Tomorrow we begin our Buy Nothing Month (BNM), an extension of Buy Nothing Day, which takes place on 29th November. We will not spend any money for a whole month. We had a BNM last year and it was rather successful - a chance for us to explore our relationship with money and really assess our needs and wants. Last year we experienced more time together as a family and a greater sense of resourcefulness, especially in the kitchen. Given that my biggest financial indulgence is good quality organic food I am hoping to be able to take this resourcefulness a step further this year. So what are we going to do without?• No food purchases apart from our standard family-sized box of vegetables and fruit that is delivered every week. We will use the last harvest from the veggie garden and clear our storecupboard items. I will get more creative with food that we have foraged for and will probably spend a good proportion of my time in the kitchen!
• No newspapers, books, magazines, or similar items. We will make our own family news for a month, concentrate on reading our accumulated library rather than buying more and spend time trusting innate knowledge rather than looking to books, etc for answers.
• No clothes purchases - easy one really since we only shop in charity shops and with ethical clothing brands periodically. However, I will make more of an effort this month to repair clothes rather than giving them away or textile recycling them. These will become last resort options.
• No trips out that cost money - this will be quite tricky as part of our home education schedule is a day out every couple of weeks or so, either up to London to the museums or to local historic sites. I expect to use the bikes to explore deeper into our local area instead.
• No gift purchases - there are a couple of friends' and family members' birthdays coming up in November. We will be making presents and cards for all the lucky gift recipients!
There are probably other areas too - I shall cover those as they come up during our month of freedom! Hope you enjoy reading about our experiences during the coming weeks... And if you fancy joining us, I'd be delighted to hear from you.
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3 comments:
Gosh, you know I really want to join in with this, but I'm terrified of saying yes! It's bringing up all sorts of stuff for me - how interesting. I'm going to give it a go though, and will blog about it over on LittleGreenBlog next week.
GOod luck with yours, Melissa; it sounds as if you are going to do really well. As for me, well I'm just not sure..........
Rae x
Hi Melissa
Wow! I have read about a few people trying this out and one women who did it for a whole year! I do lots of Christmas shopping and preparation in November as it is my last pay check before Christmas and both of my boys needed new shoes yesterday too! Look at me with my excuses already! I had one question - are you vegetarian? As I notice you didn't mention meat? and will you be baking bread? I presume you will also buy butter/milk too? Sorry for lots of questions - I am fascinated and will be looking forward to learning lots from your posts this month so that I can halt the consumerism in my household!
I think this is a great time to do this as it will make the luxury of Christmas so much more appreciated. What I really struggle with most of all is that external influence on my children, the parties they are invited to, the presents they get given that you feel obliged to reciprocate so you fit in and the plastic/excessive gifts that friends and family give - despite knowing what your values are!
Good Luck for November - we will read with interest, emma
Hi Rae and Emma, and thanks for your words of encouragement.
Rae, I look forward to reading your posts on Little Green Blog - I find all the emotional stuff that comes up for me when I do this really interesting and, of course, v challenging! One upside I find is the desire to change things and to sort out my immediate environment, so I have spent the last couple of days cleaning and baking - yay!
Emma, we are all veggie/vegan and will probably be baking quite a lot of bread this month! We do an Infinity Foods bulk purchase every few months, which includes big bags of nuts and pulses so I'll be making nut milk and butter. Possibly trading our eggs with the farm round the corner for milk to make yoghurt, but not buying any dairy, just getting our regular veg box.
I'll be covering presents and parties as we have a couple coming up in the next few weeks and we'll be creating gifts. I have to keep reminding myself, it's the thought that counts!
All the best, Melissa
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