365 Non Consumption Challenge

A fellow mom and blogger Cherylane posted recently about trying to do the 365 day non consumption challenge.  She was inspired by fellow blogger liz to start this.  I was really inspired by Cherylane's determination to do this and have been thinking about it since I first read her post and tweets about this challenge.  Basically, it is going an entire year without purchasing anything brand new - everything had to be handmade or purchased second hand with a few exceptions

In her blog posts regarding it, she spoke honestly with her struggle with the challenge and where and how she drew the line.  Like Liz, she decided she needed guidelines in order for her to be successful and maintain personal happiness and sanity.

I decided to take my thinking to the next level and speak to Greg about it.  He, of course, was ecstatic about my idea of doing this challenge.  He also mentioned that he had recently read where some people challenge themselves to throw one thing away every day or commit to getting rid of something for every new thing that comes in their house. All seemed like a fantastic idea to me.  He is also committing to the challenge.

I already have started the "get rid of one when you get new one" philosophy in our house in terms of the kids stuff.  I sold all of our baby stuff, tonnes of clothes and toys and have put over $1000 into the disney land account (we decided all items sold baby related would go into this).  Every few weeks, I go through Penelope's clothes and the kids' toys and take pictures of all items that can be sold.  This has helped tremendously in cutting down the amount of clutter in our house.  Also, the majority of the toys that get purchased by myself are from kijiji or various second hand kid stores around Calgary so they are reused, repurposed and reloved - very good and a huge part of the 365 Non Consumption Challenge

I also regularly go through my closet and give a bunch of stuff either to my younger cousin Madi or to the good will society.

I donated a tonne of books to the library and then gave some away on kijiji for free.  Same with cd's + dvd's that I no longer need or want.

However, unlike Liz + Cherylane, I don't plan on doing this for 365 days - at least not at first.  My plan is start this challenge on September 6th and conclude it on October 6th.  I have chosen Sept 6 because I am in SK from the 31st to the 5th and it's kinda hard to not consume unnecessarily when you are away from home.  I do have some exceptions to the challenge:

1) presents.  I am not crafty to say the least so making decent gifts is out of the question and besides what do you make a boy turning 8 who asked you for a fish?  So presents will still be purchased new.

Well that's really it.  Unless something comes up and I need to get new undergarments or something or Penelope and Finley need something I can't get second hand then it will be purchased.

This means no Starbucks, no buying decor for house, no eating out, no snacks or treats, no new clothes or shoes, no new nothing.

I have no idea if we will be successful or not at this, but I will keep y'all posted on the progress that we have made or not made.

Please let me know if you are partaking in something similar or have some ideas and/or suggestions for me!!!