don't have the impulses
59. 2:35anymore. I don't have the desire to to
60. 2:39shop the way that I did. And so removing
61. 2:42those restrictions is completely fine
62. 2:44for me because I just it's not a problem
63. 2:47anymore. Obviously, this is something
64. 2:49I'm going to be aware of and I want to
65. 2:51make sure that if there's ever a time I
66. 2:54find myself going back to old habits. I
67. 2:57will absolutely be sure to cut myself
68. 3:00off again and do what I have to do. But
69. 3:03I just feel so fundamentally changed
70. 3:06that I truly do not foresee that being
71. 3:08an issue. My personal why behind this
72. 3:11challenge is just that honestly I love
73. 3:14this version of myself so much. I have
74. 3:16been able to save so much more money. I
75. 3:18have been so much less stressed out. I
76. 3:20find it so much easier to let go of
77. 3:22things. I'm still on another just
78. 3:25absolute tirade of getting rid of things
79. 3:27and decluttering. So, I'm sure I'll be
80. 3:29putting up a lot of cleaning and
81. 3:30decluttering videos soon as well because
82. 3:33I just really want to get down to only
83. 3:35the items that I love and use. And I
84. 3:38don't want the clutter. I don't want to
85. 3:40bring things into my home that I'm not
86. 3:42going to be using. I just truly do not
87. 3:45see the point. And if anything, all it
88. 3:47does is create more stress for me. And
89. 3:49so, I just I have loved this feeling so
90. 3:51much throughout my no buy year that I
91. 3:53absolutely want to continue that into
92. 3:552026 and for the rest of my life. Some
93. 3:57of the things that I found to be true in
94. 3:59my no buy year were just how much better
95. 4:02lifestyle creep was to avoid. It was
96. 4:04like I just am not impressed by things
97. 4:07easily anymore. I'm not very
98. 4:09impressionable anymore. Ads do not get
99. 4:12to me like they used to. I feel like I
100. 4:14have way less decision fatigue the the
101. 4:16less things that I have. If I have one
102. 4:20of that item, I know that that's the
103. 4:22item that I have that does that job and
104. 4:24that's it. That's all I need. I don't
105. 4:26really need to make many decisions and I
106. 4:29personally really like that. And also
107. 4:32just again financially, you know, I
108. 4:34think that really being mindful of my
109. 4:37money and continuing to really place the
110. 4:40value on my time rather than just on the
111. 4:45money and viewing things through that
112. 4:47lens um also became super apparent to me
113. 4:50during my no-by year. And I really want
114. 4:52to continue that in 2026 in my low buy
115. 4:55year. And so that's kind of another main
116. 4:59reason why I feel like it's so
117. 5:01beneficial and why I want to do this
118. 5:03again. So I guess overall, I've just
119. 5:05loved the peace that comes with a
120. 5:07challenge like this. I have loved the
121. 5:09alignment. I have loved the freedom and
122. 5:14all of those things are things that I
123. 5:15want to see this year for myself as
124. 5:17well. So that's why I'm looking forward
125. 5:20very much so to doing this lowby.
126. 5:22[snorts] Okay. So, going into my
127. 5:24framework for the low buy year, like I
128. 5:27said earlier, I usually set things up
129. 5:29red, yellow, green. I have no reds right
130. 5:32now. I do have a lot of yellows, though.
131. 5:36So, I actually did a video recently. If
132. 5:38you haven't seen that yet, I will link
133. 5:39that in the description and maybe tag it
134. 5:41somewhere here as well. But, I went
135. 5:43through 26 things that I had no
136. 5:46intention of buying in 2026. And I
137. 5:48phrased it that way purposely uh as well
138. 5:51because those are not reds. Those are
139. 5:53not things that I, you know, I'm going
140. 5:55to get in trouble with myself if I buy.
141. 5:59They're just things that I don't have
142. 6:01any desire to buy and I don't see a a
143. 6:04time this year when I would need those
144. 6:07items. And it was unbelievably easy for
145. 6:10me to come up with a list of 26 things
146. 6:12that I had no intention of buying. And I
147. 6:15feel like I say this in every video, but
148. 6:16if I could tell that to myself from a
149. 6:19year from 2 years ago, I just would not
150. 6:23believe you. Like I I am so different
151. 6:25now in the best way. Some other things I
152. 6:28do want to mention that I will
153. 6:31absolutely be spending money on this
154. 6:33year that I'm aware of at the moment.
155. 6:35The first one being travel and
156. 6:36experiences. I have every intention to
157. 6:40wander quite a bit this year. I would
158. 6:43like to travel a lot this year, local
159. 6:45travel as well and local experiences and
160. 6:49things like that so that the vast
161. 6:51majority of my time is not spent only in
162. 6:54my house and only on screens. I am
163. 6:58focusing a lot on hobbies this year as
164. 7:01well. I really want to pursue all of
165. 7:05these hobbies and interests that I have
166. 7:07that ended up being sidelined for so
167. 7:10long. you know, I always thought that I
168. 7:12was going to do those things, but I
169. 7:13never prioritized them, and that's
170. 7:16something I really want to focus on this
171. 7:17year. Also, any kind of health or
172. 7:20wellness. I've talked about this quite a
173. 7:22bit um throughout all of my no-by series
174. 7:26um in 2025, but that was a very tough
175. 7:28year for me physically and mentally. I
176. 7:31ended up getting very sick. I ended up
177. 7:32in the hospital. Um I had a lot of other
178. 7:35recurring health issues after that
179. 7:37hospital stay and all of that kind of
180. 7:40stuff. So, it just reminded me how
181. 7:43important our health is. And you know, I
182. 7:47think as someone that is a younger
183. 7:48person, I'm 27, it's very easy to take
184. 7:51our health for granted. And it was
185. 7:57unfortunate that I had to go through
186. 7:58that, but in the same sense, I'm
187. 8:02grateful that I did because it just
188. 8:04reminded me the value of our health.
189. 8:07like we that out of everything that is
190. 8:10the single most valuable thing, your
191. 8:12time and your health. It just it really
192. 8:14is. And so that is something that I want
193. 8:17to be unapologetic about spending money
194. 8:19on and spending time on and spending
195. 8:20effort on in 2026. So those are like
196. 8:24hardcore greens. Um I have no issue
197. 8:27spending money on that as long as it's
198. 8:30reasonable and within a budget as well.
199. 8:33How this supports bigger goals I think
200. 8:36is really important aspect of this
201. 8:38challenge too. And understanding this
202. 8:40about yourself and about the challenge I
203. 8:43think is very important in order to help
204. 8:45make it successful. One of the biggest
205. 8:47things that I noticed in my no-by year
206. 8:50was how much it positively impacted the
207. 8:53other areas of my life too. And that was
208. 8:55something that I really was not
209. 8:56expecting. You know, I I had a feeling
210. 8:58it would benefit me financially
211. 9:00obviously cuz I was just spending less
212. 9:02money. But I was not expecting how
213. 9:05holistically it was going to help me and
214. 9:09transform my life. And so I think having
215. 9:12a good grip on how this supports your
216. 9:14bigger goals is very helpful. And so
217. 9:16some of the things here is of course,
218. 9:18yes, financial goals, saving, investing,
219. 9:21net worth growth, all of that. Of
220. 9:24course, it's going to be helpful. You're
221. 9:25just going to save more money doing
222. 9:26this. [snorts] But it also has helped so
223. 9:29much just with my mental health. It's
224. 9:31helped with my physical health. It's
225. 9:33helped with the clutter in my home. It's
226. 9:36helped with simpler routines. It's
227. 9:39helped with that decision fatigue. It's
228. 9:41helped with um allowing me space to be
229. 9:44more creative and allowing me to find a
230. 9:48more authentic version of myself. It has
231. 9:51also really perfectly aligned both my
232. 9:57financial life but also the way that I
233. 9:59feel about minimalism, the way that I
234. 10:02feel about living intentionally.
235. 10:06It it just really created this full
236. 10:08circle for me where I just truly
237. 10:12I just feel so connected to myself and I
238. 10:16feel so introspective and I feel so
239. 10:19aligned and I would wish this on
240. 10:22everyone. It's such a better way to
241. 10:25live. It's such a more peaceful way of
242. 10:27living and I'm so grateful for that and
243. 10:30I think that is a huge part of how this
244. 10:34challenge or a challenge like this will
245. 10:36benefit more than just the goal that you
246. 10:39might think it would. You know what am I
247. 10:42nervous about? I think a lot of people
248. 10:44feel very nervous in the beginning. I
249. 10:47will tell you I have absolutely no
250. 10:49nerves about this. I think I went such
251. 10:52the cold turkey route in a lot of ways,
252. 10:55going from someone that was shopping
253. 10:58constantly and had major major impulse
254. 11:00problems to doing a total noby year. I
255. 11:04think that that was such a stark
256. 11:06contrast for me. And I think going for
257. 11:09like the absolute hardest version first
258. 11:12and then now doing what is a much more
259. 11:15lax and relaxed version of a no-by year.
260. 11:20I really have no nerves about it. I will
261. 11:22say, you know, some people might be
262. 11:25nervous about um failing on the
263. 11:28challenge. And to that, I will tell you
264. 11:32it's okay. It's actually fine to fail.
265. 11:34The biggest thing I can tell you there
266. 11:36is please don't use that as an excuse to
267. 11:39quit. It is so easy when we're doing
268. 11:41challenges like this
269. 11:44where the second we slip up, we're like,
270. 11:46"Oh, yep. Turns out I can't do it." And
271. 11:47we just use that as an excuse to stop
272. 11:49it. And I don't want you to do that if
273. 11:52you fail. I want you to go, "Oops, I
274. 11:54failed and then re recognize why you
275. 11:59failed and then move on." There is no
276. 12:01reason to use that as an excuse. Just
277. 12:03move on. The other thing you might be
278. 12:05nervous about is social pressures. And
279. 12:08the the biggest thing I can tell you
280. 12:10here is is you do want to be mindful
281. 12:11about who you're around and also the
282. 12:14kind of media that you're watching and
283. 12:17what you're really allowing into your
284. 12:19brain because your subconscious is
285. 12:21ultimately very powerful as well. So
286. 12:23even if you think that you're not being
287. 12:25directly influenced by these things, you
288. 12:27are. Um even if it is on a subliminal or
289. 12:31subconscious level, you are being
290. 12:32influenced. So, I think it's important
291. 12:34to try to mitigate that a little bit,
292. 12:37but I think overall people are very
293. 12:39supportive of this. We're also in a very
294. 12:42economically challenging time right now.
295. 12:46So, I think now is really a better time
296. 12:49than maybe ever to be more frugal. And I
297. 12:52think people will be much more
298. 12:53understanding of people that are trying
299. 12:56to save money and that are trying to
300. 12:58stop their consumption habits and all of
301. 13:00those kinds of things. So, I think
302. 13:02you'll see people will be more
303. 13:04supportive than you may think. And just
304. 13:06be honest with people. That's my other
305. 13:07thing, too. If you're nervous about how
306. 13:09everybody else in your life is going to
307. 13:10react, just be open and honest. And I
308. 13:13think that you will generally be
309. 13:15surprised at how positively people will
310. 13:17respond. And in fact, you may even
311. 13:19inspire other people. I found that a lot
312. 13:22in in doing my challenge. Many of the
313. 13:24people that I told in my personal life
314. 13:27about this, they were like, "Wait,
315. 13:28that's actually such a great idea. I
316. 13:30should do something like that. I should
317. 13:31try that. And so you may even be a
318. 13:34positive influence on someone else. What
319. 13:36am I excited about? This one is way
320. 13:39easier to answer than the things that
321. 13:41I'm nervous about. And that's because I
322. 13:45I am so optimistic about this because
323. 13:47this is just like the way that I live
324. 13:49now. And I think that this challenge is
325. 13:50honestly going to be pretty easy for me.
326. 13:52I have set up a framework that I think
327. 13:54is extremely sustainable. I have also
328. 13:57done the inner work to truly be a
329. 14:00different person now. And so I just
330. 14:02don't really think this is going to be
331. 14:03that challenging for me to be honest.
332. 14:05Um, but I'm excited to again benefit
333. 14:08financially. I'm very excited to get
334. 14:11even more uh or to declutter even more
335. 14:15to have less clutter. I am also very
336. 14:18excited to just be more present and also
337. 14:22continuing to prove to myself that you
338. 14:24don't need consumption all the time in
339. 14:28order to have a happy and full and
340. 14:31fulfilling life. How do I plan on
341. 14:33staying accountable? For me personally,
342. 14:36I will be doing monthly check-ins just
343. 14:38like I did my noby monthly check-ins. I
344. 14:41also do a financial check-in monthly,
345. 14:44which I will also be doing this year, so
346. 14:45you can see how this impacts me
347. 14:47financially. And hopefully you all will
348. 14:50help hold me accountable as well. One of
349. 14:52the main reasons that I started this
350. 14:53channel and started talking about all of
351. 14:55this stuff on this channel is because I
352. 14:57wanted to have a community that was
353. 14:59working towards the same things that I
354. 15:01was and that, you know, was going
355. 15:04against the grain of what a lot of
356. 15:06social media and society pushes you
357. 15:09towards, which is this life of
358. 15:11constantly wanting and needing needing
359. 15:14more. Um, when that just isn't true. And
360. 15:17I think that we have built a really
361. 15:20awesome community here. And if you're
362. 15:22not subscribed, that reminds me, please
363. 15:24subscribe to the channel and consider
364. 15:26giving this video a like and leaving me
365. 15:27a comment. All of your interactions mean
366. 15:30so much to me. And it also really helps
367. 15:32the channel grow and hopefully reach
368. 15:34more people that it can help hopefully.
369. 15:37But I I want you all to join me on this
370. 15:39and I want to be here to support you as
371. 15:42well. Like it it is so meaningful to me
372. 15:45when we get to have conversations about
373. 15:47what we're struggling with and your
374. 15:49wins. Like when you guys tell me that
375. 15:50you have a big win, like I literally
376. 15:52feel like it's happening to me, too.
377. 15:54Like I get so excited. And so I really
378. 15:57like I really genuinely look forward to
379. 15:58that kind of thing. And so I'm hoping
380. 16:00that you will help hold me accountable
381. 16:02and I will be happy to help hold you
382. 16:04accountable as well. And finally, who is
383. 16:07this challenge for or maybe who it isn't
384. 16:10for? Ultimately, I feel like anybody
385. 16:13would benefit from this challenge. I
386. 16:15really do. However, I do want to say
387. 16:18that it's very important where your
388. 16:20mindset is as you enter a challenge like
389. 16:23this. So, the person that I would say
390. 16:25this isn't for is the person that has no
391. 16:28desire to be introspective, that has no
392. 16:31desire to challenge themselves. Because
393. 16:34if you're just starting something like
394. 16:36this for the first time, it will be
395. 16:38challenging. I really, really struggled
396. 16:41the first couple months. And expect
397. 16:44that. Expect that it's going to be hard.
398. 16:46If you are someone that wants to be
399. 16:47intentional and wants to grow and wants
400. 16:50to save money and wants to be healthier
401. 16:52and wants to be happier, then I think
402. 16:54this challenge is definitely for you. If
403. 16:56you've made it this far into the video,
404. 16:58thank you so much for watching. If
405. 17:00you're doing a no-by or a lowby year or
406. 17:03challenge, let me know in the comments.
407. 17:05I would love to hear from you. What are
408. 17:07you excited about? What are you nervous
409. 17:09about? Do you need any advice? Do you
410. 17:12want me to talk about anything specific?
411. 17:13Please let me know. I really want to
412. 17:15make content that is helpful to you all.
413. 17:17Be on the lookout for my low buy monthly
414. 17:20recaps as well as my monthly financial
415. 17:24recap and resets. But other than that, I
416. 17:27hope you have an awesome rest of your
417. 17:28day, and I look forward to seeing you in
418. 17:30the next