No Buy July is upon us! Starting tomorrow, we’ll be saving up a storm while enjoying the great frugal options for making the most of the summer. Today I’m sharing the exact No Buy July Rules I’ll be following for the month. Feel free to copy exactly or modify to fit your lifestyle. (Confused about the no-spend challenge or still need convincing? Check out my previous post on why now is the perfect time to go on a spending freeze.)
I’ve had a lot of people in the past week ask me, “What is No Buy July?” Of course I reply semi-sarcastically, “It’s where you don’t buy things… In July.” But of course that’s not true — otherwise you’d starve to death from lack of sustenance. Instead, No Buy July is a month in which you avoid buying non-essentials. Your definition of “non-essentials” may vary, and that’s why I’m writing this post. Here I’ll share what I can and can’t buy throughout the month, in the interest of full transparency with you all.
No Buy July Rules: The Essentials
These are the items I can purchase as I need them:
- Rent
- Regular bills (utilities, phone bill, etc.)
- Fresh produce (from the grocery store or the farmers market)
- Other groceries
- Toiletries
- Cat food
- Gas
- Gifts (budgeting ahead for these)
And that’s basically it! Sounds a little scarce at first glance, but there’s so much fun to be had for free in the summer that I’m not too concerned.
No Buy July Rules: The Non-Essentials
These items are off limits!!!
- Clothing and accessories
- Housewares (unless something critical breaks)
- Games and entertainment
- Fitness equipment
- Dining out/takeout
Eating out is definitely going to be my biggest hurdle. Since my office moved to Downtown Toronto, I’ve become slightly addicted to this Toronto-based order-ahead app called Ritual. It lets you order your meals from the comfort of your desk, and pick it up once it’s ready to avoid the line. Plus, the restaurant options are basically inside my building, and you can even piggyback off your coworkers’ orders to have them bring your meal up to you. This level of convenience has sabotaged all my best meal prepping intentions. (I definitely recommend Ritual, by the way… just not during No Buy July!)
No Buy July Rules: The Exceptions
As much as we’d like to be as successful as possible, Joe and I also need to be realistic about our lifestyle. We’ve agreed on a couple of specific exceptions on which we’re willing to compromise:
Tim Hortons Coffee
One per day MAXIMUM and only if we’re out and about. No quick jaunts to the Tims down the street when we have an espresso machine and a ton of tea at home! (This exception is mostly for Joe, as I get my Timmies for free at the office!)
Events with Friends
Joe and I have pretty strong homebody tendencies. So when we finally do work up the energy to go out with friends, I don’t want us to use No Buy July as an excuse. That being said, we’ll decide on a budget for these events ahead of time, and keep it to three for the month at a maximum.
Netflix
If we were being really stingy, we could cut off our Netflix subscription for the month. But given that we don’t have cable, we decided to preserve our sanity and lumped it in with our other bills.
The Countdown is On!
We’ll be spending time today and tomorrow prepping meals for the week, and celebrating Canada Day with our families. And throughout this coming month, I’ll be sharing my best frugal tips, as well as updates on my own No Buy July journey!
What are your No Buy July Rules? How are you prepping for the challenge ahead? Share your thoughts in the comments!