The Compact Challenge 2010 (formally "Need help for a challenge")

pink_numbers

ohhhh house repairs... hmmm I know we have a whole set of screws... I bought a set for myself and one for OH when we were living seperately. Not sure about bits of wood or fillers, I will ask the OH, thank you so much for your ideas!

thriftymoo

Just wanted to say that this is a fab challenge and i'd like to take part myself if i can. Is there anywhere that gives you a list of the types of things ur allowed to buy?

pink_numbers

Hi lysasparkles, I'm glad to hear that you want to join in

This is one of the original blogs: http://sfcompact.blogspot.com/
here is the yahoo group for the states: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thecompact/
and if you enter "the compact consumerism" in google, you will get lots of articles written about the challenge, explaining the rules

hope this helps.

thriftymoo

thanks will check that out! putting the compact in google comes up with loads of totally unrelated stuff and i was having quite a job finding the right stuff!

juliapenguin

You should definitely get a Mooncup - I've had mine 2 and a half years and I would never ever go back to tampons. Don't worry about emptying it when you're out - it holds so much more than a tampon and I've never had to empty mine anywhere inconvenient. No leaks, no discomfort, no nasty bleached materials near your sensitive bits...

thriftymoo

Found tons of stuff looks really interesting. Have you seen the church of stop shopping??!

pink_numbers

juliapenguin: thank you so much for your recommendation I have been eerrmmming about it for ages now, and I think I'm ready to try them. I've read lots about it but it's never like actually using the thing is it? I think I'm making it a lot worse in my head! I'm going to a shopping centre tomorrow, so I will see if I can find it there. I'll keep you updated!

lysasparkles: church of stop shopping??? ha ha ha:rotfl:I am going to have to go and check that out!

ubamother

you make your own toiletries and cleaning stuff, will you need to buy the ingredients you use to make them? If you grow any of your own fruit and veg, unless you've already saved seed from this year for next, you may need to buy seeds etc. Do you use binbags, printer paper, writing paper, diaries, calendars? Any form of transportation - from cars to bikes may need some form of maintenance and new tyres etc. If your transportation of choice is walking, resoling shoes.

missychrissy

When I was first married in the early seventies I used to buy hand knitted jumpers, cardigans etc at jumble sales. I would unpick the seams, wind the wool into hanks around the back of a chair, wash them, rewind into balls and knit them into something new. My favourite buy was a man's carigan with leather buttons. This turned into a jacket for me that I wore and wore for years.

I also used to buy a white sheet on the market out of which I could make 2 pairs of trousers or 2 skirts and 1 pair of trousers. It used to cost me 15p for a bobbin of thread, 15p for a zip and 15p for a clothes dye in Woolworths. I had trousers and skirts in all sorts of colours.

When my children were small I made all their knitwear often using yarn bought from charity shops. However, I find it cheaper to buy these things at the outlet centres these days. Home knitting, unless you can get wool very cheaply, given or second hand, is a more expensive option these days.

My immediate response to your challenge was also lightbulbs. However, I am stockpiled on these, I buy them when they are on super offers so could manage for a long time. I hardly switch my lights on anyway. I have a lamp in the hall with a low energy bulb and tend to use candles, sun and moon jars and a wind up lantern to see me to bed. I live on my own, though with 4 visiting sons and families, so most of the time I can be as excentric as I like.

Charity shops are really good for books. I buy lots for my grandchildren and freecycle is a great source of all sorts of things, well worth joining, but you have to be quick as things go very quickly.

Good luck with your challenge. I will watch it and learn.

pink_numbers

wow ubamother, you have really made me think! thank you

I have pretty much enough ingredients to make cleaning and toiletries... I *think*, because I haven't really sat and calculated every ounce of ingredients I will need for the next year. I bulk buy things like bicarb in 5kg units, as it's cheaper and we just about have enough space to store them (read: the attic). If I run out, I will just have to make do with other things I have.

I totally over estimated how many plants I could have in my new garden, so I have over abundance of seeds for next year

binbags: I have a roll of bin bags under the sink, and we are going to try and make that last a year! However, for hygine reasons, we will buy small bags for putting the dirty cat litter into. I really don't want to explain to the neighbours why there is dirty cat litter everywhere on the street if our bin blows over!

Printer paper & writing paper: I have been trying really hard to cut down on using printing paper, and I have a pack of 500 sheets left, which I know will be plenty for more than a year. I have plenty of writing paper from my hoarding/spend silly money on comsumerism days.

Diaries & calendars: already have a diary for 2010, I tend to buy them in october!! Calendars, we don't need, as I have a diary and OH uses his phone for his schedules.

Wow, I really had to think about those things, thank you so much for your ideas!