Don't buy anything new in 2009!

[Green Aura]

I definitely fancy having a go at this, not least because we are so broke this will be a pleasant diversion from what we can't afford!

I've got a couple of qualifiers though -
1) I need to buy all the plasterboard, wood etc for my shop or I won't be able to open my business for the coming season.
2) My kitchen is foul, bordering on a health hazard. I desperately need to get some washable floor covering.

Otherwise count me in.

[Flo]

I've managed to go round two major shopping centres recently and bought nothing. I looked at the prices of items that would be nice to have and thought I'm not paying that for that so I didn't.

On a third trip, I did pick up a couple of good enough woolly shirt items to wear down the allotment from one of the charity shops along with yet another fleece to replace the couple that are coming up for the rag bag. They should see me through the next year or so and then join the rag bag.

But it's quite something for me to go round the shops and come home with nothing - in fact it's notable. So it's a good start to the annual non shopping event.

[Green Aura]

I'm hoping that's OK too - the challenge is not to buy anything new in 2009.

There are quite a few things I need this year that I'm hoping to pick up secondhand.

Not least a set of front doors - bl**dy huge double things that have been patched to b*ggery - I'll be able to use them for kindling at the very least (I'm hoping to get a bit of fencing out of them as well).

[JulieSherris]

Well, I fall into the same category as Red, I think.
With the house the way it is in our first winter here, we need to get the loft properly insulated, double glazing around the windows & doors, & new efficient radiators..... then I need to go buy the contents of the woodyard for the garden projects, seeds for the veggie plots & fruit bushes, etc - then there's the chickens turkeys & pigs.....
Also, I've been walking around in my old size 22 clothes for months & I'm in a 14 at the minute - so I desperately need to get some smaller bits & bobs! I'm quite creative with elastic & safety pins though

So, I can't join in this year, but will follow your progress with interest & maybe join you next year.

Good luck, all!

[Flo]

You can buy second hand clothes from the charity shop Julie without breaking any vows on the nothing new front (oh and will help the budget if you have to sort out the house).

Buying seeds, fruit and such like for the allotment counts as food provision. See if you can get the wood free from local skips where houses are being renovated (yours can't be the only house in need of works), off freecycle or talk to others who may well know of second hand items - money saving if nothing else. Quite often wood comes free if you look around.

So it's just the house that is going to cause you hassle. Mind you - I've seen left over loft insulation being offered on freecycle so it might be worth seeing what you can get free.

Be careful with the pennies lady and you may well be surprised as to what will come your way. But I know what you mean about having to get the house up to standard - it's been a bit cold this winter hasn't it?

[JulieSherris]

Hi Flo, I tried looking in the local St Vincent charity shops here.... our charity shops are a little different to the UK ones. Before christmas, a pair of jeans in the Tuam shop were marked up at 10 euros...... the same jeans were in Dunnes - at 8 euros

I watch our freecycle sites, but it's slow to take off over here (we did get our 3 piece from it tho) - jumbletown.ie is good, but most of anything that's useful is over in Dublin - a round trip of 400KM's....

I'm going to use old tyres for my potatoes & have sourced some scaffold planks for the raised beds - pig fencing needs to be more substantial though, so a trip to the local woodyard & hardware centre is in order.

I will do my best, but some things have to be new, whether I like it or not.
Also, I need new undies....my knickers are now able to be pulled up as far as my bra, & believe me, that is NOT a good look

[Clara]

Reading through this is very interesting, everyone has such personal caveats to the thread title - perhaps the challenge would be more correctly titled "don't buy anything you don't need in 2009", of course everyone has their own perception on the word "need" but at least it would get people reflecting on their purchases.

In the same vain that Flo has started a thread on reflecting on what goes out as waste (and suggesting alternatives), it is just as important for everyone to reflect on what is coming in (and whether there are alternatives to that - secondhand, diy, borrow rather than buy etc). I'd certainly be up for a thread like that.

[Green Aura]

I suppose that many folks are already committed to projects that will, to varying extents, involve getting some new stuff.

For my part I'd love to get some reclaimed flooring for my kitchen, but it's phenomenally expensive (trendy) and I couldn't afford to get it sent up here.

So it's new real lino for me - made in Nairn, environmentally friendly and gorgeous! When we can afford it that is - the way our finances are going at the moment I'll be able to fulfill the criteria of this challenge without any effort due to poverty

[Flo]

Yes it can be a bit hard sometimes not to buy anything new.

I rely on the allotment for a good 60% or more of my food (I'm virtually vegan) and although you can do a certain amount of seed saving, if a crop fails you can't save seeds from it. Also second hand compost doesn't really meet the criteria as most of the goodness will have already been used up. Likewise if I break one of the essential tools and can't get decent or any replacements second hand, well it has to be new just to keep the plot running.

I suspect that most people who are renovating houses may well have to use new because of the cost of sourcing and transporting reclaimed materials. Sometimes money stops us doing some of the things that we would like to do. That's life.

[Flo]

A whole week without buying anything new! Well except for 2 items of food. I even read the local paper in the library! Only another 51 and 4 days to go then to get to 2010.

[sleepyowl]

Iwill try my best to, although I will need to by new work uniform & wool can these be omitted from my list, I doubt I can get my other half to join in or my housemate as they are both djs & have a £100 B&Q voucher burning a hole in Rich's pockets

[Flo]

Ah not to worry about a small glitch like £4.99 eh? I've just bought the potting compost for the season for the allotment tubs as well as seed potatoes and shallots. I also provided all the veg during the summer for the daughter and her family with exception of mushrooms last year. Now all that comes under food production for me.

Can we have a definitive answer - does buying a newspaper break the rules - because if so I have failed to the tune of £2 (two local ones). On the other hand I many well need them for composting later in the year.

[Green Aura]

I've not counted the local newspaper - it's a potential for sourcing secondhand stuff (like my wood) and when we've read it, it's used to light the boiler.

I hope it's OK because I'm very pleased to report that other than that I've bought nothing new except groceries and coal this year! 11 whole days, whew!

By the way azjh77, don't worry about your purchase - I'm sure it must count as a christmas present, so it was last year

[prison break fan]

Newspapers are definitely exempt, think of their uses!! What about sugar for wine making?
I agree about seeds and compost etc, all part of food production. Anything else? pbf

[Eigon]

At Ship of Fools, some of us are trying to not buy anything new for a month this month, and it's been quite interesting looking at buying habits and some of the temptations. For instance, one lady bought a table off ebay to cater for larger family gatherings - but she has been looking for something like that for a while, and I finally saw the perfect entrenching tool on the local market last week. I've been looking for one to dig the garden with, as I can use them much easier than a spade, and faster.
But then again, the table was secondhand, and the entrenching tool was made in 1915.