Rampant Consumerism 2009

By request!

I've bumped up the two previous years threads so that those of you who don't know what the concept is can find out, and so that those of us who have done it in previous years can review our successes/failures in preparation for a new challenge!

Basically, the challenge is to cut out all "unnecessary" spending between 1 - 31 May.

I'm in for starters, who's with me?

My first thoughts - over the past few weeks I've been thinking a lot about decluttering my life. My house is full of stuff that I've bought and don't use but can't get rid of - clothes, toys, boxes and boxes of magazines... you get the picture.

I've been reading about decluttering your environment in OHbaby! Magazine (there's an article in the most recent issue, Autumn '09 on page 80), and thinking a lot about all the stuff I have accumulated and I have decided it's all got to go!

I've made a start - I have unearthed the spare bed in Chiara's room from under a pile of clothes and surplus junk. I've finally gotten around to listing the gremlins cot mattresses on TM and if they don't sell, Willie can take them to the tip (it seems a shame to throw them away as they are in mint condition) and I listed my Phil and Teds buggy and sold it within 2 hours of listing it.

My next plan is to declutter my own room - this means going thru the drawers and wardrobe and getting rid of anything that doesn't fit - I've been holding onto stuff for when I've lost weight but I've decided that's silly coz I can buy new stuff then. Most of the stuff will go in the clothing bin but I'll list a few more expensive things on TM. Plus we have 4 bedside drawers full of assorted papers and junk - I don't actually need the phone bills from the last 6 years .

Then I'll start on the wardrobes in the kids rooms. And tonight I plan to list on TM the box of small cloth nappies I have been meaning to list for months.

This should keep me occupied so I'm not spending money!

We're in! DH got our credit card bills last weekend.. mine alone was nearly 3 pages long Admittedly we pay for EVERYTHING on credit card and pay it off in full each month so there's a lot of little things but still. That's disgraceful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have done a lot better with food since Callum was born, I get our meat delivered now (online order from the butcher, it's cheaper and waaaay better quality than the supermarket) and we were getting organic veg delivered too but have stopped that for the next few weeks till we move house.

My downfall atm is baby stuff. Every time I go to a mall (and there are a LOT in Singapore) I check out the baby shops ... not so much clothes, as we have about 2 years worth from gifts, but right now I'm looking for a sunhat for C and today I couldn't find one but walked out with another formula dispenser thingee and two packs of #3 teats (we do actually need those soon lol)... and then I spent almost $100 at the supermarket for THREE bags of groceries.

Im in although June would be better if we get our house as we will have move into it by then but the de-cluttering will definitely be me!!! I started finding stuff to list on trademe the other day then lost interest so will get onto it as we start sorting stuff into the new house and really need to save/earn as much as we can while still at the olds before we move in and have to pay the bills

must..resist...urge...to...buy Emmas small MCNS!!!!.......

I will join but only in the sense that I will still be spending according to the last stuff I need for baby and McKayla before the birth. But want to try and stop the take aways we have been having now and then due to me being too tired.

Want to make some extra meals when I feel up to it so I can just get it out for when we need it. And then to actually declutter our house after the exams. So after the 27th of May. By then I really will be ready in the nesting phase (I am already but need to finish this studies quite soon).

Saffron - I tried to give them away via the Multiple Birth Club as they were asking for stuff for a lady expecting twins but they didn't need them, and I thought about donating them to the OHbaby! Bundles of Love scheme but we have heaps of stuff for that already too, and I listed them free to a good home on Kidsgear but I can't seem to get rid of them! So now they're on $1 res on TM. There is a Sallies shop in New Lynn tho, maybe they might take them. They really are in as new condition!

Emma, I'm pretty sure the Sallies will collect whatever you have to donate. That way you can build up a load of stuff, get them to take it away and feel good about it all at the same time

I'd love to participate, however we're moving back into rental next week which will result in us halving our monthly 'rent/mortgage' payments so there might be some celebrating of the fact that I will once again be able to walk into a clothes shop and buy what I want

Maybe if I held out until the end of May I could double my spending spree

Maya wrote: Saffron - I tried to give them away via the Multiple Birth Club as they were asking for stuff for a lady expecting twins but they didn't need them, and I thought about donating them to the OHbaby! Bundles of Love scheme but we have heaps of stuff for that already too, and I listed them free to a good home on Kidsgear but I can't seem to get rid of them! So now they're on $1 res on TM. There is a Sallies shop in New Lynn tho, maybe they might take them. They really are in as new condition!

Yeah I wondered if you had got rid of it yet actually.. I guess more people need to know about kidsgear to get things moving faster... I hope you'll consider listing more of your stuff there simultaneously with TM maybe? :)

Hehe, well I cheat and look on TM to see what the average price is, and then list based on that... Also, you can always change the price