Here it is, my first blog post ever! (so apologies if it’s a bit long.. or short). Well here we are into our last week of Buy Nothing Month and all in all it’s been a breeze, my only concern has been that I may have to leave working for The Green Parent magazine and become a full time dish washer. This is due to the vast amounts of cooking equipment used to make all meals from scratch, which Melissa is doing an amazing job (I take no credit at all for cooking as I have only made 2 meals consisting of pasta and er.. pasta). Most of the veg from the seasonal box is being used for roast dinners, gratins and Melissa’s pièce de résistance, curry veg soup, although I feel the effects of having califlower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts in one meal may affect our relationship! So my initial worries about lack of food were totally unfounded, in fact I don’t think we’ve ever eaten so well.
The only money I confess to spending so far is 50p to inflate my car tyres (I can’t believe they charge you for air now!), and a handful of change for the fireworks donations, apart from that I have been amazed at our ingenuity to avoid parting with any cash. We did wonder how to get around parking meters in our local town of Lewes so we decided to leave the car outside the parking zone and walk into town (about a mile), so not only have we saved ourselves about 6 quid over the last couple of weeks but we’ve also got more exercise. Being in Lewes during Buy Nothing Month was quite tough though, the girls were attending art and music classes so we had about 4 hours to kill with no money, the smell from the coffee shops was a real tempation so we quickly headed on down to the library (which is starting to feel like a second home). Libraries are great places to spend time if you are trying to avoid using cash, they are quiet..mostly, there are free daily and weekend papers, free internet use and of course zillions of books, I’m also quite sure that no-one would notice if you decided to have a little snooze in the corner (I’ll bring a blanket next time).
I guess why this month has been a breeze is probably due to the fact that we are not big consumers anyway and that our life does have a certain ‘make do and mend’ attitude, well actually it’s probably more just ‘make do’ (threadbare teatowels, holey cloths and socks, ripped jeans etc). It has been great to know that we can’t spend any money for the whole month and as long as there is food on the table you can always find ways round:
• Blown lightbulbs in the utility room – use a torch or candle..or wait till daylight to do the washing and feed the cat
• Running out of vegetable stock – let the soup simmer for longer and add more seasoning and tomato puree….and add more seasoning
• Running out of toilet cleaner – scrub the toilet every day (great fun!)
I’m glad to say we didn’t run out of toilet paper. :-D
Melissa and I are already talking about how we can make it harder next year.
Signing off
Jez
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1 comment in response to this post
Good blog post Jez.
Can I recommend a large thermos for tea/coffee when out and about and not wanting to spend money. Pain in the neck to lug about but worth it when compared to the alternative for a couple of coffee’s in a coffee shop.
Well done for making a month too - amazing!
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