Buy Nothing New in 2020

This year, I have decided to try to Buy Nothing New for the whole year.  By this, I mean clothing mainly, but also homewares, etc. as well. Sometimes, I buy things without thinking too much about whether I really need them or whether I can buy the same thing second hand, so, this way, I'm hoping to be a bit more mindful when it comes to spending.

I don't feel like I've been buying many new clothes from actual high street shops for a while.  Well, I say that, but it's probably more than I think.  I do sometimes indulge in a small haul from Primark or H&M, but this year I'm trying not to shop in these places at all and am trying to buy everything second hand from Charity Shops, eBay or Etsy or wherever else I can buy them. I buy quite a lot of things from the CS where I work, as I see it come in, so I often don't feel the need to actually go shopping anywhere else. This suits me fine as a trip to the mall isn't my favourite outing.

I did almost break this resolution today, after I popped into H&M to see what they had in their sale.  This is a weak spot for me, as I can always find a sweater or two in this shop in their sales, and I did.  I found 3 to be exact, but when I tried them on they shed so much hair (Alpaca mix) that I left the shop with enough to knit a jumper on my person.  As a consequence, I didn't end up buying the sweaters, although they were an amazing bargain at £9 each. Getting the lint roller out each time I wore them, would just drive me mad.  Serves me right for even thinking about breaking my resolve.

In order to keep a check on what I buy, I am keeping a list of every non-grocery/gift purchase. I will try to buy gifts and cards at CS's, but I may need to buy the odd one on the high street, as I don't want to inflict my values on others, if there is something specific that they would like as a gift.

In the spirit of re-using, today, I got some boots that I bought on eBay before Christmas, re-heeled. When I bought them, I knew they would need re-heeling pretty quickly from looking at the photographs, but I didn't let this put me off buying them, as they were only £8 including postage and were just the style I was looking for. In all honesty, I just don't find myself wanting to buy new pairs of shoes/boots or bags anymore, when there are so many already out there, that can be given a longer life of wear.  Wearing things in can also be painful (literally), but with second hand they have likely been well worn in and are more comfortable to wear. I like to wear my shoes until they wear out completely, as this feels so satisfying to me.

Luckily for me, the boots in question are incredibly comfortable. I can wear them to work all day and then go dancing in them and they still feel comfortable, so they were definitely a good buy that I don't regret for a second. It cost £12 to re-heel them today, with extra hard wearing heels, which seemed very reasonable to me, as I've paid more in the past. I now can't wait to wear them again.

Whilst there, I asked them to put a couple of holes in a belt I also bought before Christmas from a CS, which they did free of charge, making me a very happy bunny, as I can wear this now.

I have to admit that re-heeling shoes is a bit of a bug bear with me.  We get so many beautiful shoes donated to the CS that have completely worn out heels and we can't sell them. Very few people will buy them, knowing they will have to spend more money to re-heel them. This to me is a complete waste, when they potentially have years of wear left in them, if people just took the time and effort to take them to a shoe repairer. If I could do it myself, I would, but it's just not cost effective for the charity as they still might not sell.

Anyway, grumble over, keeping a list of things I buy and where I buy them from, should also help me to understand how much money I'm spending on certain categories of things, particularly clothes, which I've spent a lot of money on recently, having changed back to a vintage style wardrobe.

Looking in my wardrobe this morning, I saw quite a few things that I haven't even worn yet, so it would be a good idea to get some wear out of these items, before I start buying more. I began that today, by wearing a top I bought over 6 weeks ago from a CS for the first time. I finally found a way to wear it that made me feel comfortable in it and I need to do that with some other things in my wardrobe too. I guess that is the difficulty with vintage items, finding the right combinations, but I'm getting there slowly.

Are you having a Buy Nothing New Year this year or do you do this anyway on an ongoing basis?