NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

Knit_Minion

Hi can I join please?

I have just written a long post and somehow lost it. In summary I have been trying to become more minimalist and shop more mindfully for the last couple of years, albeit with various lapses.

I have already decided to not buy any new fancy toiletries until I have used up what I have already got, and then any replacements will be from a M&S range that I like and it isn't too expensive.

I will read the books I've got downloaded on my kindle before buying any more. I will also use up craft supplies before buying new ones.

There are a few items of clothing I need/want but that is all I will buy.

Hopefully this will work.

Primrose

I've been following thia thread with interest, especially the comments about not lining the pockets of retailers and boosting their profits. I too am keeping my wallet pretty tightly closed but am also forced to reflect that when the profits of retailers drop sharply through reduced consumer spending, not only do they often start implementing staff cuts but their share price also drops on the stock market. So one person's lack of spending could be an indirect cause of another parson's redundancy. And since nearly everybodys' pension funds and equity ISAs hold these companies' shares in their schemes, the value of pensions and ISAs can drop dramatically too. So we have truly become a global village with all of us depending to a greater or lesser extent on eaxh other's spending habits, and perhaps have to be a little careful what we wish for :eek:

moneyistooshorttomention

Indeed. Very very "swings and roundabouts" and "shades of grey" sometime imo.

for instance, I had a (very small) household issue over the last week (ie curtains pulling smoothly on a couple of curtain rails here) and asked for advice on here and duly saved myself spending about £12 on a custom-made product by asking for advice and was able to use something I already had and that has cost an unnoticeable amount of money to do. That's where it helps a lot, ie to think first, rather than blindly thinking "What product can I buy for x?".

On the other hand, I always have a sneaky suspicion that a possession decluttered one day might be needed the following year iyswim. This is the thing, ie that decluttering, of itself, is currently a fashion.

The thing is to work out the happy medium and see straight through advertisers claims on the one hand v. living in a "virtual hairshirt" on the other hand. Its all about balance imo.

The comment earlier about "shiny things" was a very apt one and I certainly feel (personally) that THE biggest clutterer-up-of-our-mind is ourselves, rather than our consumer purchasing. It is (very far from) easy to strip things back to the basics and then there is just you sitting there (ie someone trying to find pleasure and purpose from your own life) rather than trying to "block it all out" with those "shiny things".

Not easy...that's for sure.

camelot1001

fairy3 wrote: »

More on the country living front... As a birthday present my sis bought us tickets to the CL fair last weekend and it was entertaining to say the least. Everyone was very nice but £5 for a jar of jam, £25 for two candles (a bargain! the notice said) and every manner of unnecessary paraphernalia at super inflated prices.
Many were buying into it and masses of bags filled and money parted with. There was an air of 'we are not leaving without something' and even a patronising sign on a pashmina stall which said 'your husband phoned he said you can have anything you like'. I bought a coffee and a couple of nice cards but resisted as there really wasn't anything I needed. Sis is another thing altogether, how many wicker hearts can you have in one house?

This is exactly what I thought! I was lucky enough to have DD working there on a stand so she came with a badge so I could get in for free (also, shhhh, but I did not pay for a train ticket either as the station is unmanned and the inspector didn't come round).

Although it was nice to see all the different, overpriced, 'things' I object to having to pay £12 to buy things. Shopping centres don't charge an entry fee, so why does the CLF? Anyway, I bought a bottle of gin that I got a free taster of and was going to buy anyway and enough free 'tasters' to not need any lunch!

Goldiegirl

A very interesting thread.

For the last few years I've been moving to a simpler, more streamlined life.

I've decluttered many items that I've had tucked away for years and years, and haven't replaced them with new STUFF.

Next year will be the start of a major change in our life, as we will be retiring early in a couple of weeks time.

I intend to carry on reducing clutter, including things that have survived previous decluttering culls.

I have bought very few clothes this year, and will be going through my wardrobe in detail. I have many clothes which are starting to disintegrate, as I've worn them so often. They will be thrown out, and I will look at everything left. I'll consider whether it's suitable for my new life, does it fit, and will I wear it. If not it'll be eBayed or sent to the charity shop.

However, I will not be afraid to shop.

But I'll be only shopping for things that I need or will enhance my life.

Once my wardrobe revamp is complete, I will be able to see gaps that I need to fill, and will make considered purchases accordingly

We currently have two cars, mine is 12 years old, my husband's is 8 years old. We are going to get rid of one car...... But later in the year we may replace the car that is left with a new one. We'd keep the new car for many many years, and will be considering a hybrid to keep our running costs down over the years.

We currently have Sky TV, which we're getting rid of in the new year. We'll be buying a freeview box, so we can continue to enjoy HD TV, and have to facility to record from TV.

We're considering buying a larger freezer, as our current freezer isn't big enough for our current batch cooking/bulk buying requirements.

We'll probably buy a flask and cooler bag to take our lunch with us when we go out.

But, as lessonlearned said, it's all mindful purchases , not just getting stuff for the sake of it.

Once the things are bought, we won't be updating them a year later, these things will hopefully last us for years.

I'll certainly be looking into this thread with interest, to see how everyone's getting on.

parsniphead

This thread is moving very quickly. I have spend the past 20 minutes catching up.

I have never been a massive shopper, I'm not too good at it to be honest but 10 years in retail really opened my eyes to the greedy, avaricious folks out there. By the end of it I really disliked people. It took a few weeks working in a SEN college to see the goodness in people again.

Today I popped into the local town and to be honest after two hours I was well and truly angry and irritated. I think I'm just about ready to hit this challenge head on and I'm looking forward to less time spent amongst the chaos.

I found an old, unused cash book today and have allocated a page to each part of my monthly spend. I intend to cut each one as much as possible.

This ship is definitely sailing away from the shops shipmates.

Bobarella

K9sandFelines wrote: »

Ive just been on Twitter having a nosey at the #minsgame participants and reading up on The Minimalists, and came across a blog similar in theme to this thread ...thought you might be able to gleen tips from it as the blogger has done it before


Oneemptyshelf.com

I will be following this thread for tips on cutting down and decluttering. I stockpile and hoard too much in the hope it will come in useful at a later date. Not necessarily consumerism but along the same lines. About to click subscribe.


Good luck all

I know that blog. It's great. There are so many good ones on minimalism.

girlinayellowdress

Well I'm a week later in joining but join I must.

The main things I am going to start with is sorting the stash of bath products etc. I will bag them up in the relative groups as I quite often think we have run out of something only to find another 3 hidden away after the new purchase.
Food, there is only my DS, dog and myself and a freezer full of food. I will only buy the necessities in fresh items to compliment what we already have. Then hopefully by the time the freezer needs to be restocked I will have plenty ideas from all you lovelies on here.
Clearing out is something I have been doing for a while now, desperately want to move and that's a daunting thought when it's just the two of us. I have been packing for some time already, keeping things that I know I cannot part with but cs a great deal, this I will continue.
No magazines, yes, guilty. Instead I will regularly check for free light books for the kindle and look for inspirational ideas on Pinterest.
I will need to keep busy, like a few of you I have mental health issues which has affected spending, I shall channel my thoughts and time into competitions, baking and lists, boy can I write lists! Maybe even restart my blog. I had already bought a lovely book that I was going to use as a journal for the year, cannot wait to use it.
Hopefully with the inspiration and change of ways I will also be more inclined to venture out and lose some weight.

I_want_a_baby

Morning all,

We went to the local garden centre yesterday to have a look around the Christmas displays. It was the most stressful and un Christmassy 45 minutes I have ever spent.

It seems the entire county had the same idea. It was heaving.

Some of their great value buys included:
£8.99 for a single bottle of Christmas beer
£3.99 for a single Christmas toilet roll
£5.29 for a small very average looking lemon drizzle cake.

We tried to browse the vast displays of Christmas decorations through the hoards of people and I considered letting the children choose one special decoration each but at £5.99 for a single tree dec that wasn't happening!

The shame of it all was how they commercialised their Father Christmas. £10 per child to get in. For that you go in groups and walk through a wonderland, get read a story from Santa and then choose a toy from santos workshop. Now their scenery and set up was amazing and very believable. But you don't get to tell him what you asked for or even talk to him (unless you pay £5 to have a photo with him).

I left feeling so deflated and sad. No money was spent but it was such an un Christmassy atmosphere.

We are visiting our local small shopping centre later, a woman has worked so hard for three months making a grotto, they have an elf to great you and a realistic Santa for your children to talk to. You get a small gift and admission is £3. This lady has worked so hard as she wants to raise funds for a premature baby unit to buy a ventilator so little babies can spend their last hours at home with their family.
That feels so much more like the meaning of Christmas to me!

Sorry just had to share. Commercialism can make any event or item so un special. I am glad to be walking away from it!

IWAB x

[Deleted User]

watch out for the `sucking in` of twig trees. I started looking at them today on the net, yes they are nice but arghh. Reminds me of 40 years ago and a young married, we got real twigs and painted them white and hung some baubles on them. Easy enough to do and baubles can be made

I cleared out my make up and bath products last year and am still using what I had. I won`t be buying any more until they need replacing and I don`t use make up as such any more, just good moisturisers

I don`t need clothes but have replaced some undies and I already have a large fabric stash and patterns, so will be making as and when needed in future and I have a huge stash of fibre for spinning, so will not be buying any yarn of any sort. My crafting hobbies are sorted and catered for I am pleased to say

I did, only yesterday, buy a covered ceramic baker for my sourdough bread. I have been making sd for 30 years but the starter has been sleeping in the fridge because of less that satisfactory results from a fan oven. I have revived it again and am making the loaves once more. I can justify my purchase because sd is not a flash in the pan with me and just 20 loaves will cover my purchase compared to shop bought, which I never buy anyway btw. Sourdough agrees with us whereas yeast breads don`t

One thing I did find hard to get to grips with was the overbuying of food after the children left home, I still bought for five of us for quite a while, even now my cupboards and freezers are full to bursting. Ok, a lot of allotment produce and preps for being snowed in, after being snowed in for 6 weeks in 2010/11 but far too much if I am honest. I will concentrate on cooking from what I have in, starting after christmas