March Accounting

Oops, I nearly forgot! We are nearly at the end of April, but here is what I bought in March. To recap - I am trying to Buy Nothing New in 2015. Actually, clearly I have not quite managed that, so let's say I will be buying LESS new in 2015.

Here is the blurb from February. In the spirit of Nothing New I have decided to recycle my words too:

This year I have decided, wherever possible, to not buy anything new, and at the end of every month I will be exposing all my purchases here as a kind of confessional.. because if I have to do that, I will certainly be thinking twice before I pop into a big box store.. I am using you shamelessly, dear readers, as my virtual conscience, my interweb Jiminy Crickets.

Why not buy new? In a word, externalities. All of us, my darlings, who can access the intenet on an electronic device, are more or less the 1% of the world's population who benefit unfairly from the sweat, habitat destruction, pollution, ill health, exploitation and death of the 99% whose lives are degraded in some way so that we can have machines to wash our clothes and make our toast, and have access to cheap t-shirts and chocolate.

One day I woke up and the invisible wake of destruction that trails behind my trips to Target suddenly became unbearable, so I have started on a different path to providing for my needs and wants, and those of my lovely children, dog, two cats and two budgies.

Here are my guidelines:

1 Make do with what I have.
2 Try to find what I need second hand - there is a world of stuff out there that needs to be rescued and used again.
3 Buy from a local craftsperson.
4 As a last resort, buy from a local, independent store, so that at least my money stays in my community.


So in March I:

Bought new: Two sets of sterling silver sleeper earrings for the little girls. Made in Australia, from a local jeweller. I was going to say that these should last the girls forever, but the reason I bought another pair for Rosy is that she lost one of her first pair. Sigh.

Eight zips from a local, independent fabric shop. Rosy went crazy one weekend and made eight pencil cases which we will use for birthday presents when the girls get invited to parties.

A hockey bag for Rosy from the shop at the hockey grounds. She had a gift voucher from last year's hockey awards night, so only a small outlay from me:)

We went to a local craft fair one weekend and bought a bunch of little gifts for children's birthday parties, and a birthday gift for my sister-in-law which was very nice of me, as I wanted to keep it..

Bought second-hand: I took the girls on an op-shopping expedition one weekend, and we all bought clothes, and The Girl bought a vintage floral scarf for a friend's birthday. I must do this more often. It is very cheap entertainment, and it stops the whinies from certain children who like to have new things every so often when the pocket money starts burning holes in the pockets..

When Mum and Dad were here we were visiting a sweet little country town with an old timey general store. At least that is what the signage proclaimed outside. Inside it turned out to be a cafe with a secondhand book exchange. Ambushed! Remarkably I managed to leave with only five books, so we will call that a win for me:)

A lovely, lovely 1950s Fowler ware electric jug:

Gifts From the Universe: A chair being given away on the side of the road, kindling from a roadside timber drop off zone. Lots of food from the gardens of slightly overwhelmed friends:)

My laptop from Jen and Chris arrived. I was so excited. I am now typing away on it every day and it has made me very happy indeed:) Thanks guys xx

Given Away: More of Posy's clothes - clearly she has way too many. Also, lots of lemons.

Comments: I seem to have lost that reflex action which sends me to department stores. I am so relieved. I mean I never liked shopping there anyway, so why I did it I don't know. Perceived convenience? Everybody else does it? It makes me very irritable to be shopping in big box stores. I think it is the cognitive dissonance. I KNOW they are colluding in wrecking the planet for their own gain. But $7 shoes, right?

Well, now I can still buy $7 shoes at the op-shop, without the irritability factor. Win, win. Of course, I would still rather not leave the house, so when the op-shops start delivering, well, that will make me very happy! Also, I am beginning to find more small, out of the way shops that provide great products and wonderful service for a fair price. And I can have nice quiet chats with the shop owners and the whole transaction is perfectly civilised. Why was I ever lured into Target? It is insane in there. I think this project is making me calmer and reducing my blood pressure. See, shopping less is good for your health:)

I say all this as someone who is planning to go to Myer on the weekend to buy winter boots for Rosy with the last of my Myer One Card points. Because she found some boots she LOVES at Myer. I am still not proof against teenage boot angst. Still, after that I won't have any more Myer card points, and there will be no option but to find alternative sources of excellent boots.. because this is my last trip to the department store..