A Year of Less is More

I do a lot of work promoting Repair Cafe at The Goodlife Centre in central London and its all rather infectious. So, I challenged myself to consuming less in 2013. Buy less crapjects and clothes eat less, drink less, spend less. Generally be less of a burden on the planet and take a step back from gluttony and global consumerism. A commitment to spending this year being more aware of my 'consumer footprint', if you like.

Things do need to be bought along the way. I know this will happen and when it does I vow to buy either second hand or quality goods and consider the source before price. I can afford to be more discerning in my decision-making. I don't mean just financially. I'm at a stage in my life where I have a lot of stuff. A house full of furniture and household goods and clothes and shoes and accessories and and and.... There is very little I 'need' any more. So its about deciding how much I want the new thing and at what cost. Spend an extra ten minutes having a good think about the latest {insert must-have item of the month here} and resist the sudden rush of retail blood to the head.

So, how am I doing? Nearly three months into the year and its time for a review.

Purchases...
Electronic hair curler
Dress for a wedding
2 x running tights
2x running tops
2x running socks

Better than usual, but admittedly I'm still slacking. My world would not collapse if I had chosen not to buy any of these items. So to offset some of the afore mentioned consumerism, I am selling some clothes ebay, which is also a first (I bloody hate ebay).

So then I thought about this some more and realised I could do more with this. In a total arbitrary system created in my head, I allocate 'consume' points for each item purchased offset against 'conserve' points (at 50% approx consume value) for items sold on and 100% for anything reused, recycled or repaired. Got it? Good.

Here's the balance sheet then...

Consume points		Conserve points
Electronic hair curler	50	4x Dresses selling on eBay	-200
Dress for a wedding	100	Handbag repaired	-50
2x running tights	50	Suitcase repaired	-50
2x running tops	50
2x running socks	10
Haircut (no colour!)	25
Total	285	Total	-300

Net running total for 2013: -15

So in my total arbitrary balance sheet I declare that i am currently on top. But I know its going to be easy to slip into old habits and with summer hopefully around the corner, it will be very difficult to resist the pulling power of shop windows. So, I am off to look for some second hand shops in preparation and denim patches are on today's shopping list to repair some ripped threads....