Many people complain about living paycheck to paycheck. The complaints about losing all money by end of each month are commonplace. But the truth is that it does not have to be that way. If only we respected the use of our money, we would not be in that condition.

In this blog, I talk about the best way to save money and that is – To spend mindfully. One of the popular ways of bringing this mindfulness into spending is to try out the Low Buy challenge. In this challenge, one can set certain rules for personal spending. This is sort of a way to introduce control over money decisions. Fix a duration for the challenge to try it and refine it.

In my case, I tried a low buy year last year. My rules last year were quite simple to achieve by my usual standards. I am pushing it one notch up this year with the following rules.

My Low buy year rules for 2022:

Clothes

Buy a maximum of 1 a month.

You may have different problem areas compared to clothes. But for me, the unnecessary expenses are more in the area of clothes and books. For some, it may be food and subscriptions. Find your own problem areas before making the low buy rules. Do not venture into No buy challenge because complete elimination is always hard to sustain. My typical purchases are around 2 to 3 clothes a month. I donate old items regularly, so it looks like I own very less but putting a tab on buying more clothes will be the real way for me to save money.

Books

Buy a maximum of 1 a month.

I am an avid reader. The read for entertainment and for education. Reading fiction entertains me and non-fiction (especially self-help books) educates me. I do not want to eliminate this big avenue for self growth for the sake of saving money. I want to restrict the purchases to online books mostly though. Buying one book a month either on audible or kindle should be enough for me. A lot of old classic books are available for free anyway.

Eat out

Eat a maximum of 1 meal out a week.

This is not just a way to save money but also to cut the unhealthy calories from daily nutrition. Reused oil and frozen food is not only a major hindrance to improving health but also a great way to damage immunity.

Accessories

Zero jewellery, makeup, shoes.

I am not a fan of gold jewellery. I would rather change earrings every day to jazz up my outfit. Working from home has not changed my sense of style too much. Working in office clothes puts me in the right mood for work and is appropriate for video calls that are unplanned. This means I get to change up my accessories with each workday clothes as well. A little bit of makeup comes with it. Stylish shoes accompany me when I step out. I have very few of these but I feel they are enough for the upcoming year. I would not need to buy any this year.

Essentials

Spend on rent, petrol, groceries, send money to parents, invest in mutual funds, modem, mobile, fitness and education. These are not to comprise expenses.

Gifts

Buy eatable gifts for giving and say no to receiving gifts unless perishable.

Hope you found some tips to get inspired for your low buy year. Please leave a comment if you did. A very happy new year 2022 to all of you loyal readers of mine.