r/nobuy • u/cranberrylime • 14h ago
It used to be so easy to not buy
As I sit here at about 7am in the morning and have already spent $20 without even leaving my house, I can’t help but think how easy it used to be to not buy stuff before the internet. I’m 43 so do still remember a time before internet shopping being so ubiquitous. If you were at home you weren’t spending unless you were calling in to QVC or something, which was probably a pain and you had plenty of time to think about your purchase while calling in, instead of just clicking a “buy” button. You could flip through catalogs in your house and browse but you didn’t have every product all around the world available to buy at any time of day, and even then you had to call the order in and wait ages for it OR I do even remember as a teenager having to fill out a form and mail checks in, haha. If you were at work you weren’t spending either unless you were going to a store on lunch break or something. Now I spend while I am bored at work. When I’m at home and remember something I want to buy (this morning it was for a new shower door handle. So not totally useless but still) I feel like everything is against me doing this. Like you used to have to actually go out of your way to spend money.
I’ve removed credit cards from PayPal, Apple Pay, Amazon, anything else I can think of. I’m so over this. Like another post said, why should those rich assholes get my money? I know this no buy will be difficult and take an extreme amount of vigilance I don’t know if I actually have.
Is there a daily check in thread on this sub? I think it would help a lot to keep accountable! Or is there a “talk me out of this impulse buy” thread where people post what they have in their cart and want to buy and other posters try to talk them out of it?
Good luck to us all, I’m going to sit down this weekend and really nail down my rules. 2024 was a year of stagnancy for me and I’m determined to make 2025 different.
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u/RandomUser5453 13h ago edited 13h ago
I think now is way likely to buy something not because of the internet because the internet is here for a while now.
Back when I was a teenager and a few years ago when I was in my early 20s,the ads weren’t this aggressive now they are everywhere. After a couple of posts they are piping up on every website plus ads on every corner of the website or app,reels with influencers that are pushing products then scroll and is an actual ad and then another influencer and so on and so forth. On YouTube it used to be no ads than it was one,now there are at least 3 impossible to skip sometimes and you see at least one sponsorship in that video you want to watch. On emails apps I receive ad emails from things are didn’t even signed up to.
A few years ago the ads were there but they weren’t as many. They were ads on blogs and sponsored posts on those blogs but they weren’t in your face. The social media it was more for friends and family. The only ads you were seeing were on tv mostly,but now are everywhere.
Then it was more of a conscious decision to buy now is more of a conscious decisions not to buy.
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u/Gnie99 12h ago
Agree 💯. It may sound counterintuitive but going physical shopping is working for us. We make a day of it and go as a family. Somehow the browsing in real life, leaves us going home empty handed. Its all so much more exhausting than shopping online.
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u/cranberrylime 11h ago
We go “shopping” the the library with the kids to make it feel like they get stuff. I actually have thought recently of buying a DVD player and cancelling streaming services so we can “shop” for DVDs each week instead of dealing with endless streaming. My kids are 6 and 8 which makes a no buy even harder for me!
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u/Shouldonlytakeaday 11h ago
This is a great idea! I have a DVD, you absolutely don’t need streaming services if you have one, though I do have Netflix for my teenage daughter.
The quality is also higher when you use DVD’s. You can get lots of documentaries.
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u/PithyLongstocking 10h ago
Great idea! If you watch DVDs instead of streaming services, you will greatly reduce the amount of ads your children see too.
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u/Sharp-Garlic2516 1h ago
My kids are 5 and 7 and we cancelled Disney this month. We’ve been using library DVD’s in the car for a solid year now, so I figured why not do it at home too, Blockbuster style? Lol
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u/JarlOfPickles 10h ago
Same! I find that when you can see and feel things in person, you realize how cheap and terrible quality most things are these days. I'm incredibly picky over materials and design lately-- I want things that will last and serve an intentional purpose in my life, instead of a constant cycle of buying poor quality goods that end up in the trash sooner rather than later.
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u/LanieLove9 9h ago
it’s exhausting and it’s like, ‘really it’s $30 for this?” it’s also nice to look at something physical, appreciate it, maybe even want it, and then walk away from it. i think the realization really hit, that just because i like something and want it, doesn’t mean i have to have it. even if it’s something small, even if it doesn’t put a dent in my bank account at all. i find that i forget about most things i ‘want’ after i physically experience it in the form of a sample or something in-store.
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u/DD265 13h ago
I recently realised that I prioritise 'shopping time' over almost everything else - and it's not even consciously shopping, it's doom scrolling then seeing an advert that draws me in, or trying to solve a problem like storage in the kitchen etc.
Recognising that if I wasn't doing an activity I'd probably be shopping in some way, has been really useful for shifting my priorities. It's still a work in progress, but now if I want to go for a run in the middle of a Saturday morning, I have far less FOMO over it.
When I was younger, I'd either really not have the money (I am just spending from other pots ATM) or I had a horse so I'd be at the stables all day, and like others said, unless you specifically went to the shops, it wasn't in your face all the time like it is now.
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u/DowntownComposer2517 14h ago
I like the app Pennies - it’s simple but I put a goal/budget in there and then force myself to write everything down. Once I have to write down my purchases I find I purchase way less and almost nothing unless it’s a need
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u/HockeyMom0919 12h ago
I try to stay off the computer and make sure I have plenty to do. Boredom is a major shopping trigger for me. I do puzzles, take walks, yoga, watch TV (no shopping shows!), read.
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u/cranberrylime 11h ago
Me too, a huge chunk of my purchases are because I’m bored at work. I have a job where I’m paid to have my skills available 9-5 but I don’t necessarily WORK from 9-5 so I wind up shopping a lot at work online. I have recently started playing Stardew valley though so at least that’s helped distract me from social media which leads to shopping haha
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u/PocketFullofLace 10h ago
What do you do for a living? I’m desperately trying to get out of healthcare.
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u/Meowed_up 11h ago
I decided to buy a timed phone box thing that you can put your phone in and it won’t open for whatever you set the time to. Can still answer calls but can’t scroll. I’m hoping this will help me cut down on my constant scrolling and shopping. We will see!
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u/No_Novel_Tan 3h ago
there is a subreddit called nobiydailycheckin or something like that.
Recording is hard. I forget very often.
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u/FMRecovery 14h ago
Alcoholic here. That accountability and group meeting part of AA is super helpful when it comes to curbing a behavior like drinking.
I don't have a solution I'm just here to say I feel you. My phone is literally a shopping box and I hate seeing that. Things I like to scroll are really just shopping apps and even social media is pumping ads everywhere.
My wife and I did a no buy month and it really plated a seed in our heads. I want to do more but am not perfect in anyway. Just checking in here and saying I wont spend with you today!