As I have blogged in the past, I have moved away from resolutions in favor of intent. One of my intentions this year is to listen. I want to develop my listening skills, whether it is to listen better to others or to more fully understand what my mind, body, and gut are trying to tell me. As a gal, I’m keenly aware of the benefits of zipping up and getting my ears pierced in 2023. Meanwhile, around May 2022, I had another intention. Then Riesle Clarke and Rebecca Rockefeller (available in both digital and hardcopy form at the New Orleans Public Library). Many years ago, I reduced my pointless spending habits during Lent by giving up shopping for food, toiletries, and non-essential items. Dealing with has been repressed for years, but in 2022, I find myself slowly, slowly reverting to mindless shopping. The “Buy Nothing” book and its ideals came to mind earlier this week, and I devoted myself to the challenge.
The rules are simple.
From the book:
- Step 1: Give — Explore different forms of giving and suggest ways to start your journey of generosity.
- Step 2: Ask — When all gifts are of equal value and unmonetized, the playing field is level and we are on equal footing. Asking for what you want is essential to the health of the gift economy.
- Step 3: Reuse and Reject — In the first place, we will introduce tricks and tricks to refuse to buy daily necessities.
- Step 4: Reflect — Investigate the hidden needs behind your desire to buy more.
- Step 5: Share, Lend, Borrow — Helps brainstorm creative ideas on how to share, lend, and borrow more.
- Step 7: Gratitude — An important superglue that connects us all and drives more donations is to openly express our gratitude to those who share with us.
exception:
- Meals (especially locally sourced foods, including eating out)
- Normal household expenses (utilities, water, electricity, rent/mortgage)
- Travel expenses (bus/train fare, gasoline fee, car insurance fee, car repair fee included)
- Prescriptions and personal items (including toiletries for you, your dependents and pets)
- Education (including materials of any kind, school bills, school events, and other educational or work-related events)
- Postage and Shipping (shipping supplies not included)
- Charitable/Political Contributions
- Experiences and events (museum tickets, concerts, swimming in the pool with the kids, going to the zoo, visiting national parks and national parks, camping fees, etc.)
- Arts, culture, and humanities (expenses to support artists, scholars, and writers, including art, books, poetry, and music recordings)
As you can see, generosity, community, experience, and abundance are encouraged, while mindless consumerism and extravagance are discouraged. For me it’s a win-win.
If you decide to join the challenge, there are various Buy Nothing communities on Facebook and apps (Apple, Google Play) to help you give, receive, and build your community. The Greater New Orleans area has 5 groups on Facebook and you can only join groups in your neighborhood, so choose accordingly. For anything else you might want to know or connect with the group, visit buyingnothingproject.org.
My husband, Mark, can’t help but buy most things, but he doesn’t want to stop collecting records for a year, so he’s up for the challenge. It’s the only thing he seems to spend money on, so this will be a cakewalk for him. It’s been five days and I’ve stopped buying things I don’t need at least three times this week. , I plan to list items in an app for a no-buy-nothing group in my neighborhood in Milan and look through some items around the house to see what else I can gift my friends and my no-buying group .
Added number 10 to the Exceptions category for full disclosure. A must-have Mardi Gras outfit item. I think I have everything I need for my Marie Antoinette costume from Clue Bohème, but I didn’t want to get stuck.That being said, I ask first, then pardon Have got Add something to complete your parade day look. It’s a New Orleans problem.
Have you done the Buy Nothing challenge or something similar? are you doing now? Think hippie, dippy, lefty, anti-consumerist bull hockey? Email melanie@myneworleans.com.
