Enough is Enough - 225 days in
So it has been 225 days today since I started not buying anything new for myself (and minimising what I buy for my family). Many people have asked me if I'm still going and the answer is YES :-) I've just become a little more quite about it...
It has become easier all the time and most days I don't even think about it. I have cleaned up many areas in my house and removed a lot of 'clutter'. I love to simplify my life and owning less makes it definitely more simple! I have become less aware of the commercial push (initially I really noticed this and it really annoyed me) and I feel less and less that it is 'sad' for me to not buy anything new.
I have to admit tho that I have 'cheated' a couple of times:
1. I bought a new pair of thongs even though I still had a pair (which I really don't like but still...).
2. I bought a new shirt (even though I could argue that it is a replacement for a similar shirt that broke, I still feel it was an unnecessary purchase and possibly because of that I have not worn it yet)
3. I bought reusable bags from ONYA (all made from recycled bags), including bags for veggies. Love these bags for they are so big and can be packed in such a small pouch... but I also have old green bags that I could use
4. I bough a travel book "Epic drives of the world" only because one day I'd love to travel these drives with my love (ok I could have given it as a present to him.... but that's still cheating I think ;-) )
5. I bought a new yoga mat, also this could be a replacement purchase since my current mat is falling apart however it might have made it to the end of the year...
My birthday was a real treat! I agreed with my love that instead of telling him what I wanted, part of the present was to buy the presents for myself. Restricting myself to just some things I really wanted, I enjoyed the process of selecting what I wanted, being very critical and precise was so nice! And I have to say that I really love my friends for finding such beautiful presents for me. Receiving presents becomes so much more special if you're not buying anything!
Some things that have definitely changed since the start of my 'Enough is Enough' year are:
- I have noticed that it's really quite rare that I REALLY want something. I actually don't need anything....
- I now-a-days very rarely have a need for 'emotional purchases' (The so called "I'm feeling tired/bad/busy/sad so I need something new to cheer me up" purchases). As a 'treat' I focus more on buying (local) services instead of things
- Finding presents for friends is SO lovely and SO much fun. Giving things away is really really nice too
- I have (and use) my reusable (ONYA <3 ) bags now and the number of plastic bags that I have used this year is 2 (YES!) and instead of saying 'no' to plastic bags (which I unfortunately still have to do ALL THE TIME) I now also tell people to stop offering these bags to their customers (hopefully that doesn't make me too irritating ;-) ) but we REALLY need to stop using all that 'one use' plastic) - My boys really have become very picky as well about buying new things and choose to buy very little and only what they really want. This is actually quite an unexpected outcome which I love.
So 140 days to go but I'm not counting... I can not imagine going back to my previous habits. I love not to have too many things (I can do with MUCH less than what I still have) and I really enjoy not having to take part of all the sales that seem to always be on. I really hope to inspire others to start buying less and to create awareness about how crazy our commercial world is. When we stop buying, manufacturers Will stop producing because really, enough is enough....
