To suggest that people should buy less stuff

[Noras]

i just think that the mess we are in is because we get stuff from overseas that we don’t really need. People buy a lot of tat and junk eg cheap clothing, rubbish confectionary and artificial tat for homes. If we all just cut down on huge chunks of it we could cut out our balance of payment deficit.

Also people need to buy less from overseas owned companies. People need to check each and every company they buy from and go for smaller independents etc There needs to be an online list of stores to avoid.

If all you can afford is a £20 pair of shoes, then that is all you can afford and of course you buy the cheaper option, wear your shoes until they are no good any more, and chuck them out. That is not a problem, you NEED shoes.

What is the problem all all the mountains of shit that people are buying that they DON'T need. All the nick nacky things, and the crappy stocking filler gifts, and whatever the latest gadget or must have thing on TiKTok is. Children's toys which are the "must have" for 2 minutes and then chucked out - thinking loom bands, fidget spinners, those wee plastic boards with the bubbles you click in and out. Specific bedding for Christmas/Easter/Summer/Halloween. Ditto special tableware and decorations, and Halloween cushions and Easter tablecloths, and special little plastic buckets for your easter egg hunts, and plastic spider web decorations to put over your hedge, and cheap costumes for theme days at school which are then chucked out and on and on and on.

People are kidding themselves if they think that every single item sold on Temu/Shein/Amazon or in the more traditional mainstream shops is one of life's essentials as it is clearly not. And I'm not saying that we should never make frivolous purchases and just live in a bare house with no decoration - but there seems to be little concern about the impact of all of this mindless buying. Perhaps you (generic you) could afford a £40 or £70 pair of better shoes if you weren't filling your house with tat?

@CharityShopChic i was just going to reply to you about using charity shops then noticed your name 😄 I love them. Take plenty back and donate lots. Plus Vinted.

Exactly. Well said.

I totally agree, OP. So much rubbish in the shops. It's staggering how much crap you can buy from places like Home Bargains and similar shops. The smell of plastic hits you as you walk in - who needs Halloween themed oven gloves and dog beds, unless of course you plan to use them all year round.

That's insane and so wasteful.

Just popping back on to say that this thread motivated me to raid my fabric stash and make some new towels for my kitchen from an old vintage bathroom curtain. The old ones had the holey bits cut off and are now demoted to dishrags. They were also originally bathroom curtains and have gone strong for 15 years. Even cotton towelling was better made in the 1960s........

It is because very few thingslast 5 years now!

It's because companies have profits. Simple as that. Cars also don't laat as long as they did. Dkes the 7 or so companies owning all the bramds care? Nah. They don't need to have "for life" marketing. They own most of market now 🤷 same with food and lther goods

I’ll buy want thanks

@Londonmummy66 thing is for me £72+ for a jumper (?) is not a reasonable price point, I can't afford that sort of money on clothes. I'm on a bargain shop income and have to shop accordingly. I seldom buy new things but when I do it's charity shop or primark, poundland etc. It genuinely is that or go without. If I won the lottery I'd love to shop locally and ethically.

I seldom buy new things but when I do it's charity shop or primark, poundland etc. It genuinely is that or go without. If I won the lottery I'd love to shop locally and ethically.
I think charity shop is surely the most ethical. 😁

What's want?

Last year I stopped buying clothes and have decided to continue this year. I've also only allowed myself one unnecessary monthly purchase of stuff this year. I feel like I'm surrounded by drawers and shelves bursting with stuff after years of over consuming. I'm now getting joy out of the things I do have, making most of my subscriptions, saving money and able to enjoy time with friends instead.

I am no way perfect, but now I look at some of the hauls on social media that I used to admire and they make me uncomfortable.

What disgusts me is how we are being constantly harassed and manipulated into spending our money on things we don't need by people convincing us we need them. I know that's just capitalism isn't it, but it's so morally wrong. We just accept it.

I often find myself wondering how many 'norms' came about because of advertising. On another thread recently about underwear someone mentioned no one cared about a visible panty line until the 00s when people tried to market thongs and made us all feel ashamed if our underwear was visible. Another example I think is drinking 8 glasses of water a day, that only became a thing around the time bottled water was being promoted (I'm not saying the science is wrong), the movement to high sugar UPFs In 80s and 90s as an alternative to high cholesterol but natural foods. Ads for baby products preying on maternal guilt. These examples only scratch the surface. It's so messed up it's surprising any of us are sane.

the problem with the boots theory is that, nowadays, the £50 pair of boots (say from somewhere like topshop or office, although often even there you're probably talking of more like £70-80 min) isn't noticeable better made or longer lasting that from somewhere like primark or shein, they've just got a higher mark up. They still aren't going to last ten years. For something to last significantly longer you're talking of a much bigger difference, at least several hundred pounds, which a) many people can't afford to pay at all and b) even if they could the ideological shift now required from thinking "I could buy twenty pairs of boots for this" is huge.

Also, with an expensive item that you spend more on because you hope it will last for a long time (less so boots but the 'theory' applies to everything), you're assuming

• the buyer stays the same size and doesn't put on or lose any weight over the multiple years you want those boots/clothes to last to get your money's worth
• the buyer doesn't care about being unfashionable and continuing to wear boots and clothes that are years out of style
• the buyer doesn't move to a different climate where they have no need to ever wear boots/a smart warm coat, etc
• the buyer doesn't have any significant lifestyle change - e.g. corporate job to SAHM over those ten plus years. If I'd spent a fortune on a well-cut, expensive, good quality capsule work wardrobe, as repeatedly recommended on MN, in, say, 2019,they then would have sat unworn for the next 5 years as I moved to WFH and no need to wear smart suits and tops, wasting a fortune
• nobody steals or accidentally damages those items rendering them unusable

goodonyou.eco/
has brand ratings for fashion brands, just type in the name

www.britishmadeclothing.co.uk/brands

posted too soon

What frustrates me is that even with expensive boots (£120+) I know I'm going to struggle to get them re-heeled when I wear the heel down. I'll have to throw them out even though the uppers are fine.

Likewise my son's old school shoes - leather parts fine - sole worn down.

It would be perfectly possible for companies to sell moulded soles which would fit the shoes/boots but they aren't legally required to so don't.

I agree, but the current economic system would have to be radically overhauled. Perhaps that's where we're headed but probably not in a managed decline way, sadly 😬

@Inthebleakmidwinter1

You could have a kitchen from last year and it wouldn't be to your buyers taste and they'd want to rip in out. ( I've got the original mid 60s kitchen in my house!)

Indeed, I shall add that to my list. Sadly my local library isn’t open on weekends so I can’t make it until I retire but then I shall be a regular attendee

Sadly my local library isn’t open on weekends so I can’t make it until I retire but then I shall be a regular attendee
Where I live, you'd soon be manning it as well... because it's staffed by volunteers!

@SoftPillow if no one buys new books and clothes then there'll be no second hand books and clothes.

if no one buys new books and clothes then there'll be no second hand books and clothes
If people only bought a tenth of the amount of new books and clothes, there'd still be a surplus! I help at our village jumble sale, and every year, there's tonnes of stuff left over. I've personally bought (for peanuts) a popcorn maker, spiraliser, lovely clothes, computer chair, table, many books etc etc, all left over at the end of the sale. 😂

I agree the likes of temp, wish, shein and Ali express should be banned.

I had been on the hunt for a new pair of boots for a while. I put a lot of research into the purchase making sure they were comfortable, good quality and importantly be able to get the sole replaced. They weren’t cheap but I was really impressed and happy with my purchase. My mum keeps slagging me off for the price of them (I’m not loaded but equally in a decent financial position) but I’ll be wearing mine in 5 years where’s her cheap plastic new look pair will be in the back of the wardrobe with her 50 other pairs she doesn’t need.