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!

MotherH - if I knew who you were I might know if I was still near you!
But yes I do know of SDN

Count me in. Perhaps we can pool hats if we have a wedding to go to?

Brilliant, brilliant brilliant thread. I'm joining! Like lots of others I am starting to feel overwhelmed by having too much 'stuff' in the house. I have a bursting wardrobe plus chest and I still can't work out what to wear....I remember being a student and having 2 pairs of jeans and 2 skirts and not a whole lot more.
I'm going to try for 3 months to buy nothing for the house or me or dh. Ds gets a little pocket money which we will still give him and let him decide what to spend it on, and only buy school essentials. I'm also going to have a mega turn out - see if I can recycle presents and do a big car boot sale of old toys and clothes.

Oh hello I wondered what had happened to you!
I didn't know you were a doula. Have you been doing that long? Are you one of the mentors for SDN? (I know there is one on StA.)

I tend to give yarn as gifts, to the right people - alas not handspun or -dyed...I never did get round to that!

Ok girls, I've had a chat with the old man about convincing your DPs. He said men may be worried about missing out on stuff they like to buy like mags, dvds, golf clubs etc. so maybe you could offer a reward system, e.g. don't buy anything for a month and chose a new dvd. Or maybe get a mag subscription but don't buy any more mags. Depends what your motivation is really. We have to do this as financially we are up the creek.

You could also convince them of the wonder of freecycle and ebay, make them see it as a challenge. Also if they are into music and dvds there is always downloading, if you are into that sort of thing. Legal ones natch! Lovefilm is a great way of getting dvds without adding to the consumerism. Oh and my dad really recommends readitswapit

Failing that DH said "you could always offer sexual favours"

I said mumsnet girls aren't the sexual favours type

Have to say, for books, I love Bookmooch - same idea as readitswapit, but you don't have to find someone who has a book you want and who wants your book, iyswim - you just earn points (by sending books to people) that you can 'spend' with anyone on Bookmooch.

Loving that website jackieno, I've just joined!

oh yes I want to do this.

Here are my big problems.

1. Am 8 and a bit months pg, with 2 kids aged 2 and 4 and NO childcare (they are homeschooled/homenurseried/whatever). Plus it is bloody freezing where I am (Wales)

SO I spend way too much in Starbucks. It gets us out of the house, we spend an hour or two in there sharing a large hot chocolate and reading book, and then we go home. I know I COULD make a flask of hot chocolate and freeze my huge ar$e off on a park bench but...somehow I can't bring myself to. Am wondering if this might be a necessary homeschooling expense?

1. I have to buy new stuff because of new baby. I have whittled it down to the essentials, which I WILL then ebay, but there are a few things that I bascially do need to get. The main problem is a. I do need a car big enough to fit my family into (we are not buying anywhere near new though) and b. I have given away my sling, and part of my pushchair, I can't find what I want on ebay and I am too fussy to be faffing with stuff when I will have 3 kids under 5 shouting at me. I need stuff that works.

1. Because I am pg I am relying way too much on convenience food. I expect this to comtinue for a bit after the baby is born.

1. I have a problem re books-I really psychologically need to be reading them. Otherwise my brain turns to mush. Atm I am "allowed" to buy a book for each one I sell.

1. Aaaargh what about yarn? I love yarn and have been destashing for ages so I have only about enough to make 1 x kids jumper and 1 x adult jumper left (that might sound a lot but its probably not more than a month's knitting, if that).

I am not sure WHY I am posting these things, but they are what has stopped me from doing this up to now. Somehow the fact that I fear running out of yarn makes me need to buy pain au chocolate in Starbucks.

oh god charlieandlolasmummy you just need to do whatever you can to survive! Jeez woman I could never have thought of all this with a new baby, let alone with a new baby and toddlers!

can you give yourself 6 months and then give this a try?

if you are so keen to get on with this now here are some possible solutions:

-toddler groups for tea and a free/cheap activity (do you have a local community centre), or my bfing group has lots of toddlers running around while mummies feed/get support for new babies

-go to the library for books, use it as an activity for your dc's too. failing that try the website below bookmooch

-do you an DH have time to make up easy meals that can be frozen for when the baby comes? Or, ask people visiting to bring you a meal instead of a present (chances are they'll by a prezzy anyway!)

Ok I'm done with ideas. I think you'd be mad to worry about this for now though but keep asking for suggestions for your problems/weak points and other people may be able to come up with solutions.

-I swear by NCT nearly new sales for cheap second hand baby gear, are there any local to you?

-do you have mummy friends you do coffee mornings at your house with?

I confess - having just said this morning about not wanting to buy so much stuff I have just spent the afternoon discussing with DH which duvets we should be buying in the sales

In my defence we were going to buy them in Oct but Debenhams ran out of stock after we ordered them, and our duvets are between 9 and 15 years old at an estimate and pretty skanky. And I thought that if we actually cleaned the new ones from time to time they might not be so skanky, so should last at least as long again?

I think, in this weather, it is totally fine not to be outdoors all the time! And being indoors often costs a little money.

I did MotherH! Did you?

I am in!
What a fab thread!

This year I plan to take control further of the shopping esp the food shopping.

I spend too much in bakers shops and the odd coffee out etc, so I will cut those out altogether.

As far as clothing is concerned I think I am ok for stuff, might need new undies and I will only buy new shoes for me and the children.

I have a bit of extra time on my hands to look through the charity shops/ebay etc and I plan to sell something to buy something where I can.

So, plan is: buy second hand etc apart from shoes and underwear, bake more so I spend less out, reduce waste food, plan meals better and sell some of the crap in my house!!

Can I share my smugness here? Not totally relevant but kind of linked in my mind. I have just cooked and prepared a meal in which everything was locally sourced (therefore no airmiles) and more to the point, the potatoes, onions, kale, leeks and carrots were grown by me!!

Can you tell I don't normally worry about the seasonality of my food

Is there a green downside to having coffees/snacks in cafes? Surely its more efficient to have a coffee shop full of people, than all of us sitting at home, putting our kettles on, in our heated houses, having got milk/coffee etc from the shops, and then filling our own dishwashers? I plan to reduce my carbon footprint this year, but also reduce the amount of time I spend at home.

But not Starbucks. Support your local independant coffee shop

I use a local coffee shop, but a national bakers.... its not what it is, but its starting to cost alot cos I like to go every time I am in town which can be up to 4 times a week!

Agreed - independents all the way, when funds allow.

But when you make a coffee at home, the mug just goes in with all the other washing up surely? It doesn't cause you to run an extra DW run, or an extra sink full of hot water? And a lot of people get their lattes in disposable cups, which is definitely bad.

Agree though that coffee out is nice (though then there is cake temptation), and independant is better. I think the thing is to not fall into making it a too regular habit?

Oh dear, you've hit on a (sad) passion of mine - yes it is only another item, but if you always wait to run the dw till its full, then you are going to run it marginally sooner than you would have done without the spoon/mug/cafetierre - over a year, that will equate to several extra dishwasher loads.

But agreed - if you give it to the cake temptation when out, the green-goodness is probably all blown away .

We could get an insulated mug for a cafe to fill, rather than the disposable cups?

This is a great thread, which I shall be following. But I'm warning you now, I'm rubbish at keeping upp with anything except the postnatal thread;other than that, I just dip and lurk

Well, we are skint and I need to lose 3 stone. So if I can stick to my guns, that will help my ethical living inadvertantly anyway! Will be buying less food full stop, and dh will no longer have convienence food at work as its been banned from his workshop. We dont need anything really, except some bits for DIY before the house falls down!
Most of our stuff comes from and goes to charity shops or freecycle. We dont have a car, so its foot or bus for us.
I do fall foul of coffee shops when its cold, but will try and knock that on the head. Although there is a grat one where I can spend £1.20 on a cup of tea and let ds2 in the free playarea for unlimitedtime

minum you do mean run the dishwasher, not your wife right!!!

LOLOLOLOL

This sounds fab but I need to buy dc new bed linen tomorrow. That's all though!
Can I still join?
I am sick of spending money on stuff we don't really need. I think the worst is food as I only buy organic meat but I have decided to start shopping online and getting it delivered- I feel I can stick to a budget more that way.

We give a lot to freecycle and have got quite a few tings from it which is great.