Happy No New Stuff Year - The support thread for those flying in the face of consumerism!

[WewishyouaBUMPERLICIOUS]

My husband and I have set ourselves a challenge of not buying any new stuff for 6 months. Obvious exceptions are food, cleaning products and toiletries. Also outside of the rules are items that it would be detrimental to buy second hand for my 6mo baby, i.e. cot mattress, dummies etc.

I posted about this a couple of months ago, and have also noticed some posts on the style and beauty threads proposing the same thing. So this is the thread for those who want to join this challenge in some way, whether it be just buying no new clothes, buying nothing new at all, buying nothing at all, buying only second hand etc. Our motivation are different, for some it will be saving money (me), for others it may be flying in the face of rampant consumerism (me) and for others is may be trying to mitigate their impact upon the environment and in protest against the poorly treated workers producing the dirt cheap goods we come to expect today (also me!).

This thread could be invaluable support, with links to various recycling websites, tips on altering your clothes to liven up your wardrobe, advice to stop yourself frittering money on non-fat lattes and a pain au chocolate each day on the way to work and support to tell you "no you don't need a new lipstick - here's how to make your own!"

So come one come all: I dare you to set yourself this challenge and not buy anything new for as long as possible!

minum my sis and DH both run and change shoes every 6-12 months, they really notice the difference. I think some trainers are vaguely ethical, can't remember which ones though...will find out!

I think running shoes have to be an exception if your shins are suffering. In the spirit of the exercise you could avoid sweat-shop, mass produced shoes.

Thanks for the birthday ideas. Will have a think.

try new balance trainers, made in uk

I have saucony, someone said that they were vaguely ethical. They are nice and comfy. BUT the important thing about them is that they were fitted by people who knew what they were talking about.

I think if you are at all serious about running, you need decent shoes. And tbh, you need to go to a proper running shop and buy whatever it is that works well-I mean, if there are several brands that work well, buy the most ethical, obviously, but shin pains are not a fabulous omen for runners.

When I have running shoes fitted, the shop actually gets you to run about and so on.

Thanks - hadn't realised there were ethical trainers - will try a pair

And will go to a proper shop for advice

You sound like you need new trainers. Just tell the dude in the shop that you would prefer some that weren't made in China or whatever, then if there are two pairs that fit you can get the more ethical ones.

Just found this, can I join in? I've been trying to do this for a while (more due to skintness than ethics). I'm delighted to have seen this though, if for no other reason than introducing me to the concept of spaving-- I live about 300 yards from an Aldi so I know all about this!

I've been pretty lucky in dd's first year of life as she's got lots of cousins and I've hardly had to buy any baby clothes or equipment. I did get her some vests and babygros in Tesco and Matalan the other day, but this was after looking for used ones on ebay and discovering that with postage they were more expensive than getting them new. Anyone got any wisdom on this sort of dilemma?

I can attest to the fact that the shopping urge does dwindle after you've been doing this a while though. After Christmas my mother generously offered to babysit for a morning so I could go around the sales-- I spent a morning wandering around and barely bought a thing (baby presents for a friend and cut-price gift wrap for next year.)

Mybaby, glad you are joining us. The dilema you pose in interesting and one I've thought about. When it comes to buying second hand clothes, sometime it is just cheaper to go to Primark or something, and my DH would certainly go for the cheaper option of the ethical one. But although your perspective is no so much ethical let me pose it differently to you:

Imagine if some one said you "ok, you can buy that babygro/top/shoes from [insert name of shop here] but in doing so you are supporting an industry where young children are forced to work for pittance and are treated terribly so you can buy your clothing dirt cheap. By shopping in this store you are supporting a company that forces local shops out of business, uses dirty tricks to obtain planning permission for new stores and uses their bulk buying power to drive down prices given to their suppliers. Not only that, but by choosing to buy these items new you are costing more energy in manufacturing and chain of supply. To top it all off you will be feeding into the mindset of 'conscious consumption' [I read that in the paper - describes it perfectly] and the idea that you really need a new top/babygro/shoes when in actual fact you have plenty at home"

Of course I am just playing devil's advocate here, and widely speculating as I don't know enough about it, but does this put the second hand vs cheap new products into a new perspective. That's why my motivation is partly ethical and my challenge is no new stuff. You may pay more on ebay buy the time you include P&P etc. but you are paying a bit more for ethical & ecological peace of mind. That's my take on it anyway!

I'd buy the new ones and then sell them on Ebay. But as I am forever telling my mother - you can't get to the shops for free (unless you walk obviously) so are things cheaper than the P&P? I used to pick up things until I realised that it was cheaper to have it posted even across town.

I've instituted a "no new money" rule. So for every new thing I buy I have to have sold enough old things to pay for it. So to get a new pair of boots I sold 3 other pairs I never wear and a couple of coats. It made sure that I only bought a pair I absolutely loved (and they were full price, something I have only done a handful of time but never ever regretted). This seemed a heck of a lot more useful than having 5 items in my wardrobe that I never wear - I have a pair of boots I am seldom out of and some space.

great post, bumper

I agree, I buy secondhand even where primark is cheaper , for this reason

as an aside, decent quality secondhand clothes are much more eco friendly, as they last. Primark clothes ARE often bad quality, and this is a problem because it means more manurfacturing costs.

I'm always suprised how much charity shops can get away with charging, when you see how cheap clothes are in supermarkets etc. I have some Primark clothes that I wear every week, that are over 5 years old, and still going strong, so price doesnt always indicate quality. Having said all that, I will not buy cheap new clothes any more, only really good investment buys very occassionally, and charity shop otherwise. I have got out the sewing machine a few times, and am quite pleased with the results.

bumper i agree, unless you cant afford to pay the extra 9which is the position i am in atm) but if you can afford it i completely agree!

i've got to spend 2.5hrs in town while dd is at school today, hopefully can resist the shops. am taking id to get a library card and get some books out. also spending time in there with ds 1-1 although hes not best impressed with books

do have to buy some veg and a top-up card today and shall resist other temptation!

Stacey they do story-telling at set times in libraries for small children/babies as well. Will post knitting needles today!

mybabyisinthegarden - Hi! I am Pruni/Pruners with a namechange...we met at the Scottish meet-up.

Haven't read all the messages but, last year I made a promise to myself not to buy new clothes for me. And I stuck to it and do you know what, I wouldn't go back to buying new clothes, my wardrobe is far more interesting as a result but, it IS time consuming. You have to be prepared to rummage regularly and it helps if you are handy with a sewing machine, that way if you see something you like (or in a fabric that you like) and it's not in your size, you can alter it.
On the point of charity shop prices, you do have to pick your charity shops carefully, the smaller ones are by far the best, I avoid Oxfam and cancer research simply because they have a surplus of horrible next clothes at outrageous prices and they seem to concentrate on producing product rather than clothing. The OAP ones are generally the best.
I find Ebay quite hard work to get something good but, gumtree is fantastic, you can still pick up very good bargains on gumtree.

pruni, thanks for the needles, let me know the postage (i paypalled someone last night and it didnt go as e-cheque so will paypal you with a few extra p for fees! )

Hey dh phoned me today to tell me I can use his work gym for £10 a month! Am desperately trying to lose a bit of weight before a holiday in three months' time (first trip of any length in years) so that I can fit into the summer clothes I already have rather than have to go out and buy clothes for warm weather.
I know it's not technically a saving but it will do me the power of good - I love the gym but haven't been able to afford membership since I gave up work.

Off to PO soon with the needles btw!

That's great prism!

Had a mostly good day today. Went to the library via a couple of charity shops. saw a couple of gorgeous tea cups for greensam's candle idea but they were part of a tea set and £10 so I didn't bother. Gorgeous though, I nearly bought it anyway but I didn't need it and reminded myself that I have a 6 month old baby what the heck would I do with it! I did buy a couple of books, one a neo-old fashioned home book with household tips, recipes and pages where you can write down your family tree, wedding details etc. It's gorgeous and was £3.50!

Any went to the library where to my joy I discovered that they have all manner of magazines, and DD managed to let me read the economist for about 20 minutes! I will returning! The only downside of the day is that I took my library books back thinking they were on time. They weren't and it cost me £2.50 - damn!

I bought 24 stamps. I had 19 thank you cards to post for DD's xmas presents. They were home made though

well i managed town and only purchased, the fruit + veg (some cigarettes - don't all jump on me at once iv got my driving test tomo, and old habits die hard) and a top up!

also went to the library and got me + the kids a library card and took out some books each! shall also be keeping them in the living room so as not to confsue them with the mountain of books in the kids room! would never find them again!

other than that i resisted temptation! am so proud of myself

and acctually im £10 up as saw a mate who owes me money and she gave it to me today (i'd forgotten!)

Oooh good luck stacey! You'll be great! I took 4 goes to pass my test . Hated every minute of learning to drive. Love driving now though!

So, after my first week of non-consumption, the biggest test has been having to kill 1 ½ hours in local posh shopping town while ds2 was at Stagecoach. Was it depressing having to walk past lots of lovely shops (with SALE signs) with whom I had previously had a productive and mutually satisfying relationship? You bet. So we went to Waitrose where I transferred my retail lust to lots of overpriced and delicious food, which is clearly not going to be sustainable in the long run.

I also tried some vicarious consumption. When an email arrived from a favourite handbag seller with lots of nice-looking sale bargains, I forwarded it to my mother in the hope that she would buy something nice even if I couldn?t. But she sent it straight back saying she has cancelled all her catalogues and online subscriptions (except Toast, I suppose that would have been going too far), so I suppose I should be glad she is getting the message.

Finally ds2, 6, has spent the last two days trawling ebay for star wars dressing up costumes for NEXT Christmas. Where does that come from?

Have listed a load of books on that Bookmooch site and am giving 3 away already, and should be getting a magazine about wedding photography (I am doing my niece's wedding photos in 2009, eek!)

Hi Pruni/Prism, like the new name! Thanks for your posts, guys-- I like 20p's no new money rule (not a lot of new money coming into the babygarden household at the moment anyway); I've resolved to get off my backside and ebay a bunch of stuff I don't use.

Bumper, one part of your post really hit home with me, about the supermarkets using underhanded tactics to build wherever they want; they have really ripped the heart out of our town, with a huge Tesco and Asda within 100 yards of each other right in the centre, where Victorian mill buildings used to stand. Tesco even encroached on buildings they were told to preserve but our council are too spineless to do anything about it. As a result the only other shop in town that sold fresh fruit and veg has moved away (ok, I admit it, I wasn't that good about going there ) and the illuminated red Tesco sign is the most prominent feature as you drive through the town.

I was so mad about this a year ago when it opened and now of course I shop there all the time, so thanks for rekindling my righteous anger slightly peevedness. No more of the babygros of oppression for my dd!