At the beginning
of this new year, and after some thought as to what kind of change I want to
create for myself, my intention to “buy nothing new for
the year.” I place this phrase in
quotation marks because, as usual, when you do some digging, you find that an
idea you had is in no way original. Sure
enough, my desire to get away from compulsive consumerism is in not a novel
idea. I found countless versions of this sentiment online and one site devoted
to the concept named it “buy nothing new for a year.”
My reasons for
trying this out over the coming year is not really about saving money. I tend to
buy most things second hand and try to limit my retail therapy. If I do save
money over the year, then I will happily put that money into savings to go
towards travel and other activities I want to do. For me, it’s more about not
wanting to buy more things that I do not really need, nor have the space for.
Perhaps what
really brought this home to me was watching a news report showing people
actually wrestling each other to the floor over an item on sale in a store on
Black Friday. What have we come to? Fighting over discounted sales
is madness. People were willing to line up for hours just to buy more stuff,
when they already have too much stuff. I am also aware of the fact that much of
what we buy new is made from resources that are shipped or flown to other
countries, only to be manufactured and then shipped or flown back for sale here
in Canada. Not only is this consuming lots of energy, raw materials are being
used that needn’t be. So my reasons are also environmental. Moreover, I realize
that I can use up a lot of the things I already have, or repurpose them. Or I
can make use of other people’s cast-offs, thereby recycling, re-using or re-purposing. So much
less stuff to hit the landfill.
I will certainly
be buying second-hand and there will be some exceptions to buying new (for
example, food, toiletries, underwear, two favorite magazines I buy monthly, and
items that I find when I travel). Visiting the dentist, opthomologist or other health-related expenses will also be exempt.
I am actually in
good shape going into this year. I have plenty of new underwear in stock thanks
to a buying spree at Marks and Sparks last August when I was in England. And I
just bought new eyeglasses in December. So there shouldn’t be too much that
will need to make it onto my exceptions list. The hardest thing will be falling
completely in love with some item in a store and not giving in to temptation. I
am hoping this won’t happen too frequently since I tend not to go shopping at
regular stores too often, and now certainly will go even less.
I will, however,
continue to frequent thrift shop, visit flea markets, rummage sales, church bazaars and
garage sales. And I will also be popping into antique shops from time to
time.
And I will still
be getting haircuts, visiting art museums, spending on transportation and the
odd meal out. This is not meant to be about being stingy or denying myself pleasure, rather I want to try to get
as creative as I can to find alternative ways to meet my needs. Gifts for others are
certainly going to be an area of particular challenge.
Over the
coming months, I will check in from time to time to share what I’ve been
experiencing and let you know how I have been living up to my new year’s pledge of not
buying anything new for the year.
Anyone care to join me?
