OK, so we'll start with the biggie.
Starting today, 1st September, for a year - no more buying 'things' that aren't essential. No more clothes, make up, shoes, things for the house, things that might come in useful, things that are a bargain. No more charity shop finds, no more browsing in White Stuff, no more googling on Amazon or Ebay.
To be fair to me - I'm not a spendaholic. (Or am I just in denial?) I see myself more as a modern day hunter-gatherer. I'm always on the look out for bargains, quirky dresses, stuff that might be useful, stuff that someone else doesn't want that I might have a use for. (Now I'm sounding like a hoarder...) I love charity shops and volunteer in Oxfam which is great fun and has the added advantage of getting a good look at everything in stock once a week. And given that it's a charity I feel passionate about, I can always justify a purchase. ("Well if I don't wear it, it counts as a donation to Oxfam anyway...") With three children, the ability to sniff out Boden dresses and dungarees for £3.50 at the local NCT sale has been of huge benefit when the children were young. Not only were they colorfully dressed, but I really didn't care if chocolate ice cream got spilt down the front. But I have come to the point where enough is enough. It's time to reign it in for a bit.
So why - what are my reasons for this challenge?
The first and most obvious reason for me is that I'm a bit of a greenie. I am concerned about climate change and the embedded emissions in all the 'stuff' we consume and even setting that aside, I don't think we can carry on using up the world's resources at the rate we are going. But given my love of dress-hunting, I have a bit of a conflict going on. So I think it would be good to challenge myself to step out of my little hamster shopping wheel, and to just do without for a bit, to give that bargain-hunting instinct a bit of a rest.
Secondly, after 16 years of children and 13 years in our current house, we've got rather a lot of stuff. Not being the organized super-mum type, I always struggle with tidying up and keeping on top of the house, so it does occur to me that if we had a bit less stuff, it might be a bit easier. For years when the children were young, I blamed my untidiness on not having enough time, but now I have more time, I find I actually don't want to spend all my life tidying up after 3 teenagers, and I'd really like to tidy less and get out more. So maybe if I stopped buying, and continued decluttering, it might actually help.
The third reason is both more subtle and more profound. As a psychology graduate and mother, I have spent a lot of time over the last few years thinking and reading about what makes us happy, healthy and well adjusted. There's a lot of evidence that money spent on experiences makes us happier than money spent on things, so I want to try that out and see if it's true. So I'm not necessarily aiming to save money,although it will be interesting to see how a change in spending habits affects the bottom line. But rather, I would like to readjust my attention on to doing rather than having. It will be interesting to see what difference it makes - will I feel happier? Will not buying things free up more time for other activities?
So - that's the challenge ! Next time I will set out the rules, but for now I have my challenge and my reasons for doing it. And lastly, I'm amused by the comment that my lovely fellow Oxfam volunteer made to our manager - "A year? She won't manage more than a couple of months..."
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