Could YOU Survive a Whole Year Without Shopping????

[foxtrot]

Only buying food & basic essentials?
article here

There was a thread on voluntary simplicity quite recently - definitely food for thought.

sort of do this already - never just go to trawl the shops or waste money for the sake of stuff - my indulgence though is newspapers & magazines.

Um, just read the article, agent provocateur undies are essential, aren't they?????

I'm having to have a little lie down, just thinking about no shopping has caused me to have palpitations.

Cod - re 'why would you want to do it?'

a. financial necessity (in our case at the moment)

b. because recycling is a good thing, esp recycling of unwanted furniture etc

c. (but debatable) because it is good for our kids to get away from the 'throw away' culture/latest model of every conceivable product we have today

Remind me of this thread if I ever win the Lotto

I could do this. I hate the throw away society.

I would like to do it for myself, but would not like to include the children, for clothes and Birthdays and the odd treat. They dont't get over spoilt anyway.

Magaines are rubbish, go online for the news so I dont buy newspapers.

Books - libray or do a book swap with a friend.

TrinityRhino whers the thread?

I could in some ways, but I think I would struggle with
a) no shoes
b) no shoes
c) er that would be no shoes
d) lastly, no new shoes

And while we are about it what about these

Have just explained to dietician that I actually prefer to cook fresh food from scratch and it's not something that I do simply because ds has allergies.

She seemed very concerned with saving me time/stress.

i don't understand why peole have ed at her having a cleaner, she isnt doing this for financial reasons, purely to reduce waste and stop consumerism, so whats the problem with her having a cleaner?

If she's not shopping, she will have plenty of time on her hands to do the cleaning .

I am 3 months into it - after reading Not buying it - which i agree is a crap book, but got me thinking about why i need "stuff" and why i needed to shop to fulfill an emotional need, i really htink it is quite a worthwhile exercise, though i have not gone to the extreame and we do occasionally eat out and i do buy presents for peoples birthdays , but on the whole i now look for other ways to fulfill my emotional needs other than shopping.

mummydoc, please keep us updated.

i will , so far have manged to put boden catalogues straight into bin without opening at all, infact all catalogues go this way, only allowable clothes have been kids shoes as their feet grow ! my 2 dds have stacks of clothes and i cannot see them really needing anything new all year. i will confess if i slip off the wagon

Er, NO!

So what if you don't need everything you buy and who cares if it fulfills some emotional need? If you can afford what you are buying I don't see the problem personally. I love buying new clothes and accessories and I love getting new stuff for the boys - I have no intention of giving up!

Ok, haven't read article but here's the forbidden list:

Clothes - NO CHANCE!
Adult shoes - NO BLOODY CHANCE!
Books - NOPE!
CDs - NO WAY!
Bath oil or perfume - NO, SORRY, LOVE PERFUME
Make-up - ABSOLUTELY NO WAY I'M GIVING THAT UP
Candles - CAN DO WITHOUT THOSE
Electronics - PROBABLY NOT
Decorating supplies - USUALLY GET SOMEONE ELSE TO DECORATE, DOES THAT COUNT?
Plants (ornamental) - CAN DO WITHOUT THOSE
Leisure magazines -COULD DO WITHOUT THEM BUT I WON'T
Furniture - NO, PROBABLY NOT

So there

on her list of tips at the bottom of the article she says "ditch the electric kettle" I could live without most of the shopping, but is there a more environmentally friendly way to make a cup of tea/coffee? or is she giving that up too?

Does heating up water in a stovetop kettle cost less money, I wonder?

Well I wondered that, Jackie. We have gas hobs and an electric kettle, but our electricity comes from a renewable source (windpower) whereas gas isn't ... so surely it is better environmentally to use electric in my case?

I reckon DH could manage it. Not me.

dh DOES manage it- he can be a right tight-arse

jackieno, maybe she will have a little camp fire in the garden with a kettle hanging off it, and some beans for the kids' tea?

Rofl at Gobbledigook - are you my long lost twin, I wonder?

Microwaving one single cup of water (if you already have microwave) is probably more efficient than using kettle.

Re, the cleaner - most efficient thing would be for the cleaner to own an iron and charge extra to "rent" it to the people she cleans for, rather than every house have an iron if it's only used once a week.