Just look how I fell off the wagon!

Now if you'd spent a whole month trying to avoid buying nothing new, what would be the first thing to encourage you to part with your cash? Bet it wouldn't be a tub of dishwasher powder! Something with a touch of luxury would probably win the day and who could blame you.

But for me it was pure unadulterated minimal packaging that broke the financial fast, a tub of Bio-D dishwasher powder, a gleeful alternative to packaged tablets that are not just fiddly to open, but make it difficult to be more economic with measures, especially those with the plastic wrappers that dissolve in the dishwasher.

By now you probably think that I'm either jolly sensible, satisfactorily frugal, or indeed barking mad. A combination of all three might be appropriate. A Buy Nothing New month, in November, just before Christmas...perhaps bonkers might spring to mind.

But with the exception of some new pyjamas - bought to cobble together an elf costume for the Defender of the Bin's Christmas play - we did it! And oh boy did we save a decent amount of cash in the process. Mr A avoided the departments stores down in London and rejected the temptation of a brand new extension set for his Warhammer hobby. That alone saved us a whopping £100. I denied myself a couple of books and avoided all my usual retail haunts. Altogether, I reckon we saved ourselves about £200 from our usual whimsical spending.

So what about Monday...the first day of December and the end of our month's challenge?

Did I rush to the shops? No

Was I itching to treat myself? No

Was my credit card burning a whole in my pocket? No

So I got away with it for another day then....a whole new me?

er..............hum......................No.

Well, I would have got away with it if it hadn't been for those pesky kids, er I mean the most wonderful people over at Natural Collection with their fabulous range of goodies.

You see, all I did was innocently log on during Monday evening to buy a a tub of Dishwasher Powder. Yep, the one shown above, which is refillable and a super duper Zero-Waste winner.

But with my Christmas browsing head on I happened upon this....



a solar powered lamp that would be perfect for the kids' playden, which means they can hang out there after school even in the Winter.

Then this...


a solar powered multi-gadget recharger, ideal for charging up Mr A's phone and other gadgets. Never will his Blackberry be out of juice again.

And just as I was closing down, I saw the most delicious present for the kids...



Mr Robot Head, a wind-up toy which looks like it could prove an interesting challenge for the whole of the family and no doubt will create a big buzz this Christmas.

Look at him....how could I say no!

Kerching!

The best bit for me is that I covered most of my Christmas shopping in just one evening and even remembered the wrapping paper, recycled of course. And with all that's on offer, I may be revisiting Natural Collection very soon to finish the task in hand.

So there you have it. The end of the challenge and the credit card put to work again.

I just hope Gordon Brown will be pleased with my efforts as I'm always a good barometer for the economy you know.

So it's now feet up and rest until I welcome my delivery!

This is my kind of Christmas shopping.


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NOTHING NEW!

Apologies for the behaviour of that naughty Delores yesterday. Fancy packing me off to landfill with a flea in my ear just so she can sort out my cleaning affairs. Tsk - as if I haven't got anything else to think about. It is nice to have a clean bathroom though!

Now it might seem extreme but I have officially named November as my BUY NOTHING NEW MONTH, which means, apart from birthday gifts for family members, food and other household essentials, I shall not buy anything new for the next 29 days!

It all starts today!

And I can tell you, it's going to be blimmin' hard.

Not only have I got a wedding to dress up for next weekend, but I've also been invited to a Pampered Chef party this week, you know the kind, where the salesperson cooks up something really tasty before your very eyes using gadgets that promise to turn you into a domestic goddess and your resistance weakens.

However the hardest part will be avoiding buying a new teapot to replace the one that I accidentally boiled on the stove the other week.

I'd turned on the gas hob to boil the kettle, just as Mr A asked me to check something on the computer. Minutes later, he lifted his nose in the air, took a sniff and helpfully proclaimed "There's something burning!"

And yep, it was the teapot! My gorgeous blue one that I'd bought from Whittards about 10 years ago. Like a twerp, I'd turned on the wrong knob. The kettle was still as cold as a cucumber but the teapot was hot and cracked, resting in a bath of hot tea. As it happened the Twinings breakfast blend turned out to be a fantastic hob cleaner, but that was no silver lining to the black cloud that was beginning to brew.

So why am I doing this "buy nothing new" month?

I suppose over the years I've got to know my habits really well and because I've got the willpower of a cat tossing a bird, November has become a dangerous month in both the financial and clutter departments

You see it's the Christmas shopping that gets me every time.

It's like "One for you....one for me...one for you...one for me", and by the time I've bought my Auntie Dilys her regular Thorntons chocolates along with a box for my Auntie Pat, I'll be heading home with a new book and a pair of boots I couldn't resist along the way!

...Which brings me back to my lovely teapot.

I only purchased it because I'd bought an equivalent one for my sister, liked it so much that I paid for an extra. Then there were the pastry forks that I decided to keep for myself and ended up buying a replacement pressie.

There you go. Surely you'll agree that some form of therapy is definitely in order!

So this year I promise to be wise, grasp the willpower and just say no.

Instead of reaching for the credit card, I will pass things by and if I still want them in December, I'll add them to my Christmas list.

It will really make a refreshing change to have things for Christmas that I've actually anticipated and longed for, even if it is just for a few weeks, instead of buying stuff there and then!

You never know, I might not even need them after all.

But I do really need a new teapot. I've missed it too much and I hate dunking teabags in cups and mugs, which is why this month might turn out to be a real challenge indeed.

I suppose the only saving grace is that I'm such a blimmin' fusspot, it'll probably take me a month to find a suitable replacement.

So why don't you join me in this mad crusade. It could save us both some cash and make December even more special. Go on...29 days isn't that long.........is it?


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