“What? Why? Why in the world would you want to do this? How
much money are you saving?” These are the questions I heard most frequently when telling people about our plan. I will start off by answering them for you.
“What?” That’s right! We are not going to buy anything new
for a whole year. “What about food?” Of course we are going to buy food. We
have made a few exceptions such as food, toiletries, crafting goods that run
out, undergarments and replacement parts.
“Why?” I had one of those nights that you stay up chatting
and trying to solve the world’s problems over a glass of wine with a couple of
good friends. It was 2011’s holiday season and I had been bombarded with coupon
mailings of everything that I should buy. I had been rushing through crowds
making sure I had the perfect gifts and I had plenty of them. I felt like every
corner I turned I needed to buy more, more and more. Knowing that the end result would be finding a
place for them to settle and collect dust like all of our “stuff”. We started
to talk about the waste. All of the natural resource we were using to make all
these goods. Then
I asked myself the questions that have changed my way of thinking, “What can I
do about my over consuming?” “What kind of difference can I make for my
children?”
“Why in the world would you want to do this?” I am an all or
nothing type of girl. This is something I know about myself. I have only been
successful about making big changes in my life if I fully commit. If I don’t, I
fall right back into my same old habits. I knew I needed to set a goal in order to be
able to follow through. So my husband and I set a firm goal that we would not
buy anything new other then the exceptions we made for one full year in order
to change our consumption habits.
“How much money are you saving?” I am not a money motivated
person. This can be a good thing and a bad thing. I knew that if money was my
motivation I would fail immediately. Lessening my environmental footprint was
my motivation and having some extra cash was a benefit. If you can fuel
yourself with the want for money I can see this lifestyle change being great for
you.
Not only will you be helping Mother Earth you will also be helping your
bank account :)
