What is No Buy Feb?

Its pretty simple.. Only buy what must be got (clearly you are going to need to buy your pet food) most peaple do allow themselves to buy basic food items but not all do.. and otherwise, anything that is a want/wish/would be nice is NO BUY..

I am stunned to realize that I did my first No Buy Month (feb) in 2011.. that means this is my 12th year for doing some version of this..

Anything that is a need, as in I need to X, then you can get it.. On average in a non-pandemic year you should be able to save at least a couple hundred dollars over the month.. its a way to put up a little extra, pay off those last of the Christmas bills and so on.

We have always allowed farm/or animals a pass on this as required, clearly if I need to spend money on my dog or a cat for health reasons, I am going to do so.

The big one this No Buy Feb is reno’s. Dear Hubby is taking the last two weeks of Feb off work so we can focus down hard on finishing some renos before spring and all that comes with it work wise.

A) I have not ordered and or bought all the required supplies, I have some things but not others, and even so, if you have ever done a reno, you know that there will be SOMETHING that you forgot on the list and will need to get more of or a different part or whatever.

So I am giving a Reno pass on No Buy Feb, if we have it, we use it, if we have to buy it, I will own it and put it on the spend side, not the save side.

So Here is my No Buy Feb Rules

No Personal wants!

This right there cuts out any chance of me doing a add on to a online order or asking for a few extra things on I am heading to town.. it also means no fab friday sale shopping third friday of this month.

Local Food programs is not allowed this year, I am going to give myself leeway only on salad greens/salad fixings if I truly run out of homegrown.  This is for health reason only and it will be limited tightly to just meet the daily requirements for both of us.

I am very VERY slowly healing and I can not allow a No Buy Feb challenge to set me back, so salad greens and fixings are allowed. Costs on these will be recorded.

No bulk buys allowed!

When it comes to the farm, the same rules have applied for the past 10 years.. if the farm or the farm critters need it.. its allowed.. period..

Now comes the far more tricky part.. the above are standard rules and while they can be surprisingly harder to live by then you think.. a little buckle down and it happens pretty well..

How do I work in future needs/restocking/back orders?

I do get a few things in monthly on amazon which nets me 15% savings on them and I will pause them for one month for this.

This year, there will be no sales.. I think its going to be all about.. stock and back orders..

So here is my general rules in this regards.. If its been on my pick it up list for more then 3 months and its been not available and or on back order and shipment came in..

I am allowed to get it..

If I know I need it for something within THIS YEARS coming projects and I KNOW just! what it will be used for and when, then if its stock and I am not sure at how long that might remain.. then if I can find it this month,

That really narrows the window of what I can consider but keeps some flex and common sense in there..

Nitty-Gritty

We have 6 chicken layers, they are on average giving us 3 eggs a day on no heat or extra lighting, we also have so far three duck hens out of 6 that are giving one to two eggs per week but that will increase as the daylight does.

We have a milking sheep so assume 6 to 8 liters per week available.

We have a indoor greenhouse but its not up and running properly at this time, As noted i was sick all of aug and into sept (including two hospital stays) then did a very slow recovery only to end up sick again first part of dec and back in again for a even longer hospital stay and am still in recovery at this time.

Asking hubby to take on the greenhouse with everything happening did not happen! So while we can start things now, its not like I am walking into No buy feb with a stocked and ready to go greenhouse

Having said that, I am walking to it with a full fridge, a well stocked pantry, a well stocked cellar and stuffed to the gills freezers.

I am expecting to do a once a week post with one follow up, but you never know, I might do a meal or recipe as well, we will see.

So anyone want to join me in No Buy Feb, I am planning on doing the March Pantry Challenge so maybe one appeals more then the other?