- Mia Westrap decided to take part in a ‘no-buy year’ after years of struggling with her finances.
- Westrap tried to refrain from buying anything unnecessary – and it took a weight off his shoulders.
- Her “year without shopping” led to more meaningful relationships, less laziness, and independence.
This essay as told is based on a conversation with a 26 year old Mia Westrapa doctorate. student in UK. This essay has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider verified his identity and recent spending history.
I have been in and out of debt all my adult life.
I grew up in a lower working class background and by the time I was in college I had no idea how to manage my money. In three years at the university, I i was able to put about three grand into my overdraft. Once I graduated and got higher paying jobs, the money still wasn’t rolling in no matter how I got paid.
I didn’t feel like I was living this really extravagant lifestyle. But the reality was that I went out for dinner and drinks all the time and bought the clothes and books I wanted.
Towards the end of last year, it got to a point where I couldn’t do anything I wanted to do because I was so stressed trying to make ends meet during the month. I decided that I could probably try to do one of those “no purchase years”.
I made my first TikTok video saying my rules for the year – and when I woke up, I had a million and a half views. Now, I had some extra people to hold me accountable.
I try to stick to just the necessities
My “don’t buys” are basically anything that isn’t an absolute must.
The only thing I’ve allowed myself to buy that isn’t an absolute necessity is movie tickets. I live right next to a movie theater and that brings me joy. I go maybe once or twice a month and it costs about eight or nine pounds (around $11).
I don’t eat out anymore, I don’t buy food from small shops and I even make an effort to do a weekly grocery store and cook my own meals. As for going out drinking, I only stick to water and it hasn’t stopped me from joining friends.
I felt like there was going to be this huge change at first, but it was January and I didn’t want to leave my house anyway because it was freezing outside. It became harder in the summer when I wanted to buy summer clothes, go to a pub garden, treat me and let me have the summer of my dreams.
But to be honest, we figured it out. I went for a picnic or a walk and if it was hard, I just tried to make it to the end of the day.
Obviously, there were slip-ups, but not big ones.
Sometimes I didn’t accept the fact that I would be hungry outside the house. It’s not like I’m going to sit in a restaurant, but in an ideal world, I wouldn’t have to pop into a convenience store at the last minute and grab a sandwich. These things happen, but everything is much better thought out now, especially in terms of materialistic things.
It took a weight off my shoulders
I don’t think I’ll ever go back to mindless shopping, especially the way I did last year.
Never in my life have I ended a month with a positive number, but this year I finally managed to save.
It’s like a weight off my shoulders that I didn’t realize I had and it feels so much lighter. I didn’t realize how high the stakes were that I had absolutely nothing to fall back on in an emergency. Now, if someone in my life had an emergency, knowing that I would be able to support them is a slight anxiety relief for me.
It also helped me build more meaningful relationships. My friends and I could sit on the couch for six hours and not spend a dime. It was just as much fun, no more fun, than if we were to go spend £100 each in a bar. Also, being open and honest about my finances has really opened up my approach to life and now my friends feel they can reach out to me too.
In the past, I actually stayed in relationships for way too long because I felt like I wasn’t good enough to be single.
Now, in all aspects of my life, I feel a little more freedom and independence.