Month One

I will begin by admitting I bought Liam some items for his birthday.  Denying him birthday party decorations and a birthday shirt because I made a bet with myself seemed silly.  I spent $25 on decorations for his birthday party and $17 for a custom shirt.  I resisted January clearance sales.  I lost my urge to browse online site. 

He needed this shirt

I was starting to get antsy.  I wanted to buy something new to wear to Liam's birthday.  Obviously, the party would be ruined if I didn't wear something cute.  That afternoon, my Visa bill arrived.  I paid it off after the holidays.  Instead of my usual thought of "Oh, crap,"  I actually "squeed" when I saw the bill this month.  The only items on the bill were gas and my haircut.  That motivated me to find something to wear in my closet instead of the mall.

I took Liam to Savers to pick up some pants.  He's been wearing through knees on his jeans.  Even the Baby Gap jeans only lasted three weeks before he wore out the knees.  I picked him up a bunch of jeans and khakis.  I found a Talbots blazer there for me for $6.99.  While wearing it at school, I found a dollar in the pocket.  Double score!

There are a few things I would like to have.  After seeing the difference a good straightener makes, I have toyed with getting a new hair dryer.  I straighten of curl my hair almost every day.  The Chi saved my hair.  However, I don't blow dry it enough to justify an expensive dryer.  I bought a cheapie facial brush last year to see if it made a difference.  The brush, juxtaposed with drinking eight glasses of water a day and a good dermatologist, has made my skin glow.  The brush just started to slow down.  I am in the process of writing reviews for beauty products on a site I subscribe to.  I have to write a ridiculous number of reviews to earn enough points to get the Clarisonic.  I'm temped to keep up with it just to see if I can. 

As I enter my second month, it is getting easier.  I've been playing with pieces I already have.  I've been working out and lost six pounds this month.  I have about nine more to get to my prepregnancy weight.  (I gained weight back from the fall.  All it took was five days without power to make me lose my mojo.)

Week One

My first week of buy nothing year is making changes into habits.  I did a few things to avoid temptation:
    * Deleted my shopping Apps (Target, Zuily, etc)
    * Unliked shopping companies on Facebook (KidsDeals, Hip2Save, etc)
    * Unsubcribed to business emails from companies I frequent
 I survived my first trip to target without any extras.  I had a sleeveless shell from the clearance rack in my hand but wanted to get used to my buy nothing state of mind.  I have two drawers of tank tops and shells.  I do not need another one.  I kept to my list!

Mike and I are back on the wagon.  We were doing such a good job for months then fell off following Sandy.  Five days without power threw a wrench in our routine.  I joined a Sparkpeople group with some friends and, hopefully, we will modivate each other.  Sparkpeople is keeping me honest.  A lot of times, I am too lazy to do the math so I resist the urge to eat one of Liam's chicken nuggets or a single piece of candy. 

With the Internet as My Witness

I have never kept a New Year's resolution.  However, as I look around my house, I am trying to take control of the "stuff" in our house after the holidays.  Over the past few years, I've rid our house of excess books, clothes, and clutter.  Though bittersweet, I love the sense of organization that comes from comes from passing along Liam's toys and clothes.

After over four years of not buying a lot clothes for myself, I revamped my wardrobe this year.  Between waiting to get pregnant, being pregnant, and having recently delivered a baby, I had good reason not to buy clothes.  Knowing I'd only be pregnant once, I bought a limited amount of cheap pregnancy clothes.   Since it only needed to last one child, I tried to buy as much as I could for Liam secondhand. 

This past week, I cleaned out my closet again.  In the past, I would simply pack up items in white garbage bags and send them off to Savers.  For the first time, I am going to try my hand at consigning.  I may try the same for some of Liam's bigger toys.  During some of my Internet time wasting, I stumbled upon a blog entry about a crunchy family who went a year without buying anything new.  "I could never do that!" my inner self exclaimed.  I love yard sales and thrift shopping, but a year without random trips to Homegoods, Carters, or the Gap?  I could never... could I?

Pondering this thought to myself as I put away my laundry, I looked at my organized, full closet and revisited the idea of "buy nothing new" year.  Liam would be easy.  I've found Thomas and Spiderman shirts on consignment.  For the most part, he wears what I put him in.  He doesn't know about the latest toys; he's happy to play with whatever we buy him.   I have all the things I need.  In the past few years, I've accumulated the splurges I've lusted after: a Chi flat iron, Kitchenaid mixer (bought refurbished), etc.   I wore my new winter boots for the first time in the snow today.  I resisted my urge to buy more makeup at the big sale CVS has every December, reminding myself that, even at 75% off, I buy it, never use it, and it is a waste of my money.  Like many people, I get sucked into the idea of a good deal.  I have three pairs of Old Navy Rock Star Corduroy pants because they were fun and on sale.  

 With the exception of Liam's half Peter Rabbit, half toddler bedroom, the house is where we want it.  We have all the things we want. I decided to feel Mike out on my idea of buy nothing new year.  He did what most husbands would do, he laughed at me.

"I mean going a year without buying new stuff: clothes and toys.  I'm not talking about tampons."
The best way to make me do something is to tell me you don't think it can be done.  Obviously, Mike learned nothing from the "You can't visit all five parks in one days" Disney challenge of 2007.  While he doesn't think I can do it, he is on board in supporting me in my endeavor. 

So, here it is.  With the Internet as my witness, I am going to go a year without buying new "stuff."  I know my way around the local consignment shops so Liam and I will always have what we need clothing wise.  I know what makeup and products work for me and what many more do not.  I do not need to buy more junk that sits in my makeup case until I throw it out a year later.  I do love accessories but I will do my best to find what I want within my new parameters, maybe searching ebay for used goods.  I deleted the Target app from my phone.  I am going to hook my Kindle to the library and borrow ebooks.  As I am on book thirty-seven of the year, those $8-12 Amazon purchases add up.

I was hoping to do this to save money and reduce my carbon footprint.  Now I want to do it just to prove I can.