Tuesday, August 01, 2006

The Buy-Nothing Year Begins

Today begins Eric and my exercise in non-consumption. For one year, we're going to purchase nothing that isn't necessary. No processed foods. Much less gas (we're trying to reduce driving by 50%). Much less electricity (50% reduction). No books, no music, no movies, no videos (this last won't be much of a hardship - my MIL gave us netflix last year, so we've got that for a while, but we won't renew unless she does). No junk food. No clothing. No toys. No meals out. No alcohol (given that I've been pregnant or nursing for the last 7 years, this won't be the hardship it sounds like to others). No reeses peanut butter cups (which to me do not fall in the category of junk, processed foods or non-essentials ordinarily ;-). No coffee or tea (we don't drink coffee, and we'll use up the tea we have or do without.) No magazine subscriptions, presents for anyone (we make 'em or do without.) No travel except mandatory work or to visit relatives, and a lot less of that.

We did buy a few things in advance, front-loading as we call it, mostly homeschooling materials for Simon for this year, and a few extra (but desperately needed, of course ;-P) books for me. And I've got a tiny stash of Reeses. Eric's got a couple of 12 packs of beer (he asked me, "Am I being rude if I don't offer guests beer, when I've only got 30 bottles for an entire year." My answer is "yes.") But when things run out, we will try not to replace them. The rule is that first, we make do or do without. If we can't, we then try and either fix it or make it ourselves. Last and only if we deem it impossible to live without do we replace it.

We will buy toilet paper, the components of food (no pre-made foods - not that we ate many, but the kids like pretzels and granola bars and I'm fond of a particular kind of sesame sauce, etc...). We'll buy the components to make gifts, if we cannot make them from what we have (sadly, this is not an excuse to purchase yarn, since I could make gifts for many thousands of people from the yarn I already possess, or so Eric estimates ;-).

Books will be the hard thing for me, I know. I read a lot and read fast. Eric will miss movies and music, and we'll both miss eating out. The kid will miss trips out for ice cream (we'll make ice cream at home instead), but they are young enough not to mind this very much, and over-indulged enough not to feel a drastic loss having to play with their many, many toys.

The thing is, we're on average far more frugal than most people in the culture - but there's a surprising amount of fat in our budget (not to mention the fat on me from the reeses and other indulgences - I'm hoping to lose some weight this year). And someone has to do it. Actually, people have done it - there's a book, one I'm working on now but recommend _Not Buying It_ by Judith Levine, about a couple that did the same. I admit, much as I like Ms. Levine's writing style (I do, quite a lot) and find her funny and erudite, I don't find myself drawing a lot of logical parallels. Much of the book is devoted to how much she misses entertainment - theater, art, musical performances and especially movies. Perhaps because I have four kids under 7, those joys are already mostly closed to me. I've been to three plays since Eli was born, one concert, and perhaps a dozen movies. I'm fine without it. She also misses buying clothes, something that I do only when roped and hogtied.

What will be hard for me is the pleasure of yard saling, of browsing used book stores, and of buying supplies to make things like quilts and knitted objects. And it will be hard to eliminate the convenience of not meeting people at restaurants. But mostly, it will be about gaining things - more time, more money for essentials (we will use some of the funds during the year to reinsulate our house and do other energy conservation activities), for tzedakah (1/4 of our savings will go to charity), and less thought about what I don't have, what I need, what I want. I suspect I'll enjoy it.

Wish me luck!

Sharon

21 comments:

jewishfarmer said...

MEA, we're not giving up necessities, only luxuries. We're buying food and gas, and even increasing our food stash. Needed medication is also on the list - this is supposed to be fun, not fatal!! So if you wanted to, you could probably do it - what you are describing is much harder than what I'm doing.

BTW, do you have a plan for your daughter's medications in the long term? Can you stockpile some? Are there systems to ensure an uninterrupted supply over the longer term?

Re:tea - I have a lot of tea. I like tea, and I like to try a lot of different kinds. If I'm careful, I'll only have to cut back, not give it up entirely for the year, I suspect.

Jennifer - I'll definitely use our library a lot, but because we live in a rural area and library budgets are perpetually short, they won't ILL books within 6 months of their release, you can only do 5 ILL requests per month, and my local library doesn't exactly have the best selection of things like magazines - much more "Good Housekeeping" than "Foreign Affairs". I'll drive now and again to the University library or to the Schenectady main branch, but since we're trying to cut back, I can't do it too often.

Thanks guys!

Sharon

Anonymous said...

Good for you! We have been doing this since March of this last year. I can't say that I haven't purchased anything (canning jars), however, have not purchased anything non-essential.

It is liberating! How is it going for you?

Anonymous said...

What about the internet? Are you giving it up as well?

..... said...

I just want to applaud your efforts. Since Buy Nothing Day was yesterday and I had to be sadly reminded of this by a customer buying something in the shop were I work. I thought a lot last night about how much I consume and also feel the need to consume more. I'm still young and I think if I just have that bag or coat I'll be happier. But there is always something more i want after this, isn't there? I'm very seriously considering starting your idea. But I do though have something that might help your book habit. A friend of mine, wanted me to join her book chain letter club. Initially I was like chain letter!! No way but it's nothing like this, nothing like if you don't sent it on you will meet a gruesome death within 24 hours. It's really simple.

Find a friend who wants to be involved, give them a book, they find six friends and give them your address. Each of the six friends, send one book to you. Then each of the six friends, find six friends and give your address and add their address. In total you recieve 36 books. I hope this makes sense to you. Maybe I didn't explain it very well but hopefully you get the idea. I think the trick to find the right people with to do it with. To encourage them to not just send fiction books but all kinds, history, language, cook books. Anyway thanks for your little blog
katie

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