No buy or low buy 2023

[TheOGCCL]

Starting a new thread for the new year. I really must do better. Pretty sure I am in need of nothing after my 2022 spending spree.

Ironically I think this board sets me off a bit.

I’m better with a blanket no spend but how dull. Still thinking about my ‘rules’, eg set a budget or an item limit.

I need to avoid the sales as many mistakes happen there.

All welcome who want to cut down for environmental or ethical or financial reasons, or simply the satisfaction of buying second hand, or the ease of getting dressed when you have less stuff.

I can recommend Lauren Bravo’s book How To Break Up With Fast Fashion.

Its a bit like eating meat, if we all collectively did it a bit less, the world would be a better place.

Welcome @Whathappenedto sounds like we have very similar values and also very similar habits! My spending was completely emotional - I bought things to "cheer" me up or because "I deserve it". Of course, things never cheer you up. They can, for a very short while, but you are just feeding a never ending emotional black hole. It was hard for me to realise that, but once I did, I started filling that gap with things that actually gave me long-term happiness. I signed up to a yoga class again; I took a book to a cafe and had coffee and cake while reading; I messaged a friend and made plans for dinner. In 2021 everytime I felt like scrolling clothes, I picked up a book instead. I read a lot of books 😅 but these things were also ultimately a better use of money too. It was quite hard to be honest with myself though. I think I had pnd and was trying to fill an emotional void with buying things. In the long term, it made me feel worse because of course that amazing jumper didn't change my life or self image or relationship, and now I was £100 poorer too.

Now, I operate a wishlist. I add things to it and sometimes they are specific and sometimes general, and I often remove things from the list too. I try and stay otherwise active and have other "hobbies". Oddly I never enjoyed the actual shopping itself, I just desperately wanted to change myself.

If you have quite green values, it also helps to visualise the lifecycle of your desired item. Where will it be in a month's time? In a year? In five years? And be honest with yourself. Are you still keen to wear it after it's no longer new and shiny, or will you default back to your old favourites instead? Could you see yourself sending it to the charity shop next year when the desire for it has faded?

£40 on tops. I love them, but... sighs

Still, its progress on last year. I've spent more than February but less than January. I'm going to aim to go through April without scrolling through any shopping apps. If I don't look I can't be tempted. Hoping that helps.

@Pigtailsandall you've hit it on the head really - yeah. It's emotional. Thanks for replying, what you say really resonates with me.
My life is very much around small kids and getting covered in yoghurt and mashed potato, and mud and felt tip, and I keep buying stuff for the version of me where I can be clean and stylish and not have to wear unflattering old jeans and a sweatshirt every bloody day. But I think I need to just try and accept that for now, and like you say, direct my energy elsewhere.

Thinking about the lifecycle certainly does impact my choices, but then I will often spend more on things that are 100% wool, cotton, leather etc because I think they will be good enough quality to hand down to my kids/pass on, and then biodegrade eventually. I'm kidding myself really, it's just a justification- because I also need to think about how they were made, packaged, shipped etc.

“If you have quite green values, it also helps to visualise the lifecycle of your desired item. Where will it be in a month's time? In a year? In five years? And be honest with yourself. Are you still keen to wear it after it's no longer new and shiny, or will you default back to your old favourites instead? Could you see yourself sending it to the charity shop next year when the desire for it has faded?”

That’s a really good way of thinking it through.

I thought this video was quite interesting, point 2 'would you have worn the item you want to buy five years ago, and will you want to wear it in two years' time?'. I have a magpie tendency to buy statement items that I grow bored of (not immediately but in a year or two).
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I think that's interesting. I think my problem is that the answer is yes and then I buy multiples if they are on offer, sometimes in different colours. Because I think, wow, I looked for so long for something like that and now I've found it I want to make sure I have enough to last in case I can't find it again. Particularly with merino, which I love wearing more than anything, which limits me in many ways. If I find a merino dress, or skirt, for example, that fits and suits me, I want every colour.

The most stupid question for me is "Would you have bought it full price?" for sale items. Well, no, because some things are overpriced. I got some black Converse reduced from £70 to £35 which I love, but I would never spend/have never spent £70 on Converse that I kill off in a year.

Last checkin for March. I resisted all beauty purchases but I did buy an embroidered blouse from vinted for £3. I've wanted to trial the embroidered blouse, and thought this would be an inexpway to see if I like it. Plus I used my Vinted credit to pay for it.

Not a bad month - 3 clothing items at a total of £107, one beauty items at £6.99

Aiming for a total clothing no-buy in April but I will need to get some skincare replacements

Also, this article is really putting me off from online buying & returning. Over 50% of returns go to landfill.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/mar/31/what-happens-when-we-send-back-unwanted-clothes?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

I did something I never do. Courier messing around about delivery of something ordered almost 2 weeks ago. Yesterday I emailed the company requesting a refund under the distance selling regulations. Suspect the courier has lost the parcel. The company of course are being difficult saying the parcel needs to be returned for a refund, but since I've never had the parcel in my possession it's nothing to do with me where it is. I shall contact the bank for a chargeback if they don't refund me next week. Usually I'd chase and chase the courier for delivery, but I don't need the items so that'll be £150 saved.

Pigtails I've known about that for over 30 years since I walked into a discount store and asked how come they can sell the clothes so cheaply. They weren't allowed to sell returns as "new" so stores sold them heavily discounted as "seconds".

I'm thinking it might now be getting warm enough to entertain switching out my winter/spring clothes. Hoping I don't need to purchase anything new!

I'm doing the big clothing change over this week. I washed all my winter hats, scarves, and gloves this morning ready to put away until the autumn.

This is danger time for me. I often drag stuff out and think it looks shabby and tarty and want something new. Wish me luck.

Declaring -
£17 marks and Spencer jeggings as my jeans died.
£10 John Lewis black tee
£8.50 marks and sparks black tee
£14 dress from Morrisons.

Nothing else to declare :-)

Tatty!

I haven't looked tarty this millennium!

In March, I bought some new knickers from M&S when I had a discount and was buying a few items for ds anyway.

Then I strayed a bit with a makeup and skincare box, which I really didn't need. At all.

I've consoled myself with the rationalisation that it was all things I will use and the price was only £24 for the lot, which was too good a deal to miss.

So, I haven't broken my budget or anything, but I know this is becoming a problem area for me, so have started a new no buy. I'm aiming for at least 30 days unless I genuinely run out of something I use daily - which is unlikely!

Declaring

• Asda dress £16 when my blue light and Asda rewards discount taken off, hopefully will wear it a lot I feel attractive in it and I haven't felt that for a while :-)

Ok. Mid April. I’ve done well.

My no-buy resolution was for no clothes, beauty products or luxury.

In 2023, I have bought:

• a pair of M&S jeans £30
• basic facial sunscreen £10
• a scarf £30

Was saved from almost buying a Clarins lip oil as it was out of stock and the lovely lady at the counter gave me a free sample instead.

Not bought anything else! Horray!

(Disclaimer: DH gave me a handbag and kids gave me trainers for my birthday. As in I bought them and they wrapped them up.)

^ the above is very good for me. Considering last year I spent half of what should have gone into my ISA.

Mid-month check-in for me too. I've spent on skincare, which I expected to, because a lot of my staple products were running low. I got an eyebrow pencil, a peptide serum and a Clinique balm cleanser. My nightcream is running low, so we'll see if that lasts till the end of the month. These don't come under my low-spend as such as they are replacements for products that ran out.

But then there's the unexpected spend - I sold some stuff on Vinted and used the credit to buy a wool-blend blazer which is perfect (once the weather warms up) and an embroided blouse. I was interested in exploring more pattern in my wardrobe so thought that a £5.50 blouse would be a low-investment way to start. So technically, these cost nothing, although I could have just withdrawn the money...

My big splurge is a Ghost slip skirt, which hasn't yet arrived, so not sure it's a keeper. It was £69 so it has to be perfect when I try it on, otherwise it's going back. But I would like a fun, slinky skirt for the spring! It's definitely something I'm adding to my wishlist.

Checking in. Not doing too badly. I've got some bits for my holiday in a couple of weeks (new jeans, some underwear and some new slippers). I also took advantage of the SBC offer on QVC as it contained large sizes of products I use so I considered that cost effective.

The impulse buys have lessened considerably and I can now look at my wardrobe and concentrate on working with what I have rather than just going out and getting something new for the sake of it.

@Mrcpy Well done!

My no buy Jan-Mar was completed so I have bought some things over Easter. I found myself being much more considered but still didn’t need any of it really. I guess I am doing better than last year but could do better.

Just checking in. I just ordered a bikini top from Boden in a style that I love (comfortable, stylish and keeps The girls in place). It’s pink, trimmed with navy, so will match my navy bottoms for my holiday (so sensible for me). £38 reduced to £10! Also a summer vest top. It was £24, but I had a £20 credit for returning old stuff to them to recycle. I bought nothing in February and March (aside from a bit of needed underwear, which is different to frivolous buys isn’t it?). Feeling pretty good about my recently turned over new leaf!

“If you have quite green values, it also helps to visualise the lifecycle of your desired item. Where will it be in a month's time? In a year? In five years? And be honest with yourself. Are you still keen to wear it after it's no longer new and shiny, or will you default back to your old favourites instead? Could you see yourself sending it to the charity shop next year when the desire for it has faded?”
This mentality helped me start my first low buy month. I found it easier to stop the flow of items coming in than removing deadwood items that were already in the closet.

I'm trying to remove lots of clothes from my wardrobe, but it's slow going because I'm a 'just in case' person. Accepting the money has been spent, someone else might get some use from it, and keeping those items is not bringing any extra benefit has been key to me getting rid of things and focusing on the items I really like.

Not bought any clothes since 23rd March, all declared on last post on 25th March. A week to go and I've done a month.

However, we have made some purchases for the house to be declared. We weren't going to do it this year but it was something we intended to do over the next couple of years.

We have decided to swap our bedroom with a room we use as an office/teens room, for 2 main reasons:
It has the only en suite in the house and DH and I have decided we finally want the privacy of our own bathroom.
We want some noise separation from older teens who want to go sleep later than us and this room is further away on a different floor.

So, we have made some purchases for it. It mainly involves replacing ancient, rather battered, furniture bought with my ex over 20 years ago. Also, our new bedroom is smaller and the old furniture will not fit.

Our current mattress was bought with my ex 17 years ago and really needs replacing, although the wooden bed frame of the same age we are keeping.

We are also getting new mattress toppers and duvets which are 7 years old and looking rather stained.

We're keeping our existing duvet covers, pillows and wardrobes which we bought together. It will be nice for the bedroom to be one DH and I planned together, especially since we got married last year.

Declaring (including delivery costs):
Cotton 1500 Superking Mattress, Warren Evans, £963
Wool Superking Mattress Topper, Devon Duvets, £200
All season wool superking duvets (summer and spring/autumn), Soak and Sleep, £187
2 x Orla Kiely lamps, John Lewis, £160
2x green Olderdalen bedside tables, IKEA, £165
2 x Sonoma chest of drawers from M&S to match existing wardrobes £1370 (15% Easter discount)
Orla Kiely blackout curtains, £75

Total spend £3120

It seems like a lot, but we are hoping it will all last and this really is a one off. I was shocked at how expensive these things are having not bought them for a long time. £1000 pocket sprung mattresses at John Lewis were the budget ones and they went up to about £6000. And custom made curtains would have cost a fortune, but thankfully we found some we really liked that are blackout and ready made.

We will also need some paint as we are going to decorate the room, it hasn't been painted for 8 years and needs doing. And a new lampshade to match everything would be nice. We are hoping to make it really nice in there for a long time to come.

Attaching a bedroom montage I made on the Whering App! Not sure about wall colour yet, will try some test pots out with the curtains, lamp and bedside tables.

I was planning to do this, but it’s so bloody cold and miserable I have no motivation whatsoever, and I’m wearing a proper winter jumper today :(

However, I have not bought either a pair of cropped wide legged jeans, or a boyfriend-style blazer.

@Netcam please can we not count house stuff purchases, as I’d be exposed as a total fraud.

@LoobyDop, of course! I've only declared mine because I'd said I wasn't going to buy anything for the house this year!