To think that buying "stuff" is getting out of hand?

[LunaLoveg00d]

Let me preface by saying I am not a lentil knitting vegan eco-warrior. I buy stuff, I drive, I fly abroad on holiday and we don't grow our own food.

However. Since I have had my first child - only 13 years ago - the culture of buying "stuff" seems to have boomed and I don't think it's positive. Supermarkets and other shops are full of (mainly plastic) tat which people are encouraged to buy for every festival imaginable - Valentine's, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Easter, New Year, Christmas, Halloween - the list is endless.

You can't just have a pumpkin lantern for Halloween any more - you have to have fairy lights, cupcake cases, scary decorations, glow in the dark skeletons, adult AND child costumes, bunting, paper chains, etc etc etc. And nearly everything sold is poor quality or designed to be used once or twice and thrown away.

Clothing is the same - chains like the supermarkets, Primark, New Look or H&M are all about churning out clothes as cheaply as possible, designed to be worn for a few weeks or months and then chucked.

It's just all so wasteful and crazy. We are filling up landfills at a rate of knots with all of our plastic crap and disposable clothing and teaching our kids that celebrating festivals and special days isn't about being nice to each other or spending time making or finding a special gift, it's about buying as much "stuff" as you can as cheaply as you can and then chucking it out when you're finished.

All a bit depressing really.

I find it very hard to let go of things so I try to buy less in the first place. I don't mind if clothes go a bit bobbly and can't be bothered to get new cushions etc very often. I don't know anyone who gets new Xmas decs each year; maybe one or two new ones. My sofas are 8 years old and I still think of them as new.
I was talking to someone recently who can't resist buying lots of cute clothes for her daughter. She was complaining about lack of space but just keeps buying stuff.

Completely agree with you OP. It's a vicious circle complete with pressure from society.

I've bought leggings from Asda that (even after washing and tumbling prior to use) have leaked dye onto my dd's legs.

I buy really carefully now. I have a washable and not too fussy Halloween costume bought 6 years ago which my eldest wore 3 years running (pinned as it was so small the last year) and then my youngest is wearing for 2-3 years. This year will be the last time she'll fit into it. THen it will go to my niece.

I'm charity shopping clutter all the time (every single week) but with stuff being so cheap it's hard to stop it coming into my house. The last item was party bag stuff, crappy plastic toy that ds already has several versions of.

Even on Fb selling groups now the same people pop up weekly selling stuff they bought the week before. When I was growing up we didnt care if the curtains didnt match the cushions or if you had a red sofa , green carpet and a flowery rug. As long as it was clean and in good condition. Now it seems for some people they change their furniture and decoration of their homes almost monthly .

And dont get me started on the photos people put up of their little darlings presents ! 1 of my friends recently put up photos of their dc' 1st birthday and it was actually quite overwhelming. A 4 tier cake and more presents than some famillies give their kids for a whole year. Its ridiculous . Whats wrong with giving them a present or 2 and keeping the rest for christmas ... this is why so many kids are given age related inappropriate stuff because they get so much by the time they reach the age to play with it they are bored of seeing it and are given new toys .
We are giving a great example to the next generation ...

Yanbu, I completely agree. I finally feel like I have found my people! People call me tight as I don't want to buy my children a dressing up outfit just to be worn for one day, birthday banners get recycled, I just don't see the point of having many coats/shoes when they grow so much etc. I would rather spend money on experiences, and luckily the children have learnt about landfills at school

Do people really buy new Christmas decorations every year?

I might buy something new each year, but don't replace everything as some people do. Last year I got a lovely little white dome thing made from thin porcelain and when you put a tealight inside it glows and it's all Christmassy and lovely. I adore it and it was about £8 from the Christmas market.

That's different though from people who decide that the "in" colours for decorations for 2016 are green and silver, or black and gold, or purple and white or whatever, then head down to the shops and buy accordingly, while discarding the last year "unfashionable" decorations in the bin.

Right so Mumsnetters, what are we going to DO about it??

I have already decided that this Christmas is going to be pared down considerably - I am having surgery early in November and won't be able to go shopping. So I will be buying experiences rather than "stuff". I'm not buying or sending Christmas cards and will make a charity donation instead. I'm not buying anything for Halloween and the kids can cobble together costumes from what we have already.

I'm taking the lazy way out... No plastic tatt of cheap clothes for my nieces/nephews/cousins for Xmas, they are each getting a gift voucher

I agree OP. Too much spending too much stuff. I've started throwing things away and keeping things until they wear out- well I'm trying to.

Toys are so cheap now that me and my DH find that what was once considered a "main present" is now being given by grandparents, aunties and uncles etc. So our modest offerings to our children are being totally outshone by other people's gifts. They are being given in complete love so it's very hard to ask them to spend less. Particularly if it's something huge but only cost £25 half price in the sale or whatever. I'm not sure what the answer is.

I've done homemade Christmas presents in the past. Flavoured vodka was a good one - there are loads of recipes online and I made one with Turkish delight which was amazing. You can also make limoncello quite easily and decant into smaller bottles. There are loads and loads of other ideas - I fancy having a go at candles poured into vintage cups and saucers (you can get china cups and saucers in any charity shop). Have also in the past knitted tea cosies and gifted them along with a teapot (OK, so I had to buy a new large teapot) and some nice teabags and biscuits.

Lots and lots of fab ideas on the internet and Pinterest sites but you do have to be organised and get making soon.

Also agree with looking in charity shops - last week I picked up a set of Christmas Yankee candle wax melt things brand new, in original packaging for £3. Keeping them for myself, but would have made a lovely gift. I also priced up a brand new make up set thing last week at £5, original price said £25 and would have been the perfect gift for a teenager.

yy woowoo I love Christmas from a food and hanging out on the sofa reading point of view, but I'm already feeling a bit sick at the thought of all the stuff that I'm going to have to find a home for. When I spend the whole year ruthlessly clearing out...

And I not buying all those presents, it's everyone else!

You have a point but don't need to go along with it. I like to use the same decorations at Christmas and buy the odd one if required. I like a real tree.

With clothes I try to buy reasonable quality and wear things for a while. I can mend things.

Yanbu. I've noticed if you avoid supermarkets and don't go into town you'll avoid a lot of exposure to the tat and consumerism as they try their damnest to convince you that you need new things (MIL was totally sucked in by whatever Tesco told her she should be 'celebrating' that week). I actually dread Xmas a bit because of the volume of stuff we'll all receive (I know this sounds ungrateful but we'd be be genuinely happy with something small, cheap and considered).

Having recently cleared a relative's house I'm on a minimalist drive, it really made me realise how pointless 90% of our possessions are.

Once you've had a good clear out of stuff that can help with not wanting to bring more junk into your house and I think about the money- not buying things means I'll be richer in the long term and will be able to afford nice holidays (experiences) in the future.

YANBU OP consumer society has gone mad

I'm doing photo albums online as gifts for relations as we have had an important family occasion this year and I know they will be appreciated. My Dcs do buy in charity shops sometimes.

I would never throw anything away. I would always try to recycle it. If I don't use decorations one year they will be used another.

I don't change my house much either. Maybe some new bedding but I use towels for years. I like to save my cash.

The biggest two finger salute up to these brands is not to buy. Just remember (when faced with the barrage of tat) that they their priorities are not the same as yours.

Their job is to sell. You don't have to co-operate.

It is a gluttony of things, isn't it? A deadly sin.

And yes to spending all year decluttering then having to find room for tat!

I feel like I am always buying stuff recently and I hate it.
I have 3 children, two teenagers who have recently had massive growth spurts and a baby who is just growing fast as all babies do. Ds1 clothes get handed down to ds2 if they are still in decent condition but a lot of stuff isn't in good enough condition to hand down as ds1 is very hard on his clothing. Nothing can be handed down to baby as we long since donated all ds2 decent outgrown clothes to the charity shops.

I don't ever buy any Halloween stuff though (I have bought a total of two children's Halloween costumes in my lifetime).
I have had my Christmas decorations for over 10 years but we might need new lights this year.

I make some of my own clothes and buy others, I don't generally keep clothes for more than 3-4 years but I have some favourite quality items which are around 10 years old. I don't make clothes for the children as fabric is expensive and they are growing so fast it isn't worthwhile (plus the teenagers want similar to other teenagers).

I try to make furniture last years (decades even), but household electricals are shit and don't last.

I want to buy less and spend less but I'm not sure how to do it with 3 growing kids and shit quality electricals. The clothes we buy the kids are never expensive.

My mil and I are doing a ' no new clothes for a year ' challenge as she was s bit addicted to buying clothes and going shopping for fun. I don't buy much anyway but like a good challenge!

People think we're stingy because dh and I don't shop much and don't want much. We have a fifteen year old car and have lost count of the number of comments from colleagues asking why we don't buy a new one when we can obviously afford to.

Some people just don't understand that we don't care about having new things.

We have a new baby, and as he'll only be fine months old at Christmas we won't get him any presents. The older dcs will get clothes and an experience.

I get very stressed out and upset whenever I go to the dump, at all the things that people throw away that could have been re used by someone else.

It's not just cheap tat though - the culture of getting a new iPhone when there's nothing wrong with your existing one except that it's not the super duper shiney new one also seems to be a big thing amongst a lot of people. Or a new car when the old one still goes from a to b

Summerhols I'm on s similar situation with teens and a baby!

Recently I've been trying to fix things more when they break, rather than replacing them, dc1 is trying to fix his computer, and when dc2 broke his headphones the other day dh fixed them, but when you can buy new headphones in the sales so cheap it is tempting to just bin and replace.

Yes pootlebug!! It's the idea along so many people that you need the newest things. And people convince themselves that the newer models are better and that they need it!

And then the ease with which banks loan people money on credit cards and finance is offered on new cars makes it all too easy.

People love beyond their means on credit cards and then claim they have no money. If it was not so easy for people to buy expensive things on credit maybe we wouldn't be such a consumerist society?