The No New Things Challenge

Your wallet and the planet will thank you

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Want to shift your relationship with shopping and move away from a consumer-driven lifestyle? Looking to save money, live a less cluttered life, or lighten your environmental footprint? The No New Things Challenge may be just what the doctor ordered.

Founded by sustainability expert and author, Ashlee Piper, the best thing about this challenge is that it’s radically simple: The only criteria is to abstain from buying new things for one month. Experiences like movies, concerts, and dinner are totally fair game, as well as the basics like bills, memberships, and groceries.

The experiment is a great opportunity to get creative and resourceful by shopping secondhand, upcycling, repairing things you already own, and using the sharing economy like your local neighborhood group or Buy Nothing group.

Interested? Want to try the experiment with me? Everything you need to know and simple action steps below.

Step One: Clarify Your Motivation

There are lots of reasons to take a break from buying new things. Maybe you want to clarify your priorities, live more sustainably, or just reclaim some valuable time, money, and energy. Even as a card carrying minimalist, I’m definitely guilty of spending far more time than I would like browsing, buying, and returning things in search of the exact-right-best-thing. Whether you want to reduce your environmental impact, save towards a specific goal, or just rediscover and enjoy the things you already own, make sure to clarify your motivation for joining the challenge before you dive in: what’s your most compelling why?

Step Two: Pick a Timeframe

If you’re trying a purchase pause or a #NoNewThings challenge for the first time, I suggest starting with one month, but it’s important to pick a timeframe that aligns with your schedule and makes sense for you. If the idea of buying no new things feels like a leap, try a week. If you want to go big, try a whole season. Looking for a dramatic challenge? Try a year like challenge founder, Ashlee Piper. Fun fact: Ashlee started practicing the #NoNewThings challenge because it aligned with her mission to live more sustainably, but over the course of a single year she ended up clarifying her priorities, reclaiming loads of time, losing weight, and saving $16,000.

Step Three: Set Yourself Up For Success

Consider what might make this experiment especially challenging for you, and make sure to set yourself up for success:

• Unsubscribe from marketing emails and catalogues that are designed to make you feel weak in the knees and hand over your credit card.

• Identify a few replacement behaviors for shopping that you enjoy just as much (i.e. baking, yoga, a chat with a friend).

• Tell supportive friends and family members about your goals so they can cheer you on.

• Make a creative plan for how you will handle upcoming events such as birthday parties or holiday that typically require gift giving (make something, gift an experience, etc.)

• Print out a paper calendar so you can check off each day that you’re successful and pat yourself on the back.

Make it as fun and easy as possible.

Step Four: Take Notes

You can use the notes app on your phone, or a paper notebook, to jot down observations as you go. This can be especially helpful for recording all of the things you want to buy (but don’t) so you can revisit it at the end of the challenge and see how many you still really want (my bet is very few). Trying this type of challenge can also be a great opportunity to learn more about your shopping triggers and habits so you can shop more intentionally in the future.

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I’ll be sharing updates all next month right here (wins! fails! learnings!) and hope you’ll join along. Challenges are more fun in community, so please share your goals in the chat so we can cheer each other on. Why do you want to join the challenge? What do you hope to shift or accomplish over the next month?