10 Things I Don't Buy Anymore in 2023

1. Plastics

The first thing the list wants you to stop buying is plastics, which is absolutely fantastic. Not only are plastics eating away at the planet, but they are unnecessary and waste a lot of money.

Find non-disposable products that you can wash and reuse. All my kids have water bottles that they carry around.

I invested in some of these straws. The thing about straws is that I feel that they can never get cleaned, but these ones actually open and you can wash them out. Then, they have a little “clasp”y bit and you pinch the straw back together. It works great. We’ve had these for a really long time, maybe two years, and my kids use them every day.

I do use a lot of Ziploc baggies, but not in day-to-day life, more for when we preserve food. We invested in a Food Saver, but we are still vacuum sealing into plastic bags.

Still, preserving prevents a lot of plastic waste in the long run, when you think about all the plastic that produce comes home from the grocery store in, so I feel less guilty about it.

2. Printer and ink

According to the article, we are basically in the age of the digital revolution, which is totally true. You can basically do everything online. There isn’t a lot of need for paper copies. 

Still, there are things you need a printer for. We try to limit it because printer ink and paper are crazy expensive, but I have to print for Girl Scout meetings and school things. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this on a list like this before, so, that was kinda cool.

3. Greeting cards

The blog is saying that sites like Hallmark and American Greetings have ecards that you can choose from and they will email them. I had no idea this was a thing. That’s pretty cool.

Don’t hate me, but I usually don’t do cards, except on rare occasions. My husband sends Christmas cards and holiday cards to his army buddies through the mail, just to stay in touch. I also do them for people who really, really treasure them and keep and enjoy them. However, typically, I usually do books instead.

4. App Subscriptions

This one comes up on every single list. On average, Americans spend $133 dollars per month on subscriptions and unused memberships. This is wild! Can you imagine what you would do with an extra $135 a month? That’s crazy to think you’re just throwing that out.

It’s a lot easier these days to forget about subscriptions and memberships that you have because it’s so easy to sign up for them. Our Roku saves the card information, so you don’t even have to type it in.

It incentivizes adding on TV services…and before you know it, you have ten streaming platforms, and are only gravitating to one or two. We rotate through all our subscription services, but we pretty much keep Netflix, because it will work when the others won’t. 

5. A daily coffee

This one triggers people. I totally get it. I don’t work a normal job, and when I did, I definitely stopped at a gas station sometimes on my way to or home from work to pick up something. When you're out and about it’s a lot more tempting. 

But, this article is saying that by investing the $3.50 for coffee every day into a Roth IRA, you will have an estimated $106,000 after thirty years. When you think about it, that’s crazy, because $3.50 is literally nothing, but in the long term can turn into a lot.

6. Cleaning supplies

I delved into this hard in 2022. I have this gallon-sized mason jar that has orange peels and vinegar. As you can see, I need to make another batch. I basically used this for everything. 

By diluting your vinegar in orange peels, limes, lemons, or apples, it dilutes the vinegar smell and makes it less pungent. The more you let it sit, the more it’s going to smell like oranges, and the less it will smell like vinegar.

I recommend letting it sit for at least two weeks in a cold, dark spot. I keep mine under my kitchen sink. This is basically an all-purpose spray. I used it on windows, my countertop, my stainless steel, as a duster, etc… This is basically the only thing I use.

The only thing I’m going to be purchasing moving forward is toilet bowl cleaner because I think that’s a better option, vinegar, Dawn dish soap, and the stuff to clean my floors — pine salt and baking soda.

7. Brand new clothing

It’s talking about thrifting. You can get things on Facebook Marketplace, eBay, and places like that. It’s better for your pockets. It’s great for the environment because less is heading for the landfill.

According to a report by secondhand clothing platform, thredUP, sales were expected to jump to $119 billion in 2022, up from $96 billion in 2021. That is wild. Good for them. 

8. Multivitamins

To be honest, I don’t know nearly enough about multivitamins or supplements to even comment on this. We take vitamins daily and my husband likes his supplements, especially when he’s on a fitness kick. He loves his fish oil.

9. Travel insurance

I don’t know enough about this to talk about in a video.

10. Cable TV

Honestly, this is another that hits almost every single list. I don’t think anyone under the age of 45 has cable TV anymore. In ten or twenty years, cable TV isn’t going to be a thing anymore. Everything will be streaming. That’s my personal opinion. 

Getting rid of cable saves money as long as you don’t ditch the cable and then get every single streaming service. So, be smart about it. I wish they’d stop putting this on lists because it’s something everybody knows already and nobody really has.

Things I don't buy

That’s it! Thank you for taking the time to hang out with me. Let me know below something that you will give up buying in 2023.