Nothing New

Still alive…

You’d be forgiven for thinking that my challenge, if it’s anything like my blogging, stopped dead weeks (okay, months) ago.

But three months in, I’m still going strong.

One thing I’ve learned is that my Buy Nothing New challenge actually takes less discipline than keeping up a regular blog … But a few people seem to have liked the blog, so I’m going to get better at it, okay? Okay!

Part of the problem was there wasn’t much to say when, ahem, yep, I still haven’t bought anything new.

But I have learnt a few things in the process (besides the challenges of blogging), such as:

- most second hand clothing shops don’t actually have the funny whif of Salvation Army stores; and they do have lots of cool and quirky clothes and accessories (like my awesome bangle made out of mah jong pieces… which I actually didn’t even buy; my friend Lil did)

- staying out of the shops frees up lots of time for other exciting things. I really don’t know where I ever found the time I did to shop in the past!

- when buying presents, it pays to be organised. So far I’ve only had three birthday presents to buy this year (why is almost no-one born between January and March??). I really wanted my friends to unwrap amazing finds from second hand stores that would turn them into second-hand converts too - but all the first two recipients got was vouchers (for movies and spa treatments). I did a bit better for the third - a kind of amusing second-hand book. But I’m getting to grips with it now and have already planned for, bought and tucked away something very cool for BFF Sue’s 40th in September. (Learning fast!)

And the challenges? They keep rolling in, but have so far been easily overcome.

Like seeing a deal for clear shoe storage boxes - just the kind I’d been looking for for ages and may never see again! A quick email to my parents suggesting they’d make the perfect birthday present has hopefully solved that.

And thinking I really, really NEEDED a New Zealand riding jersey to wear on my Tour de France trip later in the year. I almost thought it could be a deal breaker. But my amazing friend Madeleine has  saved the day by too kindly buying it for me as a belated birthday present from last year.

Obviously, the idea isn’t that I still get to have everything I want, but just get others to buy everything for me! But one of the wonderful things, is that I’m getting presents that I really, truly want or need, instead of gifts that will end up pushed to the back of a cupboard until they’re taken off to the Sallies in a few years time.

As the year ticks on, I expect the list of ‘things I want for Christmas’ is going to grow - but at least I’ll have a very big smile on xmas day!

P.s - thank you Michelle for making me blog today.

Agony and Ecstasy

The agony. Lisa Allen has a new bike and I can’t keep up! I need, need, need a new bike too.
To make it worse, Penny Farthings has a sale on and bikes are half price… Pure torture for the bike envy sufferer who is not allowed to buy.
I can only console myself with this: there will be more bike sales next year.
And in the meantime, what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger. To ride faster, I just need to train more…. which has to be a good thing just a few months out from cycling the Pyrenees.
There is always a silver lining.
There have continued to be many up-sides to the Nothing New challenge over the past couple of weeks:
- I found a breakfast bowl to replace my recently-broken one, for just $3 from a second hand trader. It came a little dusty and was made in China, but it’s big, and perfectly formed for holding my fruit and muesli in the mornings. Better than the $30 or so I would normally have spent on a fancy hand-made new one from an artisan potter;
- another couple of friends have been inspired to start their own sustainability challenges: Kerry Lamont has vowed to buy only locally produced this year. And Mel Parkin is now buying all her books second hand. Together they will save lots of trees and air miles;
- and, last but not least, there’s all the money I saved by not going to the Kirks’s sale … and the World sale … and all the other sales I’ve walked past without (much more than) a glance these past couple of weeks.
All the more money in the bank for exciting adventures in Thailand and Europe later in 2012 :-)

Win some, lose some

I’ve suffered my first major blow of the Nothing New Challenge … I broke my all-time favourite breakfast plate [*sad face*].
One minute it was safely perched on a ledge at the top of my stairs, the next it was in pieces from the top step to the bottom… There’ll definitely be no piecing it back together.
Normally I’d be heading straight to the potter I bought it from to get an exact replica, but that’s obviously off the cards anytime this year.
I could make do with another bowl - but most of my breakfast plates are about half the size of my special brekkie bowl… And I do have a big appetite.
So I guess I’ll be checking out some second hand shops for crockery this weekend - or eating my breakfast out of a salad bowl for a while.
On the upside, there have been a few:
- the lovely guys at Maraenui Golf Course in Napier gave my free golf balls last week! I’d asked if they sold second hand ones; they didn’t but recommended some “very good value” new ones. When I explained I wasn’t buying anything new this year, they offered me some of their driving range balls … gratis - Sweet!
- I’m loving that wasting time in shops is no longer an option for me. Filling in time with one of my best friends Sue, last week (after skipping golf yet again), we opted to while away time in a cafe reading newspapers then head to a nail spa to get and fingers and toes painted instead of hitting the shops. It was bliss.
- And, I’m pretty excited that my wee personal mission has had the unintended consequence of inspiring a few others along the way. A couple of friends have told me they’re also cutting their consumption this year. And wonderful workmate Michelle has vowed to join me in buying nothing new for the whole year. How awesome is that!

1 down; 51 to go

Well, that was easy!
One week down and it hasn’t hurt at all… In fact, it even felt darn good.
It felt great strolling the stalls at the sunny Riwaka Country Markets on January 2, helping friends Lil and Sharon choose jewellery and not buying needlessly for myself.
It was relaxing and pleasurable walking through Napier yesterday and barely glancing at favourite shops in which I used to while away hours (and rack up stacks of credit card reward points).
It felt exhilarating unsubscribing from retail promotion emails … Good riddance to the almost daily alerts from Oneday , Wiggle and World!
And it felt fantastic doing a clothes-swap with Lil to exchange some items I no longer needed for the 3/4 pants of hers I’d been coveting (and wearing) all holidays.
I’m rapt that I’ll be spending more of my holiday time in Napier and Tauranga this week on the golf course and not in the shops.
And strangely, though week 1 has been ridiculously easy, it still feels like a pretty good accomplishment (for me).
Bring on week 2! And the rest…

Ready, set…

It’s a last minute shopping flurry before January 1!
I went into Nelson with a list yesterday:
- a new mini skirt to replace the one I keep wearing even though it’s too big for me (tick, $59 at Just Jeans, old skirt re-homed already to Monz)
- new earrings to replace my favorites I lost at a Christmas party (tick, $32 at an artisan shop)
- a Christmas present for nutty best friend Rachel who is adamant she doesn’t want any ‘second hand rubbish’ (tick - details confidential in case she is reading)
- a new wallet to replace the one with the buckle that fell off a couple of weeks ago (fail - but maybe I can get it repaired anyway?)
Then a wee dabble online this morning:
- off road running shoes because I don’t own any and I want to do more off-road running ($121 from Wiggle)
- a tartan ‘biker’ jacket, just because.. ($180 from ASOS)
And still on the list before the clock strokes midnight tomorrow:
- the wallet (maybe)
- some 3/4 pants to replace my friend Lil’s pair I’ve been wearing the last two days..
Who would have thought I would ‘need’ so much just to take a short break from shopping! (Rhetorical question…)

The third resolution

I’ve got three resolutions for 2012.
First, I will wear sunscreen every day - seems sensible.
Second, I’m giving up full-time employment. Hard to argue with, I think.
Third, I’m not buying anything new for 365 days. Some think I can’t do it; others are intrigued to see how I will. So here’s the blog.

Many people have asked why I’m doing it. There are lots of good reasons but here are my top four:
1. I’ve got enough dresses already
2. I spent too much time in shops in 2011 (and I’m sure there were better things to do in Argentina, New York, the Gold Coast, Sydney, and home-town Wellington)
3. I favour sustainability over consumerism (though you wouldn’t think so from my wardrobe); and
4. I like a good challenge

So what is in and what’s out?
I’ve allowed myself one pair of new running shoes - that’s one thing that needs replacing every six months and can’t be bought second hand.
I’m allowed to buy new books for my book club members but not myself (One of the traditions of our book club is the gift of new books)
Any birthday and Christmas gifts I give will be hunted out lovingly from TradeMe, Antiques shops and second hand book stores, or vouchers for a home cooked meal or household chores.
Anything else I buy for myself is strictly second hand… And for every item in, it’s one item out.

A challenge indeed! Lucky I’ve still got four shopping days before the New Year…