Low Buy Year 2025 - March Summary

1/4 of the way through!

Ok, friends, we’ve made it through the first quarter of the low/no buy year!! Let’s give ourselves a big pat on the back for being more intentional with shopping so far this year (I just visualized you all giving yourselves a literal pat on the back, well, top of the shoulder actually ☺️).

Even if there’s been struggles or things haven’t gone exactly as planned, the fact that we’re changing the way that we shop is a huge accomplishment!!

I’d love to hear how your March was? Are things going as you planned? Are you struggling? Did you make any adjustments?

March felt like a slow burn for me. I went into it with nothing specific that I wanted to buy, a far cry from February when I had made my 2 purchases on the first day of the month.

I think the slow start was in part due to going down an r/Anticonsumption rabbit hole, which I’ve been dipping back into quite a bit over the month. Any other fans of reddit here? If so, let me know what your favorite subreddit is in the comments!

I think another reason that March felt slower for me was because of the anticipation I felt around my plan to transition my capsule wardrobe from winter to spring. While I could remember some of the items that I had stored away, I knew that there would be a few surprises in there that would give me that dopamine hit similar to shopping and discovering new things.

Capsule Wardrobe Transition {Winter -> Spring}

In this newsletter:

☑️ Purchases for the month

☑️ “Low Buy Toolbox” March Addition

☑️ March Planner Worksheets

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Purchases

Purchase #1 - Jeans!

On 3/12, I visited a local department store that sold Levi’s. I tried on a few pairs and I actually ended up buying a pair. But when I got them home, I kept questioning if I had made the right decision. They were the 501 ‘90s lightweight jeans and while I liked the fit, I wasn’t sure that I would like the material in the long run (79% Cotton, 21% Lyocell) as I like for my jeans to be 100% cotton. On 3/13, I ordered the 501 ‘90s ankle jeans from the website. I received them on the 19th and since then, I have worn them 4 times. I returned the lightweight ones to the store.

I’m really happy that I went with my gut and got the 100% cotton ones. They haven’t stretched out and I think that they will age beautifully. They add a lightness to my bottoms that will make styling my lighter tops and jackets easier, I think. This was the first item that I bought from my spring/summer wishlist, so I feel like I’m off to a good start!

What's on My Spring/Summer Wishlist?

Purchase #2 - More Jeans!!

These jeans were essentially free since I used consignment store credit to purchase them. I had seen them at a local consignment shop a few weeks before I bought them on 3/16 - I was trying on a red sweater so I decided to bring these into the dressing room too and I’m so glad that I did! They fit perfectly and I loved the seam details and placement of the pockets.

I’ve also worn these 4 times since I bought them and I think they’re going to be a very well-worn item in my wardrobe. It’s funny to think that I only just added blue jeans and have worn both of these so much already!

Purchase #3 - Cotton Maxi Dress

When I had laid out my low buy rules back in December, I thought that allotting 2 purchases/month would be a good way for me to approach my purchases. However, in January, I only made one purchase so I felt like I had a free purchase just waiting to be used up. Well, I used it this month!

I had to drop some things off at a local consignment shop and as I looked around while I was waiting, I found a couple of things to try on. As I approached the fitting room, this navy cotton dress was styled and displayed just outside the fitting room door. So, I took it in to try on. And I LOVED it - the fit was perfect, it’s made from cotton poplin, and I love the scalloped hem with the contrasting thread.

And I only paid around $5 for it! It was priced at $20 but I had $15 credit at the shop!

Honorable mention - Babaà Jumper No. 64 in Persephone

I mentioned how I’d love to have this jumper in my spring/summer wishlist. So this isn’t technically a part of my low buy rules, but I did purchase it in March. Well, my family purchased it technically.

It will be a Mother’s Day gift so while it is actually in my house right now, I will have to wait until May to see it, which I am very much looking forward to! I purchased it early because I had a discount code for 20% off that was only good until the end of March and since these sweaters are expensive, I wanted to take advantage of the savings. Also, we don’t really do surprise gifts in our family - we use wish lists for special occasions, or we gift money if that’s what the recipient wants. This way, everyone gets what they want and we don’t end up with clutter!

Low Buy Year Total Purchases

So far, I have made 6/25 purchases of my low buy year:

• Brown Moto Boots (Jan)

• Grey Wool Sweater (Feb)

• Grey Wool Coat (Feb)

• Blue Jeans (March)

• Blue Jeans (March)

• Navy Maxi Dress (March)

I feel really happy with the items that I have purchased so far. I haven’t worn the brown boots as much as I had anticipated that I would but I still think they were a good addition. I am extremely happy with purchases 2-5 and I have been able to get a lot of wear out of them in a short amount of time. I have stored my grey sweater away for the spring/summer (I know that I’ll be really happy to get it back out in the fall) but I’ve left my grey wool coat out for any colder days that we get. I think the maxi dress will turn out to be a great purchase for the warmer months to come!

Having found 2 pairs of jeans in March that I am extremely pleased with, I’d like to switch my focus to white tops, particularly a tank top and a t-shirt. I have also seen a pair of silver earrings at a local shop that I can’t stop thinking about!

Low Buy Toolbox

Whenever I need a bit of a mindset shift, I’ve always found it useful to go back and re-read some of my favorite books. There’s something about sitting in a quiet room without distractions, where you can pause and think about how your own life is similar or different, about how you can implement certain practices to improve your quality of life, etc. that feels proactive and like an act of self-care.

I’ve been feeling a lot of dissatisfaction with clutter lately. But it’s more the clutter that you don’t see everyday, which for me is the storage room. There are quite a few of my daughter’s things in there that she’s outgrown that we need to go through but I need to find a good time for her to do that with me.

And then there’s all the paper and books from my career that I’ve been holding onto and a filing cabinet full of old household paperwork that haunts me (I decluttered about half of it last year but then gave up). Thankfully, I have very little paper clutter coming in nowadays but I still have to deal with that filing cabinet that I want to get rid of altogether!

I think that my current fixation on the clutter in the storage room is because dealing with my clutter is something that I can control when everything else feels so turbulent in the world. Anyone else do this?

This is the book that I’m currently re-reading:

1. Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism

I think I enjoy this book so much because it’s a account of the author’s personal experience with minimalism and living with less. It feels like I’m reading his journal and I think it’s easy to see our own insecurities and frustrations in his words (even though our situations may be very different).

Whenever I read this book, I realize that I both have enough and also that I could live with even less.

I love this quote that the author shares:

“Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.”

-Rabbi Hyman Schachte

While this is a book about minimalism, I don’t think you need to be a minimalist, or even want to be one, to benefit from reading it.

2. The Millionaire Next Door

If you ever find that you’re comparing yourself to others and buying things just to keep up with everyone around you, this book is great for putting some things into perspective. Especially in today’s society with all of the new buy now, pay later methods for acquiring things such as Afterpay, Klarna, and Affirm, I think it’s important to realize that a lot of the things that people buy are an illusion for wealth.

I have re-read this one a number of times as well and it’s one of the books that I will heavily encourage my kids to read before graduating high school - actually I think they could benefit from it now (maybe good summer reading material for them)!

Is there any book that you find yourself re-reading when you need a mindset shift?

My March Worksheets

I felt really good about the purchases that I made in March.

I didn’t feel a frenzy to buy things at the beginning, which was a change from February, and definitely one that I prefer. However, I think the 2 things that I wanted in February were secondhand purchases (that I had found in January) and I can definitely get a scarcity mindset when it comes to those types of purchases.

I think that buying items new can be a calmer experience because the chance of the thing that you’re wanting being sold out is much less likely. Also, putting together my spring/summer wishlist almost felt as if I was shopping and now I have a plan for the next 6 months, so I can look forward to making those (or similar) purchases.

These worksheets are from a Low Buy Tracker that I put together at the beginning of the challenge. If you would also like to use the free tracker, you can download it here:

Low Buy 2025

3.04MB ∙ PDF file

Download

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You Might Also Enjoy

Low Buy Year 2025 - January Summary

Low Buy Year 2025 - February Summary

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I’d love to hear how March was for you. Are you doing a low/no buy challenge? If so, how did it go?

If you aren’t currently doing one, do you want to jump in for a month?

As always, thanks so much for reading! If you enjoyed the post, please leave a 🖤 and maybe consider sharing it 🫶🏻

xx Gillian