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!

Thanks sophy, but it's not working, (which is why we have a new one) so I'm not sure it'd be any use to anyone. But we need to find somewhere they might recycle parts.

Glad you got a DVD player though!

Maybe these people could help with the TV recycling:

www.restructa.co.uk/

mh you are a Bad Influence

I am THIS CLOSE to linking to the lovely lovely needles I bought just before Christmas-on the grounds that I THINK we have established that money spend on crafty stuff doesn't count?

Failed at the challenge today as I bought "Not buying it" as recommended by someone on this thread!

Thats ok though, surely!?

I told two friends yesterday that I was on a Purchasing and Aquisition Detox and they really didn't 'get' it...kept asking "yeah but what about if you saw something you loved on sale?" and the like.

Astrophe I am sitting on the fence re buying books, so I can absolve you, if that helps at all

I mean, I want there to be books. Ergo I have to buy at least SOME new books, I think. Surely.

...er, yes, no need to be puritanical about it I quite agree...

...which is why I bought "Teach your own" by John Holt and 2 Australian Children's books for DD to give to Nursery as a gift when we go to Aus in July. It was because I needed to get the free delivery.

I am, however, trying to source some second hand gifts for DS's 2nd birthday in March, decided that even though I have complained about our stupid toilet brush (very bendy handle) for the past year, I have managed with it, and so did not buy a new one yesterday.

oh and thanks for the absolution fillyj

Those Peaopletree goody boxes look fab - what do they usually contain? Might sugest one to DH for Valentines day? I am undecided on gifts - whether to say no buying of gifts between DH and I as part of challenge. I love gifts...

oh no motherhurdicure, I have not taken even the slightest bit of offence from your post I was making fun of myself really!

It is tricky though isn't it - knowing that you will buy something in 3 months time, so why not buy it now? But the thing is, there are always other things to buy in 3 months time aren't there? This challenge is great, its really got me thinking.

I definately have a "why borrow when I can buy" mentaility, and I hope eventually I will be able to turn that around.

So you are HEing motherhurdicure, and you are filly - did this thread/idea originate in the HE topic then? Interesting that HEing ideology seems to go hand in hand with a desire to consume less...

lol, there are a lot of us atm...TooTicky is HEing her 11 year old and aviatrix is (possibly) HEing her son. tbh it is also going hand in hand with a knitting mentality...

(though ticky is really a crocheter...oops...

I know SHE is lovely but there are certainly crocheters who would NOT find it amusing to be conflated with knitters...)

oh yes I agree

I can crochet now and everything

And the other day, I nearly made a card

'personally i know i tend to get really enthused about things and then get too obsessive, then get bored' MHC I love you, this is so me too! I'm so faddy, but very driven. I not - what do they call it? - a 'completer-finisher'! The sad thing is one of the the few hobbies I have actually pursued is ashtanga yoga. I tdid it for 2 years before getting pg, then was lucky enough that my yoga teacher had just done an antenatal course and wanted a case study so gave me private lessons for free! The problem is the classes are at 5 and DH doesn't get home till 6.15 so I can no longer go, I'm not motivated enough at the moment to do it at home, and I heart my yoga teacher so much that I don't want to go to any other classes!

By the way laydees, you will be please to know that tomorrow night my friend is coming round to teach me how to knit! Any faddy project maybe, but it'll keep me amused for a while!

at bumper learning to knit.

casually, not too eager : Let us know how you get on there

.

Right I have a dilemma. And its a big one, I think.

*The Fillyjonk's Dilemma: do we need two cars?

We are about to buy a new (to us) car (a slightly elderly Scenic, if anyone has any thoughts...), which we can just about afford by bascially not eating and so on. We need this new car because we are due another baby in 2 weeks and we don't actually have enough space in the car for all of us (yes, we HAVE tried EVERYTHING, believe me).

So the question is, do we keep the other one or not?

The thing is this. The kids and I seem to need the car about 3-4 times a week. One problem with being a home educator is that the kids friends are on average 1/2 - 1 hour drive away, as are meet ups etc. HErs also seem to have an astonishing ability to arrange meet ups away from public transport.

But anyway, I don't live near decent transport links, so am looking at a half hour bus ride into town before I even get on the bus/train to wherever I am going. I can't car share either-our new car will just fit us, but also,

On days when we use the car, DP has a 3 hours a day spent in a bus/ walking/ faffing commute (on good days). On days that he doesn't goes by car it is 15 minutes each way.

We have looked at the obvious stuff like car sharing. He's been doing this commute for 10 years and we've been trying to find a way for him not to drive for this entire time.

I suppose it just seems like a bit of a luxury NOT to use public transport, but a 3 hour daily commute is just daft, isn't it? Its gotten really bad this last year, as we've moved from parent and toddlery stuff (local) to HE stuff (not local) as ds hit Reception year.

There is an obvious financial cost to having 2 cars, but the one I am really struggling with is the environmental one. On the one hand, it is surely better for us to minimise use of the gas guzzler (Scenic). On the other-it is TWO CARS ffs.

I think we WILL get rid of the second car in a few years, when the kids are a bit bigger. But right now, I am dreading managing for an extra 2.5 hours a day with 3 kids...and I do think dp would like to see his progeny before they go to bed...but I have been reading Heat (the George Monbiot version )

And this would be MY car, and I have NEVER technically owned a car. It would feel so, so wrong...

yay, have just picked up a box of 40 videos and 20 classics off realcycle, so have entertainment for the next couple of months.

this is ok, isn't it?

is it ok to go to the charity shop, as my dd loves going in to pick up a book?

~has not got the hang of this yet~

filly, although the environment and the rest is important what type of affect will it have on your familys health/wellbeing (mental more than physical) if you end up not being able to do things because you do not have the transport.

iv just brought a car (today!) and my driving test (2nd) is saturday. now i spent ages justifying it to myself, but at the end of the day it will make life a lot easier for me and the kids (and no more hanging around town for 2.5hrs when dd is at school, me and ds can do something) and i need some independance (was having to wait for my mum to take me shopping etc. as couldnt do a monthly shop on my own and h wouldnt take me now he doesnt live here!

if you feel it necessary then thats up to you! it sounds like you've justified it to yourself already!

The trouble is, I am kind of feeling like WHY do I need a car? WHY is public transport round here so utterly, unspeakably dire that I bascially can't use it with a preschooler, pushchair and sling? Why on God's earth is it impossible for anyone to build a train station without a footbridge UP to it, a footbridge DOWN to it, and then a few extra steps chucked in, to keep you on your toes? And jesus, the buses! I have had several bus drivers actually drive off while I was collapsing down a pushchair (I have a Volo, incidentally-I can fold it one handed). And its not like the buses go anywhere actually helpful.

So I feel like I ought to Do Something really, not buy a new gas guzzler.

When I go down to London to see my parents it is SO much easier. You can bascially get most places you'd want to go by tube or bus. Once they are out of the pushchair it is SO easy.

But I also feel bloody busy atm, and I have a horrible feeling that this is how things get so crappy in the first place-we are all too sodding BUSY to sort stuff like this.

(We do park days and so on MH-and we are the lucky ones who live near the park already . Seriously, the dc have a lot of friends, and this is kind of the problem...we would become isolated without a car...)

Filly, your points are all valid but you are about to have a third baby! You really need to do what ever if going to make your life easier at the moment. There is no sense in making yourself miserable because you can't go anywhere, or it is a trek if you do. Also your LO's need to see their dad. There is no point in making the world better for their future if their childhood is so tough from not seeing enough of their dad, you being stressed etc.

We did the same when LO came along. DH has to use the car for work, would be a 3 hour or so commute for him but I didn't want to be stuck for 9 months without a car to visit family, get to my bfing group etc. Plus trains make me v anxious, would be much worse with a baby. We were really lucky though that a friend gave us a car, her DH got a new company car so they no longer needed it and wanted to do something nice. It does cost us a lot of money, and obviously there are the environmental costs, but atm I just need things to be easy as I adjust to having a baby.

Filly, don't fret about it, use it sensibly, enjoy the freedom and let your poor DH drive to work!

Stacey fingers crossed for you for saturday!

I agree Filly, with 3 LOs and the situation you've described a car is, if not an actual necessity, a damn good way towards being one. And as you've said when they're out of pushchairs public transport will be much easier, so it doesn't have to be a permanent solution. Perhaps you can be a 2 car family for a few years until they've grown enough and/or public transport has improved and then you can (smugly!) go back to one car?

ah you are all very kind and are savling my conscience

I should point out that I am far from convinced that having only one car represents a hardship for dp. He likes walking (he gets to walk ALONE! At his OWN PACE! Sometimes with his ipod AND a newspaper!). Plus on the bus he meets his many work-friends who for environmental reasons do not have cars and so cannot sodding well car-share .

Also I then get to do most of the shopping

I just feel as though I am personally responsible for the melting of the ice caps

Just to add general agreement Filly. We are a 2 car family which I also struggle with, but have really started to think about when I use the car. Have got a bike, ds bikes too and I make sure we walk or get public transport...where we can. If your local situation is so bad, life could be very difficult.
So - instead of worrying, what about using the car responsibly, helping others out when you can and starting a campaign to improve local transport? Then take some friends out, leave dp at home for the day with the kids and have a break.....

Hi all, quiet this week? All out shopping?

My mum came down on Sunday and wanted to go into town. Despite saying she had no money she spent £50 on 2 pairs of boots (so that's where I get it from!) and tried to convince me to get a pair that were in the sale, only £10, but explained (again) what we are doing, and she offered to buy them for me, but I said that was defeating the object really.

Still doing ok though. I did buy one of those gorgeous canvas bags from M&S for my groceries, but that's so that I don't need to take carrier bags everywhere with me! (and it was only £2.50)