NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

alliboy03

Thistle-down wrote: »

Does your son have any outgrown jumpers/coats you could adapt? I boil washed a wool jumper (so it wouldn't fray when I cut it) and then just cut the arms off, something like this:



You can also use a sleeve of an adult's jumper as a coat:



I found a toddler winter coat when we were on a walk that fits my terrier well, it just needed a good wash. I did take it in a bit (just a straight seam down the back) it sure keeps him warm.

Thank you so much for this my chi has put on weight, so this is brilliant for him thank you again:T

Primrose

I am hoping that with the collective wisdom of you good folks on here, somebody will come up with some effective and practical ideas of how I can get my dear OH to declutter. It'sso dispiriting when every room contains a fair share of his stuff which needs this. He will spend hours doing what he considers "useful stuff" on the computer, mainly related to hobbies or outside interests but he claims he is too busy to declutter. The reality is that this is just an avoidance technique for disharmony because every item would just be checked over with a response. "I need that - I haven't read it yet" or "It will come in useful one day".
Any helpful suggestions, or am I destined to sneak the items out of the house one by one when he's not looking?

alliboy03

hello shipmates I would love to join you as Ive moved house back in june this year and am still drowning in boxes:eek: In the past ive collected Barbies and teddy bears etc:(.
This all has to stop and I would like to jump aboard with all your help

IrisViolet

Hi ive been reading this thread the past few days and its just what i need right now. Ive been a member on here years but always dipping in and out, im a bit hopeless really always losing my way.
Me and DH had a big chat before Christmas, decided enough is enough and have made plans to sort things.
We need to pay of debts, save to move (in rented atm way overpriced, we want to move closer to family where its also going to be cheaper, but need a deposit), then longer term start saving to buy. DH has also hit job applications with a vengeance as he really wnats out of his current job and has decided to stop moaning about it and just do it.

We had a big chat about how wasteful we are, and how on payday we always say i *just need to buy this* when in actual fact we need to buy nothing. We seem to have both finally had a lighbulb moment at the same time, then i found this thread, its perfect! So ill be reading and posting a lot!

We have three children 6,4, 1 and (ahem early days) one on the way.......... we had planned on stopping at three, DH went to docs about a vasectomy then a week later i found out i as pregnant. anyway we are of the train of thought that it all happens for a reason so here we are, this will be us complete. I agree with those up thread that babies do not need to cost a lot at all. We spent a fortune on our first and then barely anything after he was about one and we came to our senses about how little we used! I breastfeed, cloth nappies, use a sling and co sleep , my 4 year old only just needed a bed recently! We buy good quality clothes like boden and joules second hand for eldest and pass them down.
Cant remember which poster it was who mentioned home education but we also home educate , my kids have never been school.

I have a fridge and cupboards full of food, and apart from a little petrol i dont anticipate spending anything now until 4th Jan when im gonna do a shop to take on our holiday on the 5th. Mon - Fri in centre parcs, we do it every year after xmas its very cheap and the accommodation is lovely so we do all our own cooking in the nice kitchen and enjoy our time together. after the first time we went we gave up on the activities and now just go walking and swimming which is free!!

Anyway not even looked at sales, my sister was on the tram to manchester at 8am boxing day, how mental is that, i just cant get my head around it, me and dh were saying last night we feel like we are finally seeing through the whole consumerist thing, its all ridiculous.

oneemptyshelf

I've spent a good few hours with many cups of tea reading through this thread and it's very inspiring to see that lots of people are fed up of consuming too much as well!

I'm not buying anything next year and reading through everyone's comments gives me extra resolve! :T I can't wait!

CAFCGirl

Thistle-down wrote: »

Does your son have any outgrown jumpers/coats you could adapt? I boil washed a wool jumper (so it wouldn't fray when I cut it) and then just cut the arms off, something like this:



You can also use a sleeve of an adult's jumper as a coat:



I found a toddler winter coat when we were on a walk that fits my terrier well, it just needed a good wash. I did take it in a bit (just a straight seam down the back) it sure keeps him warm.

Those are awesome.
Unfortunately he's quite an odd shape and we're all midgets so our jumpers dont match his size iyswim.....

I managed to get the one I wanted in Pets@ however the belly strap is too wide so the velcro doesnt meet to tie up round him. but everything else is spot on (length etc). So I'm pondering whether to attempt to alter it, or return it.....

7_week_wonder

Primrose wrote: »

I am hoping that with the collective wisdom of you good folks on here, somebody will come up with some effective and practical ideas of how I can get my dear OH to declutter. It'sso dispiriting when every room contains a fair share of his stuff which needs this. He will spend hours doing what he considers "useful stuff" on the computer, mainly related to hobbies or outside interests but he claims he is too busy to declutter. The reality is that this is just an avoidance technique for disharmony because every item would just be checked over with a response. "I need that - I haven't read it yet" or "It will come in useful one day".
Any helpful suggestions, or am I destined to sneak the items out of the house one by one when he's not looking?

Oh wow - I think you are married to my OH's long lost twin brother! I'm no expert, but the only things I've found that help are: leading by example; letting him have one room where he can have junk and clutter everywhere (ok - two rooms if you count the garage!) and infinite patience

We live in the same house where OH grew up, and both his grannies lived here at some point - so we have a lot of stuff! After being married for 14 years we are finally getting to the stage where we don't have to play tetris with piles of books/magazines/things before we have people to stay. I am pretty ruthless with my own stuff but don't touch his. What I do say is "There is a charity collection on Tuesday shall I leave the bag out" and sometimes he puts a couple of things in it. As I type he is going through a pile of old magazines and reading each one thoroughly before recycling them. Did I mention that they had to be sorted into chronological order before starting:eek: I know that if I make any comment, even if it is just offering to put them in the recycling, we will be back to square one so I'm trying to just go with the flow. I do ask that a couple of our rooms are kept junk free - and he is happy with that. In return I try not to stress about the dreaded back room of doom!

And hello to oneemptyshelf - I love your blog and I hope you'll have plenty of tips for the rest of us.

GreyQueen

The last of the big spenders rides again; hit up the town and came away with a £1 dvd, one I'd been looking for (we watched it this afternoon) and 3 library books, one of which I've started. Poked into a few chazzers and that was it.

We're in a piddly little town and all the big retail is one town over or up in the city where I live, so I expect both were heaving, very glad not to have been pushing and shoving around there.

This year, we all feel less oppressed by the quantities of food in the house. Don't get me wrong, we're not on bread-and-scrape, but the meals aren't oversized and no one feels sickened with excessive consumption. And my trousers still fasten easily, woot woot.:D

Pretty likely I shall be calling out a washng machine engineer early in the new year, one more easy fault to eliminate, then we shall see what needs to be done. I also plan to inventory my veg seeds to see if there are any purchases necessary or if I have all that I need. It's so easy to overshop for things, don't you find?

I'm pretty pleased at how the toiletry stash is going down in size at home, really limiting the stuff I use and making sure that random things are used up before I get any more in. And I've plans to eat from the larder and the freezer for most things. Lots of home grown veggies in there to enjoy.

This year, I want to concentrate on experiences rather than things, and to winnow down possessions via natural attrition, as have decluttered all the most obvious suspects and have no low-hanging fruit left to harvest.

My trainers will wear out at some point in the year, and I won't replace them, I shall substitute a pair of fabric hiking boots which don't get worn much, and make them serve. Once they're on, and the trousers are over the top of them, they look just like trainers, anyway.

I feel among kindred spirits on the good ship No Buy and wish you all a superb 2015, when we collectively take back control of our headspace from the advertisers, marketeers and associated piratical trades.

Bathory

Hi again, nice to see more people climbing on board. I've not been out since the early hours of Wednesday but will need to go out tomorrow. I think overnight we have had visitors in the back yard as there were lots of animal prints - probably a fox - that showed up in the snow leading right up to the back door.

Christmas was very quiet but relaxing. Left over money will be put aside for maybe a treat but there is nothing we want at the moment, not been to any Sales and all vouchers/coupons that didn't get used have now been binned (including the Boots ones which is a first time achievement for me).

I'm trying to compile a list of what I'd like to achieve/change in 2015. Here is a few things.
1. Junk food to be left out of trolley. This is not going to be easy with OH having a very sweet tooth but he never puts any weight on whereas I do - totally not fair but if he wants it he can buy his own.
2. This past year or so I've got into a habit of buying mags for the freebies stuck on the front of them. Rarely they are worth the money spent on the mag (which is usually full of adverts amongst other rubbish) so this now stops.
3. Needs versus wants, think about purchases and if unsure, to leave it and go away and have a think about it. Most of the time I know I won't go back for that item.

However, I'm spending £20 tomorrow on a 2nd hand spindryer, a definite need. Daft as it may sound these things are worth their weight in gold to me and my old one is dying.

purpleshoes_2

Must be hard when you have other peoples stuff as well as your own. My mum has too much stuff, she admits it, she inherited a lot of books when my uncle and my gran died, but we were talking about it the other night and shes on a mission to declutter. She was paying 30 quid a month to rent a garage, had to pay rent when she bought her council house and there were tons of stuff in it, but she got rid of the lot and handed it back and is now decluttering the rest of her house.

Its not a disaster zone, but she, like me hangs onto stuff far too long or did, I was saying to her last night what we need to do is use, or gift, or bin or recycle and we will get there.

I must have charity shopped or binned or recycled about 500 items in the last 3 weeks.

Its just stuff. I feel better when I give stuff to charity, when I think maybe I no longer want it or need it, but someone else might get use of it.

I had an electrical cupboard of doom, massive and filled to the brim with crap, but when I got a new kitchen in that had to be clear and we did it, it makes me feel so good that I can walk in it now and theres space!!!!!!!!!!

Might take me 3 months, might be less, but my flat will be clear and hopefully a few people will get some bargains due to the stuff I give back that I no longer need. Always bought most of my books from charity and am giving them back to charity as well.