(WXYZ) — There's a new shopping trend for 2025, and it's actually a trend of not shopping at all. It's called "No Buy 2025" and people are using it to take over the finances.
The goal is to not spend money on unnecessary things for a whole year in an effort to bring down their debt.
In a world where there's plenty to buy, Tessa Benziger, the owner of Walking Lightly in Ferndale, would rather save and conserve. They encourage people to bring in their own containers for refill.
“There are so many products in the world, there’s so many containers, so much clothing, we have we have so much abundance of stuff out in the world” and the level at which we’re consuming is not sustainable for our planet," Benziger said.
She's being doing it for years and even opened Walking Lightly, a zero-waste shop, four years ago.
“We are Detroit's first zero-waste store and refinery," she said.
For her, not buying the unnecessary for a full year sounds like a good idea.
“The point isn’t really to not buy anything. The point is to be really mindful about our consuming," she said.
Rachel Eckert also practices buying as little as possible.
“Everything I have on except my boots were thrifted," she said.
No Buy 2025 is a new trend promoting the purchase of as little as possible. There's also "low buy 2025," an attempt to promote more awareness around spending just to spend.
“It’s a dream come true because I’ve been living this way all along, but I love when people get inspired to catch on and join the party," Eckert said.
However, it's not for everyone. Others can't imagine having that much control over the urge to splurge.
“Usually if I see something that I want, I just buy it and I don’t really think about, 'Oh, I got bills to pay,'" Adam Childers said.
For Meg, a retail worker at a newly-opened shop called Beatnix on Nine, less shopping is a negative.
“We want them to shop and we want them to be able to get items that they need and that they want to help them mentally and physically because when you don’t have those items it can be depressing and in these days and times it’s hard to fight that," Meg said.
Looking deeper into the trend, we talked to expert Kevin Ketels with Wayne State's Mike Ilitch School of Business.
“What’s really interesting about this viral trend is that it’s probably very effective because when you’re trying to trim from your budget, it’s very simple," he said. “Like I pick a couple things. Maybe it’s that I brew my own coffee instead of bu that $5 or $6 or $7 coffee in the morning."
Ketels said for people taking control over their personal finances, tackling debt can help create better habits long-term and should not impact the greater economy.
“I don’t think that this will have a wide impact on consumer spending in the United States because we are a very materialistic society and we value buying things," he said.
But, it is starting conversations.
“I’m jealous the people who are actually able to save money," Childers said. “I been trying to but it’s not working out."
