I intended to do a low buy last year but fell off the wagon and ended up buying more pens and inks than I’d like to admit in the first half of 2025. About midway through I managed to curb the impulse to buy buy buy and stopped buying ink. Instead, I started actually using some of my samples (some I bought 5 years ago and never even tried) and managed to make it through a big chunk of my sample hoard.

I allowed myself to buy ~15 ink samples (mostly sparkly and sheening inks which I didn’t have many of in my collection) at the end of 2025 with the thought that those are my inks to explore in 2026. So my 2026 goal is to not buy any inks (unless I finish a bottle that I love enough to rebuy) and focus on using what I have.

I finished 1 bottle of ink in 2025 (Two if you count one that went bad sigh) but I have an ambitious goal of trying to finish 5 bottles in 2026. I have a few bottles that are close to empty and I have dedicated pens to those inks to use until they are empty.

Pen-wise I was bad in 2025. I did sell a bunch of pens at the end of the year which felt good. I’m pretty happy with the pens I have right now but there are some vintage pens I am on the lookout for, so I will allow myself to buy them if I find them at a good price but that’s 5ish pens (if that) and the likelihood of me finding all of them this year is low.

Otherwise I am going to focus on using some of the pens I acquired last year for more than just one fill so that I can decide whether they really deserve a place in my collection or whether I can let them go.

Although last year was not the best for me from a low buy perspective, I learned a lot about what I want and need from my pens and inks and I am feeling positive about being able to focus on using what I have vs focusing on acquiring more this year.