The Miserable Journal

I'm not going to buy anything for a year.  I am going to have a BUY NOTHING year.  I  read up on minimalism and the Buy Nothing Project and I couldn't think o a better thing to try for my first 365 day challenge.  I wish it was a completely "buy nothing" year but people need food, medicine, doctors visits, etc.  The most wonderful surprise about this challenge is you do get to buy some things and (this is where it gets sticky for me) YOU decide what you're going to buy.

I haven't quite decided what I'm going to put on my buy list but my don't buy list is easy.  Amazon, see ya next year.  Doordash, Grubhub, Ubereats etc....byeeeeee.  My plan is no grocery shopping either because I tend to fill the cart up to the brim even though most of my children have fled the nest and my husband eats maybe once a day.  Kohls and Target clearance racks will not see me this year.  No more Kickstarter or Indiegogo, which makes me sad.....let's face it, not shopping is going to make me sad.  Also no buying gifts for anyone else, this one is going to kill me.  I LOVE buying things for people.  I love seeing my kids eyes light up, I once made my husband run around the house like Macualy Culkin from Home Alone because I purchased him the worlds most awesome wheel barrow.  I've bought clothes, jewelry, food, trips, cooking utensils, photographs, sports equipment, excursions, horns to drink beer out of, cameras, film,  iPods, cupcakes and wheelbarrows  for people that made them smile or cry with happiness and so did I.  Giving that up with be harder than ... well, pretty much everything.

so things I know I need to buy but I'm not sure how yet

• food
• medicine
• doc visits
• MMJ -- hell yeah, not not buying this, no way no how
• travel expenses -- we have a pre-booked vacation in March for Hubs birthday, so I will buy upgrades or flights or parking or tipping people....but nothing from the gift shop dears.
• this list is subject to updating and emergencies.  
• Gas and car maintenance

General Rules for my BNY (Buy Nothing Year)

• Don't Buy Anything you don't need
• No impulse buying
• No online buying
• Only buy necessities at the grocery store, maybe with cash or strong limits
• No buying gifts for yourself or anyone else
• Give away one thing a week -- more if you can
• Sell one things a a week -- more if you can
• List what you would buy that day if you could, even if I'm missing out on deals, I don't want other people to miss out on something they could use

Goals

• Pay off credit card debt
• Pay off mortgage
• Learn to not impulse buy
• Learn to buy only what we need, no excess, less throwing away food that has gone bad, etc
• Feel good about the next 365 days

Why I think I can do this:  I have been buying "stuff" for years.  Retail therapy was my go to for a million years.  I believe it's somewhat hereditary and somewhat product of my environment.  I'll go into this later but I can easily "shop" in my own home.....as Jimmy Buffett says "Times are rough and I've got too much stuff" and I couldn't think of a better time to get rid of some stuff, not add to the pile.

So why am I  doing this?  I am hoping with not buying anything, changing my spending habits and actually putting money towards the right things  I want to pay off my house and get rid of all our credit card bills.  Yup, probably too high of a goal, but you miss 100% of the shots your don't take, so I'm taking a shot and giving this a shot.  So let's give that a low estimate $100,000 and see if someone on a limited budget can survive on nothing AND save and pay off existing debt.

Here goes.