To give this a go? Buying nothing new for one whole year.

[HurtSoul]

I want to give this a go!
Has anyone managed his before?
Looks like charity shops and eBay have everything you need?

I want to do it just to set myself a challenge, to save some money & because I feel sickened at the waste of all the shit I buy brand new!

metro.co.uk/2018/12/30/mum-goes-two-whole-years-without-buying-anything-new-children-8293035/?ito=social

I think it's a great idea to cut down and use second hand shops, although presumably you can't always find what you need? I agree I wouldn't buy 2nd hand undies although I would buy shoes if the looked clean and newish. I don't buy much new stuff for myself but really enjoying buying birthday presents for family and closest friends. I think I could buy nothing for a year but question if I'd want to as am fairly frugal anyway.

Yes, I did this about 8 years ago. A No Shopping year. Only bought consumables - food & toiletries & cleaning products. Didn't even buy 2nd hand (except for the kids necessities). Saved a ton of money, the only thing I ran out of was socks, ended up pinching DH's.

Did this year before last due to concerns about both our jobs. Spent bugger all on stuff all year. Still went out but more carefully.

Saved £1000s and didn’t miss anything really.

I did a year of no clothes buying a few years ago, it was fine (I was allowed knickers and one pair of jeans).

Right now, I could probably manage not buying clothes for about five years to be honest. But I find second hand clothes problematic due to not knowing if they will fit.

I'm in except my carpet I badly need new carpet in the lounge perhaps I can sell some shit to put towards it?

This a great idea. I know I've bought to much last year. Now I know I don't need anything so I shouldn't buy any more. Even underwear as I have enough to last probably 3-4 years. I will buy second hand if needed but I mainly want to focus on not buying anything. I have made a start by agreeing as family not to buy Christmas or birthday gifts. It made for a great Christmas actually, no stress about getting the right gift.

It is probably easier to do this if you are affluent in the first place

Yes but just because someone else can't do something, doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Anyway excess spending and waste especially when it comes to clothes is a habit for many, even poorer people.

I'm also going to focus on borrowing things if I need them. Things are so cheap now that it's easier to, for example, spend £10 buying a tool or kitchen item rather than call a friend and ask to borrow it, then go get it from their house. But now I'll make the effort, and the bonus is I'll get to see that friend and I won't have the item cluttering up my house afterwards.

Also want to focus on just going without. For example, I already had the urge to buy a food processor but you know what, I can chop by hand, it's probably easier anyway when you take cleaning the damn thing in to consideration.

Ooo good for you.

The charity shops are amazing. I think I must be 80% not new stuff.

I love following people on Instagram doing this. So creative.

This sounds like an amazing idea. There is so much waste so it would be great to at least give it a go?

I'm in except my carpet I badly need new carpet in the lounge

I think this is one of those things where you need to avoid perfection being the enemy of good. If you genuinely need something, buy it. Just buy to last.

Re. retail and jobs, retail is a bit screwed anyway- a recent study showed that the UK high street has about 33% more units than can be supported and needs to diversify into other leisure offerings. I think the economy will evolve. It always has. People will use the money (and time) they save not browsing for and buying multiple 99p vest tops on other things. Demand for other paid leisure activities and the associated kit will increase - camping gear or mountain bikes or gym memberships etc. Buying less may also reverse the trend for fast fashion with people thinking "if I'm going to crack and buy a coat I'll buy something good quality and classic that'll last a few years". However, as a society we also need to balance spend with not living in abject poverty in retirement. We now have about 45 years of work to fund 20 years of retirement. It used to be more like 48-10.

I reflected on this a bit last night and realised that I will still buy a good pair of road shoes and trail runners as needed (every 6 months in my case) but I see those as "good" spends as I get hundreds of hours of free fitness and relaxation out of them. I then donate them to a charity that takes them to Nepal for trekking guides. Definitely don't need any more running clothes and should just churn through what I have till it falls apart or becomes irretrievably stinky. I will still buy books on Kindle (live in a country that doesn't have public libraries and realistically I wouldn't get there anyway due to working FT).

I actually realised that I'm pretty good with clothes, bags and shoes already. I have 2 "main" handbags (one black, one beige) that I've had 3 years each and I predominantly wear Vivo barefoot shoes so only have 2 pairs of shoes and one pair of boots. My work is smart casual so I don't need a specific work wardrobe. My "waste spend" is mainly food and beverage related.

e.g. morning coffees- the coffee from the machine at work is actually nicer but I got in this "treat yo'self" mentality where I was literally buying a coffee that was less nice than the non-bought coffee just to satisfy that "consumer" thing. Now that is whack when you think that I might live to be 90 and if I put that money in a mutual fund it'll mean a lot more to me in retirement than now.

Also, bought lunches, Deliveroo and wine. Gotta stop with that stuff. It's not healthy and it's a waste of cash.

Yeah! I'm resolved to buy nothing new this year for myself except new specs and I lost a tooth just before Christmas so don't think I can get a second hand one.

Will also try to save a bit.

I don’t buy new things! Everything comes from EBay or a charity shop. If you have the time it’s great! I get such good quality stuff for a bargain.

I’d prefer that than spending the same amount in Primark for tat.

Great idea. For those who are worried about sinking business, how about this idea: when you buy new, buy local. So don't buy in the large outlets/chains/supermarkets. Look for a local boutique or independent outlet. Lots of them if you have some time and open your eyes. AND you know you'll be helping the employees directly not shoving cash into Philip Green's pockets.

I am going to attempt this as a new year resolution. I already like charity shopping, so switching to buying all my clothes there won’t be a problem. I think the main exceptions will be shoes for my 7 year old, as he has long, narrow feet, and baby basics like vests which people tend to chuck out rather than sell. Looking forward to the challenge and need to save a chunk to put towards my house deposit fund.

YANBU!

It totally can be done...there is so much consumption, buying of cheap, new things and simply throwing them away

A new year's resolution is to read about the Marie Kondo method and (hopefully!) then implement it into my everyday life!

Good luck with the challenge

I really, really need to do this.

Lost my job earlier this year and whilst we can pay for the necessiities there is no money for extras

I have always been a bit of a shopaholic so am using this as an exercise in anti consumerism!

I usually hammer the january sales, but have been relatively restrained so far. I need to go one step further into 'no more' territory.

I'm really bad for buying clothes/makeup etc just for the sake of it so need to change my attitude - I'm in!

We did this for about 10 years. Not rigid deliberately but just due to low finances.

Of course new underwear and stuff like that. But nealry everything else came from charity shops, car boots are amazing! Ebay etc.

Two of my aunties did this in 2016. Both big spenders.

AIM was not to buy clothing or accessories, unnecessary gifts, new house decor for 12 months. And generally cut back on all buying.

I have never seen them look so glam / well put together as they did when they stopped clothes & accessories shopping for a whole year. They really put a lot more thought into Style and presentation and looked great. They reckon they saved a lot. Though haven't done it this year

Thanks to SpiritedLondon ^^ today I have bought the Mending Matters book about patching jeans with Japanese boro embroidery. It's out of stock nearly everywhere, but there's a few copies available on amazon.de, I paid €20.71 inc p&p, just signed in with my UK login/PW.

www.instagram.com/katrinarodabaugh/

I also bought a pair of awful faux-distressed jeans in the charity shop for £5, but will (hopefully) look amazing with indigo patches and sashiko stitches.

It's not really in the spirit of the thread , but I have a couple of pairs of jeans where either the crotch is going or creases splitting on the inner upper thigh and buying new cotton is very ethically problematic with huge amounts of pesticides, water and bonded labour involved.

I bought a battery powered debobbler yesterday. Sweaters and cardigans which looked a bit past their best now look brand new again. And my fleece lined barbour jacket which is about 4 or 5 years old and looked all bobbly on the inside is now back to perfect condition.

Which one did you buy Justmuddling ?

The JML one from Argos. £8 well spent. Really works and is strangely therapeutic.

Thanks - I'll add that to my shopping list - I can totally see how it would be therapeutic!

Ooooh @doodlelab I hope you like the book. I already had the Sashiko threads and needles and have some different fat quarters in different indigo kimono cottons so am going to have a play with that. ( I have some “ trendy” jeans with holes in the knees). I’ve also got some cashmere socks that I want to learn to darn with colourful embroidery threads. I have all this craft equipment that I buy and never do anything with. How bad is that?

I'm still deleting the endless emails trying to sell me stuff, without opening them. Previously I would have opened and browsed them all. I know it's only 3 days into 2019, but that £8 is all I've spent. Result!👍