Challenge complete - my year of not buying things is over!

My first purchase -
 a vintage shirt for my son bought from Oxfam

A year ago I challenged myself to a year of not buying unnecessary 'things' and that year is finally over.

It has been a challenge, as I do like shopping in general, and for clothes in particular.  The first six months didn't seem too bad, but not being able to browse round the shops with the possibility of buying something new and different has become harder as the year progressed. It has been interesting though, to see my attitude to shopping changing. A year ago I would have bought an item of clothing 'because it will be useful - and hey, it's a bargain anyway..'.  But a year of abstinence has focused my thoughts on what I really need and desire.

What I needed was not very much. During the course of the year, the only item of clothing I have needed was socks, which I finally succumbed to after spending too long in the mornings rooting around trying to find a pair when most of them were in the wash.  Not only did I stop buying new clothes, but I also sent a lot of clothes to Oxfam. Not buying anything new meant I dug deep into my wardrobe to pull out things that I hadn't worn for a while. Some things became new favourites, others I realised that if I wasn't going to wear them this year, that they might as well go. So at the end of the year, I have a much slimmed down wardrobe, but despite this, I have never once felt badly dressed.

What I desired though was a different matter. I did miss not having anything new and fresh to wear. I missed the creativity of putting a new outfit together as a way of expressing myself.  When my birthday was reached half way through the year, a compromise was reached as kind friends and family gave me 2 new dresses, a cardi and a lovely top which I really appreciated, and kept me going. I also missed not buying things for other people when I saw something that someone would like.

So now that I am released from my self imposed 'buying new stuff' ban, how am I going to proceed?

I hope that I will think carefully before I buy something and think whether I really need it if I am buying it to be useful.

I hope that if I am buying myself that I don't really need, that it really lifts my spirits and that it is beautiful, and not something that I am buying because I am bored, or fooling myself that I need it when I don't.

I will try to buy as ethically as I can. I will enjoy charity shop shopping once again - if you don't mind pre-loved it has so many benefits - you are recycling, supporting a charity and getting reasonably priced items all at the same time.  If I'm buying new, I'll think twice about where I'm buying it and the values of the company that I'm buying from.

Lastly, I will continue to declutter my house. One of the benefits of not bringing new stuff in was that I could seriously set to and try to reduce the amount of 'stuff' that I already had. I have made good progress, but I'm not done yet. I'm determined to get to a point where I can spend less time being bogged down by tidying, managing and processing 'stuff' and more time getting out and enjoying life!

Not buying new things for a year - a few weeks to go!

Birthday present!

11 months ago I decided to challenge myself to a year of not buying unnecessary things, and I started on 1st September. Now that I have a few more weeks of shopping abstinence left, it seems like a good time to review how it has gone and answer the question that all my girl friends have asked - have I missed buying new clothes? 

I think the answer to that is that I have missed the fun of shopping and the novelty of something new, but I haven't really felt like I've missed out.

As I stated at the start of this blog - I am a happy shopper. I like browsing round the shops looking for clothes, presents, bargains, useful stuff. And I have missed that a bit. For the first six months it didn't seem so bad, but by April I was fed up with my wardrobe and really missed not having anything new. Salvation came in the form of my birthday, and a couple of new dresses and a new top from friends and family. One of the things I have learnt is not buying things myself made me far more appreciative of presents from other people. 

Also I have found not buying new things has made me dig deeper into my existing wardrobe. I have pulled out things that I haven't worn for a while, and either started wearing them, or given them to Oxfam. It's also made me think about the versatility of what I have - when my husband bought me a plain blue dress from White Stuff for my birthday I was delighted - normally I am drawn to colourful patterned dresses and tops, but I had realised that something plain was much more versatile, and I could change the look by adding a different cardigan or necklace.

As time has gone on, the weather has got warmer, and I have been able to dig out my summer clothes which has given my wardrobe a new lease of life. Again, I have become more ruthless with what I have - if I'm not going to wear it now, then I never will, so more clothes have gone to Oxfam.

So with a few weeks to go, I'm wondering what my response will be when I do allow myself to go shopping again. I don't feel like I'm going to rush out and buy a load of new things - after all I have really had pretty much everything I've needed, and I've felt pretty well dressed all year.  I am looking forward to the possibility of buying something though - the ability to browse round a charity shop with the thought that I could buy a necklace or scarf, or browsing round White Stuff or John Lewis. But I rather suspect I won't be buying much for a while, apart from replacing some leggings and cardigans that are a bit holey. After all I think I've proved something to myself over the last year - that I don't really need much in the way of new clothes, do I?

A new wardrobe without buying? - try a swap shop evening with friends

It's now eight months since I challenged myself to a year of not buying unnecessary 'stuff', and I have to say in the last couple of months it's been getting harder not to be tempted to break the rules. For starters, I miss shopping. I quite like pottering round the shops looking for something specific - although I still kept to my principle of not buying unnecessary things, Christmas did at least give me the opportunity to buy useful stuff for other people, so I had a reason to browse round the shops.  Secondly, I've been getting bored of my clothes. As I write this today, the English weather has lurched from a colder than normal spring into full summer heat almost overnight, so suddenly I am able to pull out my summer clothes and find something different to wear, but a couple of weeks ago I was getting really bored of the same winter clothes that I had been wearing since September.

So while I was bemoaning my lack of something new to wear a few weeks ago, I had an idea. Host a swap shop evening with my friends. The idea is simple - get all your friends to bring along a few articles of clothing that they no longer wear, do a bit of swapping, then everyone gets something new for a change. 

There were a few problems I could think of. We're all different shapes and sizes for starters. And what about my friends that don't 'do' secondhand as the thoughts of wearing something that someone else has worn has them running out the door. Could I tempt them somehow?

Well, it was my birthday coming up as well, so if we added in a couple of  bottles of sparkling wine and some nice nibbles, and made it a fun evening to chat as well as swap, I reckoned that would work. And we could include accessories and unused toiletries as well as clothes, so that would deal with the problem of us all being different shapes and sizes.

So I emailed out invites to my friends, explained my idea and invited them along, asking them to bring between 2-5 items that they no longer wanted. Some people were busy, but everyone seemed to like the idea, and a couple of weeks later, they all descended on my house one Friday evening clutching bags of their cast offs.

The evening went really well. I had set out the dining room with a clothes rail and some hangers and a table for other bits and bobs, and made sure that I kept their glasses topped while everyone chatted. To start with, I think everyone was a little too polite to start rummaging, and too busy enjoying talking, but then someone tried on a dress, and then we were all offering advice on what would suit different people, and trying things on. Some people were happy just to declutter their own wardrobes, others were really pleased to get something new. One of my friends couldn't find much in the way of clothes, but came along with some lovely soaps and candles that were presents that she didn't really want.  I think most people managed to find something to take away with them, and I was particularly pleased when my friend that doesn't 'do' secondhand fell in love with an evening bag that another friend had bought along that had hardly been used.

One of the fun things was watching several of us trying a simple black stretchy T shirt dress that a friend had bought from Jigsaw in the sale. It was fascinating seeing how the same dress looked on different people, but although it looked lovely on the hanger, but somehow just didn't seem to suit anyone. Sometimes you can see why things are in the sale after all.

I managed to find a lovely flowery dress that one of my friends didn't want any more, a skirt that didn't quite fit another friend and a couple of nice necklaces. After everyone had gone my daughter enjoyed looking through the leftovers, and found herself a couple of new items for her wardrobe. We had quite a lot of things leftover, so I bagged them up and took them into Oxfam the next time I was working there.

So all in all - it was a great evening. We had fun, we all decluttered our own wardrobes and found something new, and ended up with a big bag full of donations for Oxfam. And it put a hold on my 'I want something new!' pangs. We will definitely do it again.

Progress on stretching my wings - becoming an Oxfam Representative

photos courtesy of Oxfam Winchester

So far in my blog I have written quite a bit about decluttering, not buying stuff, and raising the Puppy, but I haven't written so much about my attempts to get out and involved in new things to challenge myself further. 

For almost eight years now I have been volunteering at my local Oxfam shop - something that I absolutely love doing. I started when my youngest went to school, one morning a week I trotted off to Oxfam to help sort and price women's clothing, steam then and put them on sale. I've always liked clothes and shops, and I loved the fact that for a morning I could focus on something that wasn't connected to children, home or school. This was for me - to do something worthwhile that was fun and social too.

One of the best things was that when I left my manager Vicki always said 'Thanks Sarah, for what you did this morning!'. Generally small children and husbands don't go around saying "Thanks, Mum!" every time you cook tea, or pick up soggy socks from where they've been scattered, so it was lovely to have someone say 'Thankyou!' once a week, it made me feel appreciated, and I really learnt the value of a timely 'Thankyou!'.

Sale in the Menswear Dept

Since them my love affair with Oxfam and our local shop has grown. A couple of years ago stepped up temporarily to work as Deputy Manager for three months, which was a challenge and was good for my confidence. I enjoyed the role, but working Saturdays meant I had less time with the family at the weekend, so I didn't apply for the permanent job, but went back to being a happy volunteer.  Currently, I look after the Menswear section. Being in charge of a particular section means that I can experiment with pricing, what we put out and how things are displayed. Each week I can see how we are doing in sales in that area, so I get feedback on what I've done and how effective it's been.

The great thing about Oxfam for me, is that it's always given me a window out from my family-centered life on to a wider world. Everything we do at Oxfam is driven from a belief that inequality isn't right and that we can all help to build a better world. Sitting at home typing this blog in a lovely (although rather untidy) house, and surrounded by my lovely (but imperfect) family, I just feel how lucky we are to take so much for granted: Food, water, sanitation, education, shelter and freedom from conflict. All of these things we take for granted, but some of the poorest people in the world lack some or all of these. 

So, my desire to do something about this coupled with the belief that Oxfam is a great organisation means that when you start to look, new opportunities develop. Last autumn I became aware that Oxfam was looking for new members for its Volunteer Working Group and I applied. The group meets two or three times a year, and gives the senior management in the trading department a chance to bounce ideas off, and get feedback from, a group of volunteers who work in Oxfam's shops.  Which is how I found myself last autumn on a train to Birmingham to spend the day sitting around discussing all things Oxfam - marvellous! And then that led to the next thing, which was I discovered that Oxfam were creating a new role called OxReps - speakers who were happy to go out to community groups and schools to talk about Oxfam's work and the issues we are trying to address.

So in January, I was trotting off again - this time to London for weekend training on how to become an Oxfam Speaker. It was a great weekend and I met a great variety of volunteers, including one who had volunteered as a steward at Festivals for about ten years. I hadn't expected to be sitting eating lunch whilst discussing why Ketamine was the drug of choice at Boomtown festival, but that's the joy of getting out of your comfort zone and meeting new people - you never know what you might end up talking about.

So all this training was great, but I'm now coming up to having to sing for my supper as the saying goes. Next week I'm practising one of my presentations at our Shop's meeting and so I've been swotting up on all things Oxfam and practising delivering the presentation to my cat who sleeps on the end of my bed all day. I'm feeling quite nervous, and the cat hasn't been looking very impressed which hasn't helped.

And then comes the real challenge - getting out into the community and trying to get opportunities to do talks and workshops to spread the word. I'm standing on the edge of the nest, and although I'm sure flying will be fun, it all looks a bit scary from up here...

So what happened to January? And for that matter February too? Notes from a failed greenie..

Trouble? Me?

Firstly, apologies for being somewhat absent in the blogosphere for the first two months. In January, I talked about my intention to try and reduce our food waste. Then it all went quiet... So how did it go?

Well the intention was there. I went through my cupboard and made lists of things that needed eating up. I cleaned out the fridge and defrosted the freezer. I made soup with left overs. I organised my friend to come and put bait down for the rat that had invaded the compost heap. Then, well, stuff sort of happened. 

The kids left the freezer door open and the freezer frosted up again. Daughter got stressed with college and needed lots of t.l.c. We thought we'd got rid of the rat, so we dug out the remains of the compost heap onto the veggie patch and the roses, but then the puppy managed to find some uneaten bait and thought she'd eat it instead. We had another expensive trip to the vet. (They made her throw up and eat charcoal biscuits and she was fine.) I got fed up with being overwhelmed with washing and started using the tumble dryer, which I hadn't for years.The rabbit got sick. More trips to the vet. The rabbit got worse. Another expensive trip to the vet to dispatch the rabbit to bunny heaven. Stressed out daughter got even more upset.

If trying to live a greener life is a game of snakes and ladders, I think I've slid down more snakes in the last two months than ladders that I climbed last year. So my resolve for March is to get back on those ladders, and to start blogging again.

On the other hand, it has been a good year so far for the vet...

January Challenge - reduce food waste

Now that Christmas is over, I'm turning my attention to something that I've been meaning to do for a while - making an effort to reduce food waste in our household. 

I've always felt that we weren't too bad - I never throw out fruit or vegetables just because of the 'best before' date when they are still perfectly fine to use, but I've been aware in the last couple of months that I've been throwing away decaying fruit or vegetables more often than I would like. I have been particularly aware of this because normally we compost any veggy peelings or tea bags, but due to the unwelcome signs of a rat burrowing in my compost heap, I've stopped putting anything on my compost heap until the rat is dealt with! (Luckily I have a friend who works in pest control, who is very helpful on the odd occasion that I have had this problem.) It's amazing how heavy the rubbish is now that we are adding tea bags, veggy peelings and the like - it has made me aware of how much stuff we normally compost and manage to keep out of the black bin.

Other problems we have is a child who regularly pours a huge bowl of Shreddies and then abandons them half eaten, and my tendency to stock up on useful foodstuffs and then forget what I've got in the back of the cupboard. So I'm sure that with a bit of organisation, we could do better!

Now that the children are back to school/college I can start to make progress, so my first task yesterday was to look in the fridge to see what was left over from the Christmas holidays that needed eating up. I have quite a bit of left over stilton and a head of broccoli - so yesterday's lunch was Broccoli and Stilton soup. I also found half a yellow pepper and a rather tired lettuce - so they went in too! I'd never thought of cooking lettuce before - but came across this suggestion for using up left over lettuce a while ago - it's a leafy green vegetable that goes well with the broccoli.

So here's my recipe for Stilton and Broccoli soup. 

1 onion
1 head of broccoli 
Optional lettuce, yellow pepper
About 2oz Stilton - a piece aboout 2" square
A glug of oil 
2 veggy stock cubes
A couple of tablespoons of white wine, sherry or other left over alcohol.


Chop the onions and saute in the oil in a large saucepan over a low heat till softened. Chop the broccoli into chunks, including the stem (you can cut off any tough bits on the outside of the stem, but the centre of the stem is often nice & juicy.) Add the broccoli and then add water sufficient to cover the broccoli. Add other optional chopped veggies, the wine or sherry and crumble in the stock cubes. Bring it up to the boil, then turn down to a simmer with the lid on the pan for about 20 minutes so that the broccoli is soft and easy to liquidise. Cut the stilton into chunks and add to the soup, continue to simmer for another 5 -10 minutes until the stilton has melted, then I use a hand blender in the saucepan to blend the soup. Alternatively, you could use a liquidiser, or if you prefer a chunkier soup, use a potato masher to break up any large pieces of broccoli and mix up the soup. Taste the soup and check if it needs any more seasoning.

Serve and enjoy!