By Lane Gillespie, Bankrate.com

Spend any time on FinTok (the personal finance corner of TikTok) and you may have heard of a “no-buy” month, which is a budgeting challenge to not spend money on certain discretionary purchases for a month. Whether you eliminate one spending category in particular or cut discretionary spending altogether, the point of a no-buy challenge remains the same: less spending, more saving.

As Americans try to rework their budgets amid today’s economic challenges, such as inflation and stagnant wages, people are taking on variations of no-buy challenges to save more and change their spending habits. These challenges come in a broad spectrum: While some people are just cutting a few expenses to free up room in their budget or are simply trying to spend less, others are taking the more dramatic route by cutting nearly all spending for a year.

Kelci Crawford, a 35-year-old in Toledo, Ohio, is one such person. Crawford has sworn off spending throughout the entirety of 2025, except for bills (such as rent and utilities), groceries, replacements of needed items (such as shampoo) and a limited amount of mutual aid for friends and community members. They won’t be spending any additional money on discretionary purchases.

Crawford, a full-time freelance artist whose yearly income is below the federal poverty line, has a goal to reach their target $3,000 emergency savings fund this year and pay off a little less than $1,000 of business and personal debt. After looking at their budget last year, they realized they couldn’t afford to keep spending on discretionary purchases if they wanted to meet their goal.

“I caught myself (overspending), and I’m like, OK, I’ve got to do a hard reset. I’ve got to do a no-buy year,” Crawford says.

While cutting out all discretionary spending entirely for a whole year may guarantee you some extra savings by December, it’s not realistic for most people. Cutting out discretionary spending entirely is a major change, and cutting out toys, electronics and activities may be especially difficult for families with children. That’s why many people doing a no-buy challenge are adapting it to meet their own budgetary needs — choosing to cut out only some spending categories where they think they’re overspending, such as eating out, clothing or beauty items.

No-buy challenges are proving popular as many Americans say their savings need a reset. Nearly half (43 percent) of Americans would borrow money to pay for a major unexpected expense (such as $1,000 for an emergency room visit or car repair), according to Bankrate’s Emergency Savings Report. Without that sufficient savings cushion, a small emergency could lead to big consequences, such as being unable to pay your bills — which is also a concern for many people. About 1 in 3 (34 percent) workers are living paycheck to paycheck, meaning they have little to no money left for savings after covering monthly expenses, according to Bankrate’s Living Paycheck to Paycheck Survey.

While the no-buy challenge isn’t for everyone, as Americans report low savings and as the cost of living continues to increase, creative solutions like a no-buy challenge may be just what some people need to stay the course in today’s economy.

Americans are adapting the no-buy challenge to fit their needs

Iris Ayala, a 27-year-old content creator in Chicago, has adapted the no-buy trend to meet her own goals. To cut down on clutter and unnecessary spending, Ayala made a long list of items she won’t be buying in 2025, including makeup, athletic clothing, new technology, hair tools, hair care and reusable water bottles. So far, she estimates she’s saved about $5,000.

“I moved into a new place, and naturally, when you move you declutter things you don’t need anymore. I looked around and I just had a ton of junk,” Ayala says. “That’s what really inspired my no-buy year, because I’m looking at all these items I was buying just nonchalantly, and it’s all just money, in the end, that I threw away.”

A no-buy challenge may save you money, but there’s no guarantee that it will break an overspending habit in the long run. Without taking more steps towards a permanent mindset shift, it could be easy to fall back on old habits and revenge spend when the year’s up.

But four months in, Ayala feels that the challenge has permanently changed the way she approaches spending. Before, she felt she was buying too many unnecessary items based on online trends or because she saw them advertised on social media, not because she actually needed them. Now, thanks to the challenge, before buying something, she’s more mindful about whether she’s going to use the entire product and if she’s going to get her money’s worth.

“I’ve found a lot of benefits that aren’t just financial,” Ayala says. “My wallet is feeling a difference, for sure. I didn’t realize how much unnecessary spending I was doing, now that I’m a no-buyer. But I noticed just having less clutter has been good for my mental health.”

Money tip: If you’re curious about doing a “no-buy” challenge, try cutting discretionary spending for one week per month, or one month per year. But take the time to examine your spending habits and understand why you’re spending the way you are, so you can avoid “revenge spending” as soon as the no-buy is up.

The economy is incentivizing some to cut spending

Many Americans are doing a no-buy challenge now because of macroeconomic concerns. High inflation, high credit card interest rates, stagnant wages, new tariff policies and widespread federal layoffs in 2025 have made it more appealing to focus on saving over spending.

Peter Cohan, an associate professor of practice in management at Babson College, breaks the appeal of the no-buy trend into two categories: economic and psychological. From an economic perspective, many Americans are worried about how the state of the economy will impact their finances. Economists say there’s a 36 percent chance the U.S. will enter a recession by March 2026, according to Bankrate’s Economic Indicator Survey. Between a possible upcoming recession and the high prices Americans are facing today, some people feel it may be smart — or even necessary — to dramatically pull back spending.